In Deadly Combat: A German Soldier's Memoir of the Eastern Front (Modern War Studies)

Military memoirs can be a tricky thing, based upon how long after the event they describe that they were written, any agendas the author may have and how the memoirs were edited. In Deadly Combat, written by German army veteran Gottlob H Bidermann was written in the 1950s after the author had returned from three years in the Soviet gulag. Although the memories were still fairly fresh, no doubt the years of malnutrition had an impact on the author's ability to recall certain details or episodes - this appears sporadically throughout the book. It's not immediately apparent that the author has any real agenda, although throughout he is only willing to point fingers at the Soviet enemy, various Nazi big shots including Hitler, and the Western Allies. The editing, done by American military veteran Derek S. Zumbro, is good in most appears, but lags at one point in the center. Biderman's memoirs depict his unit, the 132. Infanterie-Division in three set-piece battles: the Crimea in 1941-1942, Leningrad in 1942-1943 and Courland in 1944-1945. The book benefits from the author's rise through the ranks from enlisted to junior officer during the course of the war and his participation on the Eastern Front from July 1941 to May 1945. Such accounts are rare, particularly from front-line soldiers. Overall, In Deadly Combat is a very good memoir - with a few odd exceptions - that offers considerable insight into the German perspective of East Front combat in 1941-45. The book begins with the author's unit marching into the Ukraine in July 1941. Initially, he is an enlisted men in charge of a 3.7-cm Pak gun in a regimental-level anti-tank unit. I thought that the book started a bit too abruptly, with no mention of the author's background or even hometown (later revealed to be Stuttgart) and he does not provide much information on his peers until the last page of the book. It would have been useful if the editor had provided some of this in his introduction, since people seem to come and go in the narrative without much context. The author sees sporadic action in the pursuit across the Ukraine, but then things shift into high gear when he reaches the Crimea. Here, the author was involved in the first assault on Sevastopol, the counterattack at Feodosiya, the fighting around Kerch and the final assault on Sevastopol - all very good material. The author generally maintains a first-person narrative format in the Crimea section, but sometimes starts slipping in information he gathered from post-war secondary sources, such as technical information on the Karl and Dora heavy artillery pieces - information he clearly did not know in 1942. On another occasion he discusses Stalin's pre-war purges, which were also outside his purview. Nevertheless, the Crimea section was a satisfying, if not always insightful, read. Around August 1942 the author was selected for officer training, but he provides almost no detail on this, which is a pity. It is often argued in history circles that German officer training declined quickly after 1941 and Bidermann could have provided interesting perspectives on this. The second section of the book covers the transfer of the author's 132. Infanterie-Division to the Leningrad Front in September 1942. However, the author missed much of the Leningrad action because he was in France in an officer training course, so this section shifts to a very high-level coverage of events, rather than the first-person style used in the Crimea. The Leningrad section was disappointing and the period from January 1943 to June 1944 is covered at a much quicker pace, with the emphasis on repeated Soviet attacks that are defeated one after another. Frankly, the editor really needs to re-work this middle section because it flows poorly and doesn't mesh well with the rest of the book. The third section covers the author's last year of the war and his unit's ordeal in the Battle of the Courland Pocket. This section was easily the best and it is clear that the author's memories were sharper here. There are some excellent combat vignettes in this section, including the author getting surprised by Soviets while sleeping and later, knocking out a Soviet tank with a Panzerfaust. The author also had a number of interesting experiences in the last few months of the war, such as being given a rare furlough in December 1944 and crossing the Baltic on a fishing boat to return to Germany. At the end, the author surrenders with his unit in May 1945 and spends more than three years in Soviet prison camps before returning to Germany. The author himself is an elusive character throughout the book. I had the impression he was a decent front-line officer who had the respect of his troops, if not always his superiors. He frequently criticizes Hitler and the Nazis, although he does not reveal until the end of the book that his father was a police official - meaning that the criticism was likely retrospective. As a number of reviewers have already mentioned, Bidermann says that he never saw any mistreatment of civilians or prisoners. I'm willing to take him at his word, but he later criticizes the Nazis for harsh measures in the East so if he was unaware of atrocities, why bother condemn the Nazis for them. I don't think the author was covering up anything, but he appears to block out anything that would make the Wehrmacht look bad. Overall, In Deadly Combat should be taken as an honest effort to provide a first-person perspective of the German experience on the Eastern Front in 1941-45. It does have some flaws, but admirably conveys the emotions of a valid combat memoir.

