Customer Reviews

The Final Crisis: Combat in Northern Alsace, January 1945

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

 

 

One of the best memoirs/battle accounts of any book on WWII. Meticulously researched, compellingly told, it will satisfy both the avid WWII reader and the scholar. Engler includes plenty of footnotes at the end of each chapter which demonstrates an unparalled research effort, one done with most care and then crafted into a wonderful narrative.

This little-known but critical battle finally gets its due. Engler masterfully recounts the infantryman's-eye view of battle, all the while integrating the street-to-street and house-to-house fighting into the larger context of the American effort in WWII in 1944-1945. Engler elaborates on the condition of the American Army post-Normandy breakout. Everyone expected the war to be in its final stages. But behind the "greatest generation" was a desperate effort to keep America motivated, and an even more desperate effort to scrape whatever barrels remained of soldier manpower. Engler's research convincingly demonstrates the faults of America's technology over manpower approach which stacked logistics and the machine arms while shortchanging the infantry. It is a conclusion in short supply, but one that sheds light on the battle and the war.

The only minor quibble is that the book is physically too large--the pages are 8.5 x 11, and the text can be hard on the eyes. But that is not enough to detract even 1/2 of a star from its top rating.

The late Dick Engler's The Final Crisis is an essential read.
A first-in-print, moving account of major force engagements late in the WWII European Theater, this work recounts savage West Front fighting long overshadowed by the larger fabric of final war months.
In winter 1945, what must be assessed as the last of some of the most powerful engagements, Wehrmacht, Luftwaffe, and Waffen-SS units locked horns with Allied forces in the varied terrain of Lower Alsace in eastern France -- from the Vosges Mountains to the river plain of the Rhine -- and, ultimately, lost the initiative.
The Gemman "Operation Nordwind" intended to cut through combined Allied-French lines that had been overextended to support the Battle of the Bulge.
Crack SS Panzer units "Frundsberg," Goetz von Berlichingen," 21st and 25th Panzergrenadier divisions, and the SS 6th "Mountain Division 'Nord'" as well as Luftwaffe airborne and German Army ground forces and Volksgrenadier units worked in company to join battle. Ensuing combat was sustained and bloody. Soldiers of the US Seventh Army absorbed horrific enemy blows but held their ground, ultimately blunting the German attack.
The author who participated in the fight, shows detailed research and understanding of this part of the war in Europe. He did extensive research at the National Archives and at the US Military History Institute. Mr. Engler's understanding of this often overlooked part of WWII translates into a stunning account that is worthy of historians' high praise.

The best aspect of "The Final Crisis", apart from its detailed and powerful memior of combat, is Richard Engler's inclusion of descriptions of the U.S. home front as Army infantrymen pass through training and the voyage to Europe to reach the battefield.

Engler descibes the process and circumstances by which many young men who had joined up expecting to take slots in Army aviation or officers' programs, instead found themselves issued rifles and sent into the forests and mountains of the Rhineland. Although Americans generally wanted to be leaders in the war effort and not rank-and-file soldiers, the brutal reality of battle losses swept away many well-laid personal "war plans".

Usually relegated to a footnote, the campaign in the Alsace was actually more important than most people realize. Several factors combined to prevent a German victory, but it was still a very near thing for the Allies. Had the Germans broken through with Operation Nordwind, the course of the war would indeed have been very different.

The Nordwind Challenge to Freedom chapter opens the story, with background answering questions about why the operation was launched, and why it began when it did. There is information provided that sets the tone for the rest of the book, explaining national attitude in America, manpower situations, and how some units came to be placed in the American lines in the Vosges. This is followed by a chapter entitled The Setting, describes the "neighborhood." The reader is introduced to some of the villagers who inhabited the region, as well as a little of the socio-economic impact of the area. The significance of the Maginot Line fortifications is mentioned, along with an overview of the fighting during the 1940 campaign.

The third chapter is a discussion of the US Army, from prior to its involvement in the war. The US strategic views are presented, explaining the "Germany First" strategy. The author has done a good job of explaining how the Americans built there army, where the men came from, and where they went. Quite frankly, I was amazed at how short the numbers were toward the end of the war, and how Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP) was stripped of men who were supposed to be trained as specialists, but who were badly needed in infantry units.

Hopes and Illusions of Summer 1944, the fourth chapter, introduces the reader to a group of men who will surface throughout the narrative. Though names are given, and their unit is only referred to as "The Company," their story will provide a fox-hole view of this campaign. It is here that the trials and tribulations of moving from the Air Corps to the Infantry begin to emerge. Of course, this is all minor compared to the difficulties of moving from Stateside to the front lines, especially with minimal training.

Misfortunes of the Fall gives the reader more information regarding the Allied situation after the Arnhem incident, leading up to Nordwind. Here again, the home front is visited, letting the reader see where the nations thoughts were. Those thoughts were far from the southern corner of France. Still, the Allies were pushing the German lines back. The next chapter refreshes the reader on what is going on in Germany, the faith the German people still had in Hitler, even while Himmler is creating the Volks Armee, essentially a Party Army. Still, we follow Seventh Army, and "The Company," as they draw closer to NORDWIND.

Vistas of Nordwind is a short chapter, consisting of a discussion of German plans, American deployment, and the terrain they would be fighting on. It is Chapter 8 that the campaign really begins. The German attacks are described, as are the units that are hit by these attacks. An interesting part of this campaign is the political battle fought with General De Gaulle over Strasbourg. Militarily, it was looking as if evacuating was a sound idea. Politically, De Gaulle would not countenance such an action. Had the order been given to pull back from that city, there may well have been a small mutiny within the French forces, whom De Gaulle was prepared to order into the city on their own.

