In Deadly Combat: A German Soldier's Memoir of the Eastern Front (Modern War Studies)

Rather than trying to sensationalise the story with gruesome details the book reads more like a novel. Biderman's style is interesting, it is very well written by a man of obvious intelligence & ability to convey the feel of any given situation. The book flows in such a way with the opening skirmishes on the Eastern front that the reader is drawn in as if reading faster & faster as the Wehrmacht steam headlong into the great expanse of Russia. Infact it is a sign of Biderman's intelligence & miliatary understanding that even these swift victories worry Biderman long before they finally come to a grinding halt in the trenches of the Crimea.
An interesting style of the book is that as the Wehrmacht becomes bogged down & then ultimately turns to defence, the pace of the book changes so reflecting this change in the campaign & the soldiers lives.
Eventually the pace becomes frantic & quite broken reflecting the headlong retreat the soldiers are thrust into. This expertly reflects the fact that German soldiers were never trained in defence & you really can feel how the soldiers start to improvise & slowly learn by experience how to successfully defend against overwhelming odds. It is a testament to these soldiers that they hold out for so long with their backs against the sea. Infact the Russians cannot believe how few soldiers they have been fighting against.
A highly recommended, intelligent & thought provoking book. It would be a very good introduction to for anybody who had never actually read a German soldiers memoirs. It gives a very clear & precise snapshot of exactly how the Heer operated from the Infantryman on the front, through the artillery, supply lines & to the HQ. It does this without being a chore but rather as a fascinating insight into a well oiled war machine.

Excellent (22/22 people found this helpful)

This book is a must read for all those interested in the German-Russian war 1941-1945. It tells Bidermann's story from the battle of Sevastopol in the Ukraine to the snowy forests near Leningrad and then his 3 years internment in a Soviet camp. This book was written as an historical document for his comrades and it shows in the sheer detail of information concerning divisional level etc, something which perhaps makes it a little harder to get into. I say this in comparison to Sajer's book which is a highly personal account. Some things that Bidermann says are questionable, he claims not to have known of the Nazi exterminations, then says that the Western Allies should have been fighting the Soviets, and helping the Nazis to defend Europe. One gripe is that the map is not very good and virtually useless. Otherwise a great read, you must read this to understand the German view of the war, not just what we see in the Hollywood films!!

Buy this book (8/8 people found this helpful)

This book is a must-read for everyone, interested in the war or not. It shows the German experience of the war, something I feel we in Britain do not give any thought to. In comparison to Guy Sajer's book, i think this comes a close second as because it was written for the survivors of the unit, there is a lot of regimental level description and not so much personal experience. One slight gripe I have is that the map was not at all useful with many places missing. This is only a slight problem with an altogether excellent book!

Engrossing Account of Combat on the Eastern Front (71/71 people found this helpful)

Firstly, before launching yourself into this excellent book please take the time to read the introduction by Dennis Showalter as it will help explain the style of writing to be found in this book. The book was originally written for the survivors of Bidermann's regiment and division, not for the general public. Bearing this in mind you will have a better understanding and feeling for the author's account of his experience of fighting on the Eastern Front during WW2. At times you might find the narrative old fashioned and even cliched but this is definitely not the case, it has to be taken in context of when and why this book was first written.

This is a great story, on par if not better than Guy Sajer's 'Forgotten Soldier'. This is a combination of a combat history of the 132nd Infantry Division and the author's role and experiences in the fighting on the Eastern Front. The author, Gottlob Herbert Bidermann, won two Iron Crosses, the Crimea Shield, the Close Combat Badge, the German Cross in Gold, the Gold Wound Badge (wounded five times), the Honour Roll Clasp and the Tank Destruction Badge. What is remarkable is that the author survived five years of combat on the Russian Front fighting in Crimea, Leningrad and later in the Courland Pocket. I found his stories about his early years fighting with an anti-tank section using the Pak 37 "doorknocker" very interesting, I had always believed these weapons to be next to useless on the Russian Front however I was surprised.

You can trace the change in the author from a novice who still cared about human beings, even his enemy to one whom has been brutalised by warfare to a point past indifference to death and destruction. I have taken the liberty to include below a short section of the text from the first chapter to give you an idea of the author's style of writing:

"The NCO was grasping one of the wheels of the Maxim carriage, his sightless eyes peering forward at the ammunition belt where it fed into the chamber of the weapon. Another held his rifle clenched in cold fists, his head resting against the ground as if asleep, the olive-colored helmet secured tightly under his chin.

Hartmann slipped past me and slowly approached two other figures lying closely together, side by side. One of the figures had draped an arm across the other in a last embrace, as if attempting to comfort a dying comrade. As Hartmann neared, a cloud of flies rose in protest, breaking the deadly silence and I moved forward to join him in surveying the ghastly scene.

Moving silently among the carnage, Hartmann suddenly turned and slipped past me without speaking, heading in the direction from which we had come. Carefully avoiding the eyes of the dead, I quickly followed him.

In this abode of death, only the trees, still and quiet, appeared to be survivors and witnesses to the struggle that had occurred, hidden within this wooded glade".

I found this book to be a very fascinating account of the fighting conducted on the Eastern Front from the perspective of a young German soldier. It offers some very interesting insights into combat and its affect on men who in the end just tried to survive against immense odds. There is a number of absorbing black and white photographs supplied from private sources that give the book a human touch. The only real problem that readers may find with this book is the lack of maps detailing the movements and combats of the 132nd Infantry Division. Overall this is the sort of book that should be in the library of every serious reader or student of the war on the Russian Front during World War Two.

A vivid description of War on the eastern front (14/15 people found this helpful)

Gottlob Biderman first hand account of Germany's Russian war is a riveting account of the ordinary Wehrmacht soldier. Gottlob Biderman served with the 132nd Infantry Division and saw action from the Crimea to Kurland and then into captivity in the Russian camps, the fact that he survived is an achievement to be able to relate his experiences in such detail is a triumph. The amount of combat experience Gottlob Biderman experienced on the eastern front allows him to give impressive insight into the deadly killing zone that War in Russian became. But through all this the comradeship between the soldiers comes to the fore, for them in this life and death struggle they leaned on each other. They tended there wounded and buried the dead and moved forward to the next encounter knowing that eventually they would meet at the end of there journey. Compelling reading.

In Deadly Combat: A German Soldier's Memoir of the Eastern Front (Modern War Studies)

Gottlob Herbert Bidermann

Reader Reviews:

A well written, intelligent German memoir of World war II (0/0 people found this helpful)

Excellent (22/22 people found this helpful)

Buy this book (8/8 people found this helpful)

Engrossing Account of Combat on the Eastern Front (71/71 people found this helpful)

A vivid description of War on the eastern front (14/15 people found this helpful)

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