Since I have a military bookstore, I'm constantly reading and evaluating new books, looking for great books to recommend my customers who are military history enthusiasts like myself. It's wonderful work and I enjoy it quite a bit! I usually have 6 books which I'm reading at any one time.
Among the various wonderful books which I'm reading right now are Honor Denied and Panzer Gunner.Honor Denied was written by an ex-Waffen SS radio operator of the 2nd SS Das Reich Division. For a while, he was posted as Field Marshal Rommel's personal radio operator, relaying his battle instructions to his unit commanders. The book is entitled Honor Denied because the writer believes that the ex-Waffen SS soldiers have all been painted with the broad brush of discrimination, that they have all been treated like the concentration camp SS and that their battle achievements have not been given their due (I'm not sure if this is true since Waffen SS books and militaria are among the most sought after by military history enthusiasts). He also wrote of how he became disillusioned with Nazism and how he started to fight the war to survive, not to defend Nazi Socialism anymore. I've only just started reading the book and what is really interesting in the early chapters are his interaction with Rommel, writing about how Rommel interacted with him and others on a day-to-day basis, describing how Rommel conducted battle from his command tank (unlike many other German generals of the day) and what sort of radio messages he would relay for Rommel. More on this book in the days to follow as I continue reading further.
Panzer Gunner is a wonderfully unique book in that it's a story of how a German-Canadian boy found himself shipped to Germany by his parents just before war broke out in Europe and how he was drafted into the German army and found himself fighting as a Panzer gunner with the 7th Panzer Division (same as Rommel's famed division from 1940's Invasion of France). After surviving the war, his Canadian citizenship was recognized and he was able to return to Canada and finally spent 19 years as a teacher before retiring. Around the time of his retirement, he finally decided to reveal his WW2 activities to the public. His story reminded me of a history teacher I had in high school who reportedly fought in the Wehrmacht and survived the war with the help of a Ukrainian family who hid him. He then made his way through the Black Sea and into Canada. I wish I was able to ask him for his war stories. Panzer Gunner promises to be a wonderful read and a quick review of the chapters show how he goes into detail about his training as a Panzer gunner, including reproduction of some of his panzer gunnery training materials and techniques. In the early chapters, he talks about his early life in Germany as a young boy and what pre-war Germany was like.
Both of these are marvellous books and I would encourage everyone to include these books in their collections. If you are interested in getting a copy of Honor Denied, please contact me.
More on these 2 books in the days ahead as I continue reading them...
Colin
Combat Films and Books
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