With Our Backs to Berlin

by Tony Le Tissier

Book Overview

Based upon interviews with a wide-range of former German Army and SS soldiers, these unique personal episodes vividly depict the extraordinary circumstances of the Third Reich's final days as armies... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0750926112
• ISBN13: 9780750926119
• Release Date: May 2001
• Publisher: Sutton Publishing
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.3" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

Exciting, Harrowing Stories of an Incredible Time

This is an outstanding compilation of experiences of front line soldiers relating what it was like to be in the front lines in and around Berlin at the end of World War II. The book is not an orderly history of the Fall of Berlin. Instead, the book enriches one's general knowledge about that time period by recounting tales of derring-do, primarily from the German side. An exception is a very short account about a Russian corporal at Halbe, on the outskirts of Berlin. (Also, all but one story deal with the Eastern Front, i.e., the Russians.) Altogther, these tales provide a powerful insight into the average German soldier's mindset as the defenders fought with limited resources against overwhelming odds. In this book, you learn what it was like to be in the first line of defense when the Russians unleashed the largest military barrage in history to begin their final onslaught against Berlin. You learn what it was like to discover that literally thousands of Russian tanks were coming straight at you. You learn what it was like to be under siege by the Russians, including bombardments and repeated assaults directly on a position ordered to be held to the last man. You learn what it was like to try to evade Russian patrols, and armies. You learn the importance of the "Flak Towers" to the defense of the City. You also learn what it was like for both soldiers and cvilians to try to escape the City in the last days in order to come under the auspices of anyone but the Russians. One or more maps are provided for each story to make it easier to understand the action. A section of photos, including of many of the survivors whose tales are told, is included. There is even included in the Appendix the text of the award for the German Cross in Gold received by an NCO in the 1st SS Division Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler, whose exploits take up about a third of the book and in many ways are the most memorable. (The German Cross in Gold was one of the higher awards for German military valor and had to be approved by at least an Army Group Commander. In this instance, however, it does not appear to have been given for any single action but for the award of the Close Combat Clasp in Gold, which, beginning in August 1944, automatically qualifed the holder for the German Cross in Gold. The Close Combat Clasp was given in recognition of hand-to-hand combat. The Close Combat Clasp in Gold meant the recipient had survived 50 days of hand-to-hand combat, or its equivalent.)

Seldom read History

This books explores the last and bitter days of fighting from the perspective of German soldiers. The book brings new insight into the last days of the once formidible German Army. It is good story given by the common soldiers who simply fight on for undisputed loyalty or simply because they are trapped an have no other choice but to fight or die.

From those who were there!

To all those historians like myself, hearing the words from these veterans is simply priceless! This book, like many others I have read, depicts the futile struggle against the Allies from both fronts. With gripping accounts of street fighting and fire fights at point blank ranges, it will reach out to you and put you right in there shoes. These men were brave soldiers following orders to the last!

Terrific tales of terror as the war ends

Tony Le Tissier has compiled wonderful veteran accounts of the fighting in and around Berlin as the war is nearing a tragic end for the soldiers of the Heer. These stories provide good insight as to what it was like to experience the horror of combat without getting up from your armchair. Very dramatic and sad tales of loss, sacrifice, heroism, and honor are in abundance throughout the book.Contrary to what Liberal-PC extremism has been telling America and the world for years - that the Soviets were "liberators" is simply nonsense. In almost every tale there are stories of how small rearguard detachements of the Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS were left on suicide missions to let Rumanians, Ukrainians, Russian peasants, and Germans escape the ravaging Soviet juggernaut. While there are better books that deal with the war in the East, this book and these stories (even one Red-Army soldier has one) is worth the purchase and worth your time.

Great German Perspective

This book gives you a good feel for what it was like for the German soldiers as the third reich crumbled under the Russian offensive. There are only a few books like this, including Tale of a German Sniper and a few others.