Sniper on the Eastern Front: The Memoirs of Sepp Allerberger, Knight's Cross

The first time I read this book I coudlnt put it down (Apart from two incidents described that made me feel sick and forced me to close it). I have just finished reading it for the second time and although I still find it a great read I couldnt help feel parts of it were poorly written. Perhaps this is beacuse this isn't the full version translated from the german original or its just down to the skill of the author. In parts it reads like extremely grim fiction (almost cliche) rather than a first hand account of the front line and gives the feeling that the author has taken a few liberties here and there. After reading it again I have found myself asking questions about the validty of some parts. weather this is due to something being lost in the translation or the author giving it his own point of view I guess we will never know. My utmost appologies would be given if evidence came to light showing these things happend. Or even if the person who this book is based on (sepp Allerberger isnt his real name) or even other soldiers in his unit came forward and said "no this is how it was these are the things I have seen". But untill then I guess I will still find myself doubting. Remember this is a (supposed) account of one man in a war. If you are expecting him to go into technical detail about being a sniper such as camouflage and concealment, stalking and observation then this probably isnt for you. Its an account of the things experianced and the attrocities seen rather than a "this is how I went about being a sniper in ww2" account.In all its a great (yet harrowing) read. If you want somthing to be engrossed in then give it a go (But if you read into it too deeply you may find yourself asking the same questions).

A brilliant read (1/1 people found this helpful)

I found this book thoroughly absorbing and a fascinating insight into the deadly and personal world of a sniper operating on the Eastern Front in WW2.
He tells it how it was and pulls no punches when witnessing atrocities. Its a gritty odyssey. I thoroughly recommend it as a great read.

Great story but the author gives it no justice at all... (7/8 people found this helpful)

Great story but the narrative is very poor. The book has been translated into English by a German speaker, therefore there are many instances of appalling grammatical errors and some comments which only make sense when read in the German original. A point to note for the Publishers; a good translator can be hired cheaply and would make an immense improvement in the quality of this shoddy product.

Unfortunately, the author's powers of writing have failed him in this endeavour despite the impression in the cover notes of him being a leading expert in the field as all he has achieved here is the cobbling of individual interviews about the subject meshed into a kind of mish-mash pulp book. There is no attempt to put the narrative into an overall framework of the unit in which Allerberger served nor any information about the campaign/situations it was placed in other than a brief & inadequate map at the beginning. There has been no additional research or "value add" by the author. The book contains some glaring mistakes such as the Author's glib statement undervaluing the knights cross which he claims were given away like sweeties even although a great deal of research has been proven otherwise.

There were only 7000+ of these medals issued to an army/Navy/Airforce at war for over 6 years and which comprised many millions of people..so it wasnt an easy medal to win, in fact research shows that it became tougher to win as time went on, although there were some other awards given out easily for morale sakes the Knights Cross was not one of them.

The action in which Allenberger was supposedly awarded his knights cross for reads like something from a comic story, unfortunately the author confuses the facts and changes the figures throughout the passage, the kill figure so emphatically stated in the narrative is reduced from a very large figure down to a more manageable one by contradicting what he has just described and then choosing to ignore the inconsistancy. A great disappointment is that there is no actual evidence that Allerberger was awarded the Knights Cross and the Author has done NO research whatsoever to try to show if this was a problem based on the circumstances in which his subject supposedly received the award(in late 1945 this was a possibility) or whether it was because it wasnt actually awarded, everything is taken at face value. There are no interviews with any member of Allenbergers unit or the other named parties to determine if this was the case, nor has the author made the trip to the extensive archives relating to the German servicemen of WW2 held in Germany, USA & other countries..in doing so he devalues the story of Mr Allerberger and does the reader a great dis-service. This is further compounded by having no references, bibliography or links to any confirmation sources, surely the author must have done some research other than getting poor old Mr Allerberger to sit in front of the tape for hours at an end, for without that research hes merely a transcriber and Not an Author at all.

incidentally, Allerberger is meant to be a pseudonym for the real person and for those non German speakers among you, it roughly means "any mountainer" which is a quaint way of saying that it stands for any member of the German Mountain(Gebirgsjaeger) troops of the war. However if he really came from the 3rd Division and was awarded the Knights cross in 1945 and the other awards at the dates previously stated by the author then it wouldn't take too long to locate the real man's records and identity! so much for protecting his identity.

it has been said that this book is a cut-down version of the German language edition and if thats the case then it shows only too clearly in the poor linkages. I will probably borrow the German version from my local library(in Germany)and chec if this is the case but i suspect that the German version may well be worse if this is the distilled copy.

All in all the facts in the story are presented in a confusing manner and it's very clear that the biographer is not a military expert despite what the cover notes say. It's a pity that the real Sepp Allerberger didnt have a real biographer who was worthy of the challenge of telling his unique story of bravery, perserverance and incredible skill.

A Good Story (2/3 people found this helpful)

A reasonable read, but I was left doubt the veracity of the story. Perhaps I do the author a dis-service, but it seemed to be a series of stereotyped anecdotes strung into a rather poor biography.

Sniper On The Eastern Front (2/8 people found this helpful)

This book was a disappointment from cover to cover. Injured soldier finds soviet sniper rifle and learns " on the job " how to be a master sniper ?
The monotonous and graphic description of extreme physical trauma is repeated page after page.
There is very little description of shots taken,or indeed of any of the other skills required of a sniper, such as camouflage and concealment stalking and observation.
All in all a poorly written book with a front picture that ( sadly ) sold it to me.
If you have an interest in military sniping STEER CLEAR of this book.

Sniper on the Eastern Front: The Memoirs of Sepp Allerberger, Knight's Cross

Albrecht Wacker

Reader Reviews:

Great book..........But (2/2 people found this helpful)

A brilliant read (1/1 people found this helpful)

Great story but the author gives it no justice at all... (7/8 people found this helpful)

A Good Story (2/3 people found this helpful)

Sniper On The Eastern Front (2/8 people found this helpful)

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