When Hell Froze: The Story of Norbert Gubbels During World War II

by Randall J. Kaster

In late 1944 the United States Army and our allies were sweeping across Europe pushing the German Army into a massive retreat. But as the Germans began the defense of the Fatherland they prepared for an all out fight to the death. Norbert Gubbels, a nineteen year old Private was thrown into this fierce battle as a “replacement” soldier. Within days he was being pushed to human limits and beyond under harsh winter conditions and horrific enemy fire. This story follows Norbert from the family farm in northeast Nebraska to the battlefields of Europe in the Battle of the Hurtgen Forest and the Battle of the Bulge. During the Battle of the Hurtgen Forest he lives in a foxhole in the mud as sleet, snow and enemy fire rain down on him. His new unit, the 12th Infantry Regiment is slowly chewed up and is soon sent to Luxembourg to rest and recuperate. Within a week Norbert and the rest of the 12th Infantry Regiment catches the full brunt of the Germans push on the southern shoulder during the Battle of the Bulge. Trapped behind enemy lines for days with other survivors, Norbert's compassion and morality are tested like they never have before, when they risk their lives to retrieve a wounded German soldier. The weary soldiers are torn as they decide the man's fate. With this trek across the war torn Belgium and Luxembourg follow his personal transformation from innocent, wide-eyed farm boy to a man who will never escape the horrors of the things he has seen.

254 pages, Paperback

First published June 24, 2015