German Security and Police Soldier 1939-45 (Warrior) [Paperback]

Gordon Williamson (Author), Velimir Vuksic (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 13, 2002 | Series: Warrior (Book 61)

The security units of the Third Reich were many and diverse, yet often an oversimplified view is projected of these organisations. This title provides a detailed and informed picture of the variety of operations and duties, as well as the motivation and behaviour of the men involved. It charts the experiences of typical World War II security forces and police soldiers - from the routine of military traffic duty, to combating partisans and resistance fighters. It covers the military police of the Armed Forces proper and the Waffen-SS, the combat units of the German State Police, the SD Sicherheitsdienst, the Schutzmannschaft' units, and the extreme and dreaded anti-partisan units 'Dirlewanger' and 'Kaminski'.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Insights into the real lives of history's fighting men, packed with full colour illustrations, highly detailed cutaways, exploded artwork of weaponry and armour, and action-packed battle scenes.

About the Author

Gordon Williamson was born in 1951 and currently works for the Scottish Land Register. He spent seven years with the military Police TA and has published a number of books and articles on the decorations of the Third Reich and their winners. He is author of a number of World War II titles for Osprey.

Product Details

• Paperback: 64 pages
• Publisher: Osprey Publishing (November 13, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1841764167
• ISBN-13: 978-1841764160
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 0.2 x 9.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,638,750 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A remarkable book, January 10, 2007

By 

Camilla Petersen (Örland, Sör-Trøndelag, Norway) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: German Security and Police Soldier 1939-45 (Warrior) (Paperback)

I quite enjoyed to read the book; it gives the reader a picture of how the lives of the German military policemen must have been, together amazingly painted art and photographies to illustrate this. Yet I hunger for more, the only thing I find sad was the book was this thin.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not his best work, but...., September 12, 2006

By 

M. G Watson "Miles Watson" (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: German Security and Police Soldier 1939-45 (Warrior) (Paperback)

GERMAN SECURITY AND POLICE SOLDIER 1939 - 1945 is a small book of the handy-reference, coffee-table variety by Gordon Williamson. The prolific Williamson is well-versed on his subject, and being a former (British) military policeman himself writes with an understanding that often eludes the chair-bound historian. His book is meant to provide an illustrated overview of the MP's of the Wehrmacht, regular Police and SS/Security Police, and it certainly succeeds on that score. Williamson takes a brief look at each organization and its various offshoots, explaining their tables of organization, equipment, insignia, and history.

I should however emphasize the "brief." This is no in-depth study. The information provided, while presented accessbly enough, is crammed between a number of photographs, the quality of which, overall, is somewhat less than I'd expected. There are a number of "seen this before in 12 other books" pictures (if you read WW 2 books, you know what I'm talking about) and the quality of some of the other pics is very uneven. With some exceptions, clear uniform detail tends to be missing, and call me crazy, but the people who buy specialty books of this type are expecting a lot of it.

In addition to the photos, there is an 8 page section of color illustrations by Velimir Vuksic, a Croation artist and ex-paratrooper. They appear to have been adduced to compensate for the so-so quality of the photos, but they, too, are of inconsistent quality. The first and last illustrations are excellent, while the rest have an oddly flat and lifeless quality to them -- they look like uninspired imitations of the illustrations in Andrew Mollo's superb "Armed Forces of World War II." In fact, one of the figures on p 38 of this book seems to have been modeled directly on one of Mollo's figures.

The moralizing in the text is a bit repetitious. With such limited space to tackle his subject, Williamson would have been better served succinctly describing the various massacres perpetrated by these security troops and field policemen, and less time telling us how disgusting and villainous they were. As an ex-MP his disgust is understandable, but we don't necessarily need to hear it.

The good news is that Williamson manages to convey a lot of information in very little space. His mini history lessons are hightly informative, and his writing on the barbaric crimes committed by the notorious Kaminski and Dirlewanger brigades gave me an excellent picture of these vicious murder squads. To sum up? If you are looking for a primer on the roles, organization and regalia of the military police and security troops of the Third Reich, this isn't a bad choice. If you want meat to go with your bread, look elsewhere.

0 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a stunning picture of a horrid ers, March 31, 2009

By 

james mchugh "chief skeptic" (new york citry) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: German Security and Police Soldier 1939-45 (Warrior) (Paperback)

Memories of Hitler.s Germany are fading . Thus a refresher course is needed. Some of the police agencies in the Third Reich were nothing more than killing machines directed at innocents in Nazi occupied Europe. THe photos are graphic and disturbing. Read this book with scotch whisky close at hand.