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Infantry Aces: The German Soldier in World War II
Here are dozens of gripping, never-before-told stories of battle in World War II–from the point of view of the enemy.
This is an authentic account–often in their own words–of German infantry aces, common foot soldiers who were thrust into a blazing maelstrom of bloody horror such as the world had never seen. They faced the savage onslaught of fire-belching tanks at Kursk and carried wounded comrades hundreds of yards to safety through a hail of bullets. They fought alone behind enemy lines, tackled a foe vastly superior in numbers, and served as machine gunners in a thousand dangerous actions. On the frozen Russian steppes, under the scorching African desert sun, in the final desperate battles, they were outnumbered and outgunned, and faced impossible odds. Here are the fascinating stories of the men who stared death in the face during some of the most brutal battles ever waged.
This is an authentic account–often in their own words–of German infantry aces, common foot soldiers who were thrust into a blazing maelstrom of bloody horror such as the world had never seen. They faced the savage onslaught of fire-belching tanks at Kursk and carried wounded comrades hundreds of yards to safety through a hail of bullets. They fought alone behind enemy lines, tackled a foe vastly superior in numbers, and served as machine gunners in a thousand dangerous actions. On the frozen Russian steppes, under the scorching African desert sun, in the final desperate battles, they were outnumbered and outgunned, and faced impossible odds. Here are the fascinating stories of the men who stared death in the face during some of the most brutal battles ever waged.
544 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published May 1, 2002
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130 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
July 19, 2011
A fairly descriptive account of various Iron Cross earners during World War II. This book provides a detailed look at fighting that many World War II histories tend to avoid, and covers the military actions of Wehrmacht men, a paratrooper, and two Waffen-SS. To have a book that describes the actions of German soldiers while making no effort to praise their nonmilitary traits/activities is quite nice; you're able to read about the military tactics of what are widely considered some of the best soldiers in the history of the world, without that queasy feeling of doubt when you wonder if the purported respect of the German soldier's fighting ability is really just masked Hitler-worship, and with a depiction of the stark brutality of combat. The tone of the writing helps one feel the desperation that these men must have experienced as the weight of the Allied war machine made their empire's extinction evident.
There's some criticism of the author and his fact-checking/sourcing in his Tank Aces series, but I did not read this book as a serious history book, with a critical eye. I cannot support or deny any claims made, and so will defer to anyone who has spent months poring over the accounts of eight German soldiers and parsing out the bullshit likely in any official Nazi German reports, the potential bullshit (intentional or unintentional) in any memoirs written by members of their units, and the distortion likely in any Allied sources that for whatever reason would have information on these men that didn't trace its roots to the German information.
There's some criticism of the author and his fact-checking/sourcing in his Tank Aces series, but I did not read this book as a serious history book, with a critical eye. I cannot support or deny any claims made, and so will defer to anyone who has spent months poring over the accounts of eight German soldiers and parsing out the bullshit likely in any official Nazi German reports, the potential bullshit (intentional or unintentional) in any memoirs written by members of their units, and the distortion likely in any Allied sources that for whatever reason would have information on these men that didn't trace its roots to the German information.
December 12, 2023
To be completely honest my original interpretation of this book was hovering on the lines of 2 stars. However, after finishing the book and putting all the info together and over looking some of the bad, the book really was not so bad. Towards the end when the author began giving a German perspective of infantry tactics I began to see the light of what this book was designed to be about. A very broad baseline understanding of the German soldier in WW2 with a semi historical narrative. By the end I was sitting at 3 and 1/2 to 3 3/4 stars. In any case let me go over the good and things that can be overlooked but still gave me a headache.
The Good
Decent Story’s: Like I said if you move past the fact the author gives no sources or any references where he gets his info and just listen to what the author is putting in the pages it’s not half bad. I will admit there were some Aces that were very cut and dry and really were not that interesting but the majority had a good plot. I like to think the author really did sit down with these WW2 veterans and pieced together this book that way but again there is just no way of knowing. Prime example I loved how the passage on Erich Lepkowski the only narrative of the life a German Fallschirmjäger (paratrooper). The roller coaster of success and horrible defeat that man had to go through was insane to think about in today’s combat veterans. Would loved to know how the author got the info and if he did sit down with the physical guy at all though.
Unique Perspective: Honestly I didn’t get any hint of the author war glorifying for the Nazi cause. In other Stackpole books I ran into a couple issues where the author was not completely ratifying the natures of the SS but I did get the vibe that he believed the SS were innocent on most cases. Any body with a middle school education can tell you the SS were not in any way innocent. Whether or not they participated in the human atrocities they were still part of the cult that believed in the most despicable actions the modern world has ever witnessed. I’m saying all that, there were a few SS narratives in this book and i did not get the I’m an innocent SS men vibe but more of here is my thought process of the time. To be more specific the chapter on SS Sep Lainey. The author went into detail on his upbringing and how he saw the Nazis as a beacon of hope and order in a time where Germany was barely surviving the Great Depression and the following the treaty of Versallies. Would it be better if the author turned it around and said here is what the person thinks today but again there is no closure after every chapter on what become of the Aces.
