Customer Reviews

Comrades to the End: The 4th SS Panzer-Grenadier Regiment "Der Führer" 1938-1945: The History of a German-Austrian Fighting Unit (Schiffer Military History)

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This book provides a detailed recollection of the Der Fuhrer Regiment's actions during and after the war from several of the units senior officers. There is a good mix of small unit and individual battle stories in addition to descriptions of the units that fought with and alongside the DF regiment. There is a detailed description of the events at Tulle and Oradour which (compellingly) disputes much of what is most often printed in other sources. Having spent many years in various US Special Forces units I also greatly appreciated the no-nonsense approach the authors took in writing this book, and highly recommend it to both historians and casual readers.

"Der Fuhrer" was a regiment in the "Das Reich" Waffen SS division. It was created in 1938, and fought with distinction until 1945. This book is a series of 4 sections, each written by the regiment's commander in the corresponding period, with a preface by Hausser. It is a translation of the 2nd edition of an old book (Hausser passed away in 1972) that was originally in German. Most discussion of tactical situations is at the regimental level, with virtually no discussion of anything above division level, and only moderate coverage of the actions of individual soldiers. Within this genre, it is a fairly good book.

The authors have broken out of the usual post-war memoire habit of sucking up to the western allies, while denouncing the Soviet Union in a play on Cold War sympathies. They denounce a war crime commited by the Dutch, of all people, and acknowledge battles in which the Soviets behaved themselves properly. Of course, there is also the usual denunciation of the shabby treatment that the West German government gave them after the war. However, the book does not get bogged down in whining with self pity.

In the middle of the book, there is a section of black and white photographs, one of which contains an interesting variant on the Hanomag armored personel carrier.

Anyone with an interest in the waffen ss or the das reich division will proberly really enjoy this book.

Written by Four Regimental commanders, this book recounts the formation, the war history, and after war history of this fine regiment. Warning though, this book is not for the causual ww2 reader in my opinion. I think it would be hard going for anyone without an interest in the waffen ss or das reich.

It is a book for somebody with a special interest in these topics, or regimental histories in general.

Having said all that i found it to be a well written, informative account of this regiment. It is forthright, detailed and incredibly interesting and enlightning.What this unit achieved is impressive, considering the situations it kept finding itself in. If you want to know the history of a truly elite regiment in a truly elite division then you will enjoy this. A fair amount of history on the sister regiment too.

Photos too and plenty of maps, and no messing around, its all too the point and not a wasted word.

NO MILITARY BOOKSHELF WOULD BE COMPLETE WITHOUT THIS BOOK, AWESOME FANTASTIC BOOK, WISH I HAD BOUGHT IT YEARS AGO.

I bought this book with the intention of understanding the "other side of the story" with respect to Tulle (where 98 men were hung) and Oradour Sur Glane (where the entire village was wiped out, including women and children in a church.) I have done a lot of research on these topics, visited both sites, spoken with survivers, and consider myself very well factually informed.
I am frankly outraged at his disgusting and defensive treatment of both topics. The Germans did not lovingly spare lots of men in Tulle after a "careful triage" on a parade ground assisted by local residents, resulting only "foreigners and communists" being hung. In fact, my grandfather was one of them (while his new wife, pregnant with my father looked on). And my grandfather was very much a young resident of Tulle, not associated with the resistance or communists. The author also casually leaves out the 100 men deported to concentration camps the same day, of which a small handful ever returned. As far as Oradour sur Glane, the author claims the church fire was accidental, and (I suppose) the grenade shrapnel that killed so many women and children was a result of munitions stored in the "attic" (an attic in a church??) rather than the eyewitness report that grenades were thrown down the nave by German soldiers. Get real - if the church had just accidentally caught fire, why didn't these charming soldiers just unlock the bloody doors to let the people out?

Frankly, I can understand why someone would be proud of their regiment, but defending the single worst civil atrocity of the war in France? I don't know anyone who could possibly even try. I'm returning my copy - the publishers of this garbage don't deserve anyone's money.