Grandfather's Tale: The Tale of a German Sniper

by Timothy Erenberger

Every grandfather has a tale and this is the tale of Georg Frick, a German sniper for the German Army during World War II. Georg Frick is an old man now, but in 1937 the German Army drafted him. Grandfather's Tale is the story of Georg's transformation from reluctant new soldier into a master sniper. Georg fought in dozens of battles in several countries, including Poland, Belgium, the Soviet Union, Crete, Italy and Germany. After proving himself to be an exceptional sniper, he joined a special team of German paratroopers. This group of expert soldiers was parachuted into Eben Emael, the strongest single fortress in the world! Georg's story is one of adventure and survival under extreme circumstances, including the brutal Soviet winter, and the final battle, the Battle of Berlin. Join Georg as he recounts his harrowing experiences to his grandson, in hopes that he may learn the lessons of war, and not repeat them. Grandfather's Tale is an action-packed journey through the entirety of the Word War II. German weapons, tactics and strategy on a platoon level are explained with meticulous detail. Several battles, including the Battle of the Bulge and the Invasion of Crete are told from a German perspective."Erenberger's story is fast-paced, his descriptions of the conditions a sniper must undergo through in each engagement were unforgettable...This book is strongly recommended for all who want to know what 'the big war' was all about in the eyes of a German sniper."-Capt. M.R. Doehrmann, USMC

Genres: History

330 pages, Paperback

First published December 20, 2000

About the author

Timothy Erenberger has published several books, including Abacar the Wizard, Grandfather’s Tale: the Tale of a German Sniper and Fangs of the Serpent. He has been involved in fantasy gaming and literature for over twenty years. He has also practiced martial arts for over twenty years, primarily Hap Kwon Do. He resides in the state of Iowa.

Reviews

[Paulo "paper books only" · Rating 1 out of 5]

First thing of all I should point out is that this is not real memoirs… This is a fiction book about Germans in WWII. If you want to read, and I would advise you to read a book about the German perspective then It would be “The Forgotten Soldier” by Guy Sajer. At least that book is not fiction. Even some people disputed it. (There will be always people who will dispute books about Germans on WWII. Jews and communists and allied fanatics will never be pleased and will never believe that there were good Germans, Germans who fought in the war because their country need them and they were ordered of course. And to them I would say something… but I won’t. I know story is written by the victors and victims. And the Germans were also victims. Before the war, in the war and after the war. Specially the soldiers. After the war ended the Germans soldiers who were capture (mostly) by the Soviet Union were or killed or put in the gulags. They executed more men in prisoner camps then in fields of battle. (This is a part history, if you just want to read the review just go to the end.)

check my blog to read a history lesson: http://perkunos.blogspot.pt/2007/08/g...


That said let’s go to the book…If you want to read about a real person fighting in the WW2 then read The Forgotten Soldier by Guy Sajer or one of the numerous books by Sven Hassel a Denmark volunteer that fought for the Germans or if you want snipers you’ve got the memoirs of real life WWII German sniper Sepp Allerberger, Sniper on the Eastern Front, written by Albrecht Walker and edited by Geoffrey Brooks. There are also other books by other authors that depicted the life of a German soldier. There is also an interesting book about an Waffen-SS. (a Verfügungstruppe) but unfortunally I can’t recall the name… If you search for the first book I said in Amazon website several others books about Germany in the Second World War will appear…First the story, then the discrepancies

Characters of current timeline:
Georg Frick, Main Character
Ingred Frick – Main Character’s wife
Ron Frick – Main Character’s grandson
George – Main Character’s great-grandson

Characters of WWII timeline
Ellis – Sniper, Veteran from WWI
Misha – Trainee at the same time of Georg (Soldat)
Konrad - Soldat that Georg met in the attack on Eben-Emael.



