Customer Reviews

First Across the Rhine: The 291st Engineer Combat Battalion in France, Belgium, and Germany

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

 

 

After hearing about Col Pergrin in the Philly news (WWII anniversary) I was hoping to find a book about his unit. This book is such a must for any WWII historian. It is quite readable, in spite the rich detail it goes into. The section (about 1/3 of the book) on the units exploits during the Battle of the Bulge, must rank among some the best first person accounts ever written! After reading that section I can see how "Those damned Engineers" ruined Hitler's winter offensive. The section on the bridging of the Rhine is another epic. I knew prior to reading this book that they did build the bridge, I was still hanging on every page, as if I was reading a novel. Col Pergrin's love and compassion for his troops is also well noted, he seems like a great leader (I wish we still had a few like him). One problem I had (very minor) was my lack of knowledge of the various types of bridges, which does not take away from this book, but if included would add so much to it. Overall I loved it!

This book is a must read for anyone interested in combat engineering. COL Pergrin tells his story of forming and then leading a combat engineer battalion in World War II in Europe. The 291st had a huge reputation as an outstanding engineer unit, and as you read the Battalion Commander's recollections, you have no trouble understanding why. An interesting comment on the quality of officers that were grown in the two-three years prior to the invasion of France. COL Pergrin was a typical example of the quick assessment and then promotion of the true leaders. This book is enjoyable for those with some background in comabt engineering tasks. As an engineer officer, I learned much about the history and achievements of a great combat engineer unit.

I've had the pleasure to read this book, and to talk with the author. After all these years he is still sharp as a tack and willing to talk about his experiences. The book gives a great first hand look at the important role combat engineers played in WWII.

I own this book in hardback format. I holds a special place in my world as my father-in-law (Rest in Peace, Mike) served as a common grunt in the 291st, fought the Battle of the Bulge, crossed the River Rhine and returned home to live a quiet, unassuming life. He didn't often talk about the war and after reading this book I can only begin to understand the horrors he witnessed.

I decided to update my col-lection, replacing those books I read often with Kin-dle versions. Like several other book-s I've purchased, this one suffers from the inex-plicable appearance of hypens in the mid-dle of words. At first I though it was due to some direct trans-lation from type print, but the pattern doesn't fit since sometimes the wo-rd hyphenated is on-ly three or four letters in length or the hyphen appears after the f-irst or last lette-r.

It's r-eally quite an-noying as it dis-tracts the rea-der. If it was just one or two instances it might be excusable, but in the case of this book it appears at least once per page and sometimes four or even five times.

This is just sloppy quality control, something that really detracts from the Kindle experience. Amazon would do well to have better proofing.

Great book about one engineering unit in Europe that went thru many campaigns, including Normandy and Battle of the Bulge bseides crossing the Rhine.
Following all their "adventures" is well worthwhile, but very detailed in spots (so skim them).
A friend's father is actually mentioned in this book!