Death's Head

SS Wotan #2

by Leo Kessler

In this gripping adventure SS Assault Battalion Wotan, the toughest troops in Europe, are sent on an apparently impossible mission against the elite of the Soviet Army in a vital bid to prepare the way for Operation Barbarossa. Once again we meet the ruthless Major Geier, known as the "Vulture," whose sexual practices are a constant threat to his consuming ambition; here too is Captain von Dodenburg, the elegant aristocrat; and Sergeant Schulze, the wisecracking Hamburger who has smelt out the rottenness of National Socialism and views the war with unconcealed cynicism. Under the author's skillful pen their world comes vividly to life and the reader can feel the horror, and indeed the excitement, which was the lot of Assault Battalion Wotan on the road to Rostov.

Genres: War, Fiction

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Pseudonym for Charles Whiting

Reviews

[AgentChesterDesmond · Rating 3 out of 5]

Von Dodenburg and his band of hideous SS ghouls find themselves thrown from pillar to post in this disorientating second instalment in the Wotan series. Starting off with an honestly incredibly bizarre account of a failed SS landing in the UK (I know these books are fictional but this kind of took the biscuit), the Wotan battalion is sent east for the first great push into Russia. But as history dictates, it all goes south fairly quickly and they soon find themselves on the back foot.

Honestly, if you thought Sven Hassel’s characters were absolute dogs, then boy oh boy are you in for a surprise with Kessler. There is not a single damn thing redeemable about any of the cast here. They are truly awful, truly terrible people - even Von Dodenburg, who is more or less the protagonist and is given a more favourable light (but only just).

There’s a scene where some soldiers are discussing the very young ages of some of the prostitutes they’ve been visiting, which on top of the other atrocities these bottomfeeders commit, only stood to heighten my desire to see these characters meet their sticky ends sooner rather than later, but there’s a lot of entries in this series so I’m not holding my breath for swift retribution.

Also, if you’ve read this book, a question for you:

Not sure if I’ve missed something - Why does Von Dodenburg shoot the SS officer with the Tommy gun outside of Sevastopol? The officer says the orders to kill the “prisoners” of the Russian 76th Officer Aspirant Brigade came from the Reichsfuhrer - it’s not like the SS officer had gone rogue and was butchering prisoners of his own accord? I find it very jarring that Dodenburg is painted as having quite a strong moral compass when he is SS elite. Most of the time he stands by and just watches when atrocities are committed, as if this is supposed to make him more likeable as the lead, but here he just flat out butchers one of his own for… following orders, as fucked up as they are? I don’t get it. Not long later on his own officers are scoffing at his dedication to national socialism and the SS idealism - so why here does he gun down an SS officer for carrying out Reichsfuhrer orders? This is surely the thing that Von Dodenburg would carry out if ordered to do so? Makes no sense, honestly.

[Scott Gardner · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is 50 years old now , but still tells the horrors of war very well

[C.A. A. Powell · Rating 4 out of 5]

High adrenalin - very vicious - war pulp story. I thought it was also very exciting. It is just pulp war fiction, however, so you need to be of such a mind to enjoy. I do like such things now and then for a bit of escapism. Though how many of us would want to escape into the nightmare world of the German/Soviet Eastern front does raise the odd eyebrow. A good read for the 'like minded' pulp war monger. I would recommend this if you like high octane war stories. This one never stops from beginning to end. A real hold on to the seat of your pants novel.