The story begins with George’s father telling him that he should listen to everything his great-grandfather said so his memory could endure.George, as a young kid after arriving in the farm he goes exploring were he finds a box with several Nazi emblems and medals. Afterwards Georg tells his great-grandson his story…It begins with the draft into the army (Heer/Werhmacht) in 1937. Here he excels in his training and goes to a special training of sniping. The first annexiation of Sudetenland occurs without bloodshed in 38. Chapter 4, begins in the Invasion of Poland in September 1939. The first kill. From this point forward we met several personages, one his mentor called Ellis also a sniper and Veteran from WWI and afterwards in Eben-Emael he meets Konrad which becomes his spotter and friend. He also receives training in parachuting and mine detection. The plot itself we already know from history, the Nazis lost in 1945. But this doesn’t mean that it’s less interesting. After reading Sven Hassel I had some good impressions of true war. Many books that are about war aren’t that real. Sven Hassel’s books are not only about war books but horror books. This book had some parts that remind me of the cruel aspects of Sven Hassel but it lacks something…
The book itself has no plot whatsoever and the characters are minimally described, adjectives are sparse and uninspiring, and phrases and sentences are unimaginative. Every day is the same for young George. He spends them listening to the same basic story set in slightly varying surroundings: Russian soldier spied, shot, killed, victim's ammo (weapons, rations) collected, grenade (bomb, tank shooting) sounded, meal eaten, reflected, slept. (Then it changes to Americans and British and then again Soviet soldiers. Young George is mesmerized by the graphic details.I know that war was like that…
There was plenty of action and everyday was the same, only the surroundings changed and the opponents.In the end after reading the book, there are several aspects you will dislike and others you like. The most annoying thought the reading process was to read the countless typos, grammar errors and redundancy. The end of the book didn’t feel like an plausible end. Alright, there were thousands of men that fought in Poland, Benelux, France, URSS, Italy and Germany. That I believe. And those men were either officials or true survivors. And I also know that when those men bound for a time those men became their shadow and more closely then brothers or wives. They depended on them and they lived because of them. A bounding/feeling incomprehensible to most people outside the scenery of war. I say this because those people would more likely sacrifice for their brother in arms than to the Fuhrer or their motherland. In the end, already in Siege of Berlin in April/May 1945 Konrad who had become Georg best friend was wounded and Georg left him behind in a hospital (he was shot after the soviets captured the hospital). I don’t think the main character or anybody would do it… I have seen relates than people fighting alongside others would never abandoned their brothers into the fate… It’s too cruel and unbelievable.

There were some discrepancies and for that I have loath the writer... First he made arms of one calibre fire with other calibres. Which we all know it’s impossible. Then 88mm flak tanks would never destroy dozens of T34’s in one single shot. Probably Great Bertha would do it, but never a 88mm. (But, It is know that they used them in anti-tank actions)Another thing that bother me was the rate kill. We all know that the Simo Häyhä has the all time record with 542 kills. Of course they are confirmed kills... So there is need it that a person (an officer) would have to be present to confirm and a couple of other soldiers. We all know that snipers in great part of their actions worked alone so I know that some soldiers have killed more than 542 kills. (I believe that Hayha has killed more than 542.)

It’s not hard to kill a man in combat... if you have sub-machine gun just fire away... but the problem is staying alive to make the numbers higher. But the numbers our writer gives us are complentely antonished. By Belgium or Crete (I don’t know which he had more than 1000 kills.)

If you thing that the invasion of Crete was between may and june of 1941. In Russia he killed them by the hundreds... I bet that he killed more than 3000 or 4000 enemies...

Alright!

At the end of the book Georg carried the following arms and ammo...He carried 4 rifles( Kar98k, BAR, M1,and a Tokarev along with a suppressed pistol and a 30 pound bag of ammo.)
For moments of the book I thought the named changed to Rambo, but in axis side. There are also other discrepancies about wars being fought and prisioners captured and even the number of the kills in specific battles.

Another thing that bothered me that most of his kills were shot between 700-1100 (as he said some longed for two seconds to hit the target, now just make the count for how long) and all head-shots. (The Russians were killed in their star.) Ahh, I forgot to said that in all shots I only read that he missed a few, I will not say numbers but I only remember missing 2.