The fighting in the Vosges region was fierce. The following chapters have a well-balanced way of showing what went on at different levels during the campaign. Decisions made at SHAEF are just as important to this book as Corps or Division level decisions. "The Company" provides insight into the ground level action, allowing the reader to dig in, and see the enemy across a field. The battle was certainly not one-sided, as seen when the Americans lose six battalions to the Germans near Reipertswiller. Still another pasting the Americans suffered was near Herrlisheim, when a tank battalion suffered the loss of 23 of 52 tanks in a day.

Still, the issue was close. Although the Americans held, it wasn't always a sure bet. Tenacity and pure stubbornness, with a little luck, allowed the Americans to hold their lines. With a breakout prevented, the Germans could do nothing now but attempt to hold back the Allied onslaught. In this, they ultimately failed.

A lesson had hit home, though. More units were shipped from the States to Europe. Rear area units were combed through, and non-essential personnel were handed rifles and sent to the front lines. Although the German was retreating, he wasn't beaten yet. He was still a formidable foe.

There are no photographs in this book. There are a number of sketches, as well as maps. The book is well footnoted, showing the research that allows the author to literally tell the story from the ground up.

This book is an important read. Still, it is my duty to point out that although I am objective as possible, I am associated with this publisher, even though I had no involvement in the production of this book.

Dear Sir or Madam:
The only thing that keeps this book from being a 5 star is that it's softcover and does not include photos. The U.S Army Combat Cameraman, nor Richard Engler or Colonel Bonn can be blamed for this because the U.S 7th Army's combat cameramen, the 163rd Signal Photo Company's records for January of 1945 state clearly that they, indeed, took photos and film of the nightmarish and terrifying "Battle of Rittershoffen and Hatten"(ofcourse "The Battle of 'Rittershoffen'" meaning in German "The Battle of 'Knight's Hope'") and other Battles like the Saar Gap, Vosges Mountains at Wingen and Reipertswiller, Herrlisheim and Gambsheim, and the Moder River were heavily filmed and photograped by the 163rd Signal Photo Company combat cameramen and these photos and films are now 'missing in action' at the National Archives.
Gratefully, the 100th Infantry division now recognizes that it was the 117th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron on their eastern flank, an independent VI Corps unit, just attached to Task Force Hudelson, that withdrew on January 1, 1945, the first day of the German Offensive codenamed "Operation Northwind", without even confirming this by radio or runner, to the U.S 14th Armored Division's 94th Cavalry Reconaissance Squadron to its east, before the 117th Cav Recon Sqdrn took off "without orders" and ended up in Wingen and Saverne!
Also, soldiers must understand mathematically from the U.S Army Statistical Branch Studies that an Infantry Division has to have twice as many battle casualties as an Armored Division to have the same average battle casualties per infantry rifle company. In other words, there are no Infantry Divisions that fought along the Upper Rhine during Operation Northwind that have double the number of casualties of either the U.S 12th or 14th Armored Divisions (see appendix "U.S 7th Army History").
Yes, Armored Divisions had 25% of their battle casualties in tank companies. But they only had 9 armored infantry companies per armored division which would take 65% of the casualties in each armored division (see U.S Army Statistical Branch Studies of casualties in Armored Divisions verses Infantry Divisions.)
Finally, the only error the Editor, Colonel Keith Bonn made, is that he failed to connect the 2nd phase of "Operation Northwind" along the Upper Rhine against the U.S 6th Corps (of Anzio fame) and its 12th and 14th Armored Divisions, the legendary 36th,42nd (Task Force Linden),45th,70th (Task Force Herren),79th, and 103rd Divisions; against the re-equipped German 10th SS Panzer, 21st Panzer, 25th Panzer Grenadier Divisions along with the 7th Parachute Division, the 6th SS Mountain Division and 3 German Infantry Divisions and its real purpose to destroy American VI Corps 6 Divisions and Task Forces forces North of Strasbourg on the Upper Rhine Plain, which the German High Command thought Eisenhower was going to cross the Rhine River and attack towards Frankfurt and Stuttgart, as early as late November 1944! Nothing to do with the Ardennes, the German were pulling out on January 8th, 1945 while the 3 entire German Corps challenged the VI Corps from January 5-26th, 1945. See the book "Riviera to the Rhine" by Dr.Clarke and a sub-chapter entitled 'A Dubious Decision' and the 400 pages of records captured by Soviet Forces south of Berlin at Potsdam where the World War II German Military Records were archived during World War II about Eisenhower's embicilic decision to not let the U.S 6th Army Group put the U.S VI Corps across the Rhine starting November 24, 1944.
Again, other German Military Records, up to German OKW; ("German War Machine High Command", OKH ("German Army High Command" down to German Divisional military records; that are not available in the U.S National Archives Record Group 242 of "Captured Foreign Military Records", because they were captured by Russian Forces in Potsdam, near Berlin, at the end of World War II against Nazi Germany and are now stored and available at the open Russian Central Military Archives in Podolsk south of Moscow. Sincerely, Dan Kneeland

I can't really add much to the other reviews, except to say this is a great book for the WWII history buff. It neatly covers an area of combat that is often overshadowed by the Bulge. The only issue I have with this book is the flimsy paper cover...the book must be treated with care or it will fall apart.

A detailed report of action during operation Nordwind in the north-east of France. Full of informations on day by day movements of troups,which gives a good insight of what battle experience means.To be read with concentration, the subject is difficult to realise for the non-military mind.