Customer Reviews

ADVENTURES IN MY YOUTH: A German Soldier on the Eastern Front 1941-45

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This was a well written and detailed autobiography of a young Austrian's experience in the German Army as an infantry officer on the Eastern Front. He covers his officer training in 1941/42 when the army was still interested in turning out gentlemen as well as competent leaders of men. Armin saw his first action in Russia in 1942 and his last as a badly wounded hospital patient in Danzig in 1945 where he began two years of Soviet captivity.

This book deserved 5-stars, but the publisher did not include any maps! How a reader is suppost to follow a military campaign of movement without maps is beyond me and is the only real flaw of this book. Be warned that the print is small (paperback size), and some photos would have been nice too(there were none). Despite its flaws, it is still a good read.

Excellent account of a young platoon leader and company commander's experiences fighting the Russians in WWII. Explains in detail elements of WWII German officer training; one of the reasons the German Army remainded a deadly opponent to the end of the war was the overall high quality of its company grade officers and NCOs. Describes in detail how it felt to be on the receiving end of a massive Soviet artillery barrage and to defend against tank-supported massed infantry assaults. Points out things this officer did right and wrong in combat, and how a young men deal with death in combat. One of the handful of books written from a company grade infantry officer's perspective; most accounts deal with panzer and panzer grenadier units, but this one does not. It focuses on the combat actions of an infantry regiment equipped with horse-drawn waggons for supply and occasionally transportation. Rock solid history of small unit to regimental combat on the Eastern Front in WWII.

What a great read. This is a superbly done memoir that I found to be interresting, informative, humbling and fascinating. It ranks among the best I have read (in my personal opinion) about the German soldier in WW2. I do agree with a previous reader that a lack of photos and maps keeps me from giving it a 5. However, compared to SS Panzergrenadier (a bunch of crap), Adventures in my Youth is absoutely worth the time. Thank you, Armin, for leaving us this narrative.

I have read many first person soldier accounts, trying to learn what it was really like to live the history so many great history books have been written to tell us about. Often, such personal accounts fall short. but, here, at last, is a story teller who has a gift for detailed memory, and excellent prose. The reader not only learns about the fear, the blood and the gore that is war. But, also about the life of a man in Hitlers army, from the first day in a training outfit to the last days as a prisoner of the Russians. I was fascinated by the descriptions of the small and the large and the exciting and the mundane. Readers get to hear about the training regimen, the smallest details of the uniforms, the equipment, the unit formations and the fighting methods. At last, also, we get a first hand account of what it was like to be a despised prisoner of the Russians; the hospitals, the hatred, the abuse, the food, the lice, the work, the despair and the hopelessness. Yet, the author tells of an amazing inner confidence and spirit that allowed him to make it when so many others could not. It is a read most will find both fascinating and inspiring. Yet, let me warn you; this was not written by a professional writer. he is educated and does not 'jar' the reader with glaring mistakes or rambling. But, at the same time, he is not as organized or gifted with the ability to make the words flow off the page. He tells a real story with a directness and dedication to truth that some may find a labor to read. I urge you to forgive the small bits of amateurish style. the work is well worth it if you are interested in learning a bit of history very few ever lived to tell about.