Another interesting thing was when the enlisted soldiers salute other enlisted soldiers and call them "Sir.".

The title itself should be changed to Great-Grandfather’s tale.

There were other parts but I will stay here because as I remember some details I feel a bit of weary and feel regrets to wasting more time typing about a lousy book.

I will only advice this book for someone who wants to read a fast-paced novel that doesn’t care about characters, plot or anything else for that mattered. I would advise you all to just play Medal of Honor online and you will feel the same effect than reading it. Ahh, didn’t I tell you that he is a professional game-player? I wonder how the inspiration came…

[Marty · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a really poor book, which actually sprang from a decent idea.
It was published by a "vanity" publisher, where the writer either pays to have it published, or has it published on "spec". Dates and events are mixed up, such as the narrator's father mysteriously coming back to life after dying in World War I("Ach, but Papa you're TODT!"). Originally the author reviewed this turkey on Amazon about how "thrilling" and "authentic" it was, but after numerous complaints his self-serving reviews were pulled. It's sophomoric and historically inaccurate. It's better to read "War Of The Rats", or recently published non-fiction than waste time on this.
The cover should have been a dead giveaway, which depicts a modern soldier(US?) wearing a "Fritz" Kevlar helmet. Basically not worth the paper, etc...of course the author's other books are a two book series about wizards and fantasies. BTW, from his Facebook page, the author evidently sees Commies behind everything he disagrees with. It is to laugh!
http://www.amazon.com/Grandfathers-Ta...

[Gavin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is actually a fictional story. I recommend it for children who would like to learn about what a German would have experienced in the Second World war. It starts out with a child rummaging through his German grandparents attic and finding a box filled with German medals and uniforms and such. His grandfather finds him there and opens up to him about his chaotic, life-threatening time in, first, the Heer (German army), then in the Fallschirmjager (German paratroopers). If a soldier actually had this grandfather's experience, he would be one in a million. Then again, there were several millions of German soldiers at the time. Enjoyable reading for children, or for those who accidentally thought they were buying a memoir.

[Rick Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Grandfather's Tale Review

Wasn't a bad read but according to the book I thought I was reading a true account and not a made up story. I don't have a lot of time to read and was disappointed to waste my time reading a "romance novel" about WWII. There were a few inaccurate details to spoil it for a history buff like myself.

[Austin Sarbacker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grandfathers Tale: Tale of the German Sniper was a fantastic book that represented WWII and as well as the life of an German solder. This story tells action, love, fear, and ambition that makes you feel as if you are the German sniper. Even though the story is historical fiction it is very accurate because it is told by many war veterans. This book is defiantly one of my favorite books I have read all year about WWII and I hope to find many other books like this.
This book starts off with a 10 year old kid staying with his Great Grand parents for one week. This story is told by his Great Grandpa talking about his past, which he has told no one about before. The Grandpa tells an amazing story that sounds right out of a history book and a movie combined. It tells how he became a sniper as soon as he was drafted and fought in many battles. Throughout the story he killed more then a thousand of men and did highly dangerous missions with his best friend and sniper pal in the war.
This book switches off from present tense to WWII a lot, but manly WWII. The transitions between these two are time eras are diffidently the best transitions I have seen all year. The author’s style is unlike many other books. I feel how the author writes is this an epic goal in mind. What I mean by that is that he writes as if every situation is the end of the world with heavy duty amounts of detail along with great characteristics in each character.
Something’s I didn’t like the book is that the Grandpa doesn’t descript the mettles that he had earned. Other then that the book was great, defiantly the best book I have read in along time. Besides milkweed I consider this to be favorite book I have read. I think this because the book has just the amount of fighting and everyday life that a teenager can accept.
I recommend this book to anyone that is willing to know more about the average WWII German solders life, but have maturity to under stand death and war on a deep level.

[Mack & Stephanie Cooper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it

Loved it wish it would have been a first hand account Rather than a a story passed down but all in all a very good read