Excellent book, have difficulty putting it down since I received it.

Gottlobb Herbert Biderman's "In Deadly Combat" is an interesting view of the German war on the Eastern Front during World War II. Although it purports to be "A German Soldier's Memoir," it is at times a memoir, at times a division history of the unremarkable 132d Infantry Division.The author was at first a Pak anti-tank gun commander when the 132d Infantry Division invaded Soviet Russia in July 1941. Halfway through the war he was commissioned and returned to the 132d Infantry Division as an officer. Parts of the book are his firsthand accounts of his early battles as a Pak gunner, the tough Crimean campaign, brutal fighting on the Leningrad front, the final months of the war in the Courland pocket, and Biderman's years as a POW after the war. Biderman also recounts his trips to Germany while on leave and how the assassination plot against Hitler effected the frontline soldier.Mixed with these personal accounts is the overall history of the 132d Infantry Division. These memoirs were originally written almost 20 years after the war was over, and were fleshed out based on interviews of other members of the 132d and extensive documentary research. The reader thus has a perspective not only of the individual soldier but of an entire division of German soldiers fighting throughout the war. Although some readers may want to read more detailed accounts of Biderman's experiences during periods when only the larger story is told, the book does not suffer because of this.The book is short on maps of the far-flung battlefields, so the reader has to rely on textual references to locations (never adequate), have a good WWII atlas handy, or read on in relative ignorance of the locations over which Biderman fought. A researcher or hardcore World War II enthusiast may lament some of the details that Biderman didn't give, such as the procedures and organization of a Pak gun crew, the general reader would likely not be bothered by this. Another noteworthy aspect of the book is the almost complete absence of any mention of atrocities, especially those committed by Germans."In Deadly Combat" is well-written and professionally-presented. Biderman had the assistance of an accomplished translator and editor, and its Introduction helps give the reader a basic overview of the organization of a typical German infantry division. While this book lacks the gripping and brutal emotional impact of Guy Sajer's "Forgotten Soldier" (which is of dubious veracity), it is a much better work than other Ostfront memoirs such as "Blood Red Snow."

Knowing very little about the eastern front, I decided to do some research on the best books available. This was nowhere near the top of any list or even on many of the lists I uncovered. I took a chance and ordered a copy when I found a little note on one of these lists, it described how this book was never meant from public eyes, more for the private soldiers of the 132 infantry division. It gives detailed accounts of the victories they won and vivid memories of the hardship and defeats they suffered. When all they had was each other and the friendships they formed. This book doesn’t have any hero’s or any highly decorated soldiers. It has a man, the lead and loved his men, despite the hardest conditions and overwhelmed odds, that in the end, all he did was his best.

Of the 19 Million soldiers who fought on the side of the Axis in WW2, 17 Million of them fought on the Eastern Front against the Russians. Western Europe, I believe, was a side-show in comparison. When Hitler decided to invade the USSR, although he might have forced Stalin to a negotiated surrender if opperation Barbarossa hadn't begun later than originally planned, I think that the final outcome was inevitable. I believe Andrew Roberts was correct in his analysis that Germany could not have won WW2 because Germany was lead by the Nazis. I also believe that, as Max Hastings wrote, the German soldier was the best soldier of the war. Why? He had no choice; he had to be. This book explains why in my view. It gives a very good account of how the German Army bled itself dry against the ever increasing strength of the Soviet Forces, who had the resources to be able to absorb the massive casualties inflicted on it by the German army.

absolutely brilliant read I couldn't put it down

A really good book about one man's experiences on the Eastern Front. It must have been very difficult for everyone involved

very good