Decent Photographs: Lastly, the war corresponded photo graphs were decent and most I have never seen before, not even trying to look on the web. However while I thought most were impactful in the sense the reader can see some visual aid but most of them had horrible captions. Most of the time the captions of the aces are no where near the time frame you are reading. Prime example you are reading about one the aces up-bringing and the next page it shows them getting the knights cross not following with the character development at all. There were some pictures that did not have any dates at all or just had the month and day without any year.
The Headaches
Grammar & Misprints: Throughout the entire book there are countless typos and poor use of words. This is probably from a translation issues seeing the book was originally written in German. In any case whoever the editor is for Stackpole needs to ether learn English or learn how to give a shit.
Way Too Much Info: It most parts of the book the author felt the need to explain every single unit positions. While normally I would like that… only if they made sense and did not come in the form of a shotgun blast of information. It literally got to the point where I had no idea what was going on and was hope the dialogue of character would come back. In any case I had a real hard time to understanding how movements got to locations, units, enemy strength, you name it. In other words it was very hard to follow.
All and all it was a good read. I recommend it to anyone who wants a semi genuine experience read of the German perspective. Just make sure you have some Tylenol for the migraines
-Alex
The Good
Decent Story’s: Like I said if you move past the fact the author gives no sources or any references where he gets his info and just listen to what the author is putting in the pages it’s not half bad. I will admit there were some Aces that were very cut and dry and really were not that interesting but the majority had a good plot. I like to think the author really did sit down with these WW2 veterans and pieced together this book that way but again there is just no way of knowing. Prime example I loved how the passage on Erich Lepkowski the only narrative of the life a German Fallschirmjäger (paratrooper). The roller coaster of success and horrible defeat that man had to go through was insane to think about in today’s combat veterans. Would loved to know how the author got the info and if he did sit down with the physical guy at all though.
Unique Perspective: Honestly I didn’t get any hint of the author war glorifying for the Nazi cause. In other Stackpole books I ran into a couple issues where the author was not completely ratifying the natures of the SS but I did get the vibe that he believed the SS were innocent on most cases. Any body with a middle school education can tell you the SS were not in any way innocent. Whether or not they participated in the human atrocities they were still part of the cult that believed in the most despicable actions the modern world has ever witnessed. I’m saying all that, there were a few SS narratives in this book and i did not get the I’m an innocent SS men vibe but more of here is my thought process of the time. To be more specific the chapter on SS Sep Lainey. The author went into detail on his upbringing and how he saw the Nazis as a beacon of hope and order in a time where Germany was barely surviving the Great Depression and the following the treaty of Versallies. Would it be better if the author turned it around and said here is what the person thinks today but again there is no closure after every chapter on what become of the Aces.
Decent Photographs: Lastly, the war corresponded photo graphs were decent and most I have never seen before, not even trying to look on the web. However while I thought most were impactful in the sense the reader can see some visual aid but most of them had horrible captions. Most of the time the captions of the aces are no where near the time frame you are reading. Prime example you are reading about one the aces up-bringing and the next page it shows them getting the knights cross not following with the character development at all. There were some pictures that did not have any dates at all or just had the month and day without any year.
The Headaches
Grammar & Misprints: Throughout the entire book there are countless typos and poor use of words. This is probably from a translation issues seeing the book was originally written in German. In any case whoever the editor is for Stackpole needs to ether learn English or learn how to give a shit.
Way Too Much Info: It most parts of the book the author felt the need to explain every single unit positions. While normally I would like that… only if they made sense and did not come in the form of a shotgun blast of information. It literally got to the point where I had no idea what was going on and was hope the dialogue of character would come back. In any case I had a real hard time to understanding how movements got to locations, units, enemy strength, you name it. In other words it was very hard to follow.
All and all it was a good read. I recommend it to anyone who wants a semi genuine experience read of the German perspective. Just make sure you have some Tylenol for the migraines
-Alex
December 5, 2018
The highlight of this book is most of the chapters read like a novel. These are the stories of valiant men of arms. Despite fighting against our allies, these soldiers who were awarded one of their country's higher honors.
February 28, 2022
Interesting account of German infantry aces, in their own words, of the horrors of warfare.
November 14, 2007
This, as I recollect, is s collection of translated contemporary stories of infantrymen published in Germany during the war. While occasionally exciting, they lack much context and generally have little value for the historical reader interested in the doctrine, equipment, tactics and techniques of the German military. I bought it off a tiny bookshelf of English books in an internet cafe in a tiny town in Costa Rica. I more-or-less ditched it after finding a week old New York Times.
October 20, 2012
An interesting read.... especially from the German perspective during WWII, particularly during the Russian Campaign. However, it seemed to be the idea of the book to provide stories of individual leaders and outstanding fighters during the war, as well as the various battle tactics used. I'm glad I read this book, being that I am one interested in that time period and it is more rare to hear of the German fighters than those of the victorious side.
May 31, 2017
One of my favor authors to write about the German perspective of war. This is short stories about extraordinary feats by individual German soldiers of various branches. I really enjoyed this. Usually 3-5 pages given to each soldiers bio.
November 28, 2011
Good short story accounts of some of Germany WWII Infantry Heroes.
March 11, 2015
Excellent overview of the soldier's life in the German army of WW2. Great history book, Very recommended
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews