Book Review of
German Mountain Troops 1942-45
Men –Battles-Weapons
Casemate Illustrated
Author: Yves Beraud
ISBN: 978-1-61200-946-9
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright: 2021
MSRP: $24.95
Author: Yves Beraud
ISBN: 978-1-61200-946-9
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright: 2021
MSRP: $24.95
Inspired by German experience in mountain fighting in WWII, by 1945 the Wehrmacht had 15 mountain divisions and a multitude of small units.
Their training, equipment, and adaptability, meant these elite troops would be deployed to operate in extreme environments on all fronts throughout WWII, from ice-bound mountains to the blistering desert heat.
In 1942, Gebirgsjager were fighting across Europe, North Africa, on the Eastern Front, and in Norway. Subordinated to a bewildering number of different units in order to utilize their unique skills, they would be repeatedly thrown into the fray without a break, often far from the mountains in which they were trained to operate.
Then, as the Reich was pushed back on all fronts in 1944/45, many of the mountain divisions were deployed to counter insurgencies in the Balkans, Italy, and in the South of France, in anti-partisan campaigns marked by brutal atrocities.
This book, along with its companion “German Mountain Troops 1939-42”, is the culmination of four decades of research and created with the support of many veteran’s and collectors. It describes the uniforms, specialist equipment, including skis, and dog sleds, and the campaigns of these units during the second half of WWII.
The text is complemented by period photographs taken at the front, including many color and colorized photographs, and modern photographs showing uniform details.
This book is soft-cover with fold over flaps.
The front cover has a large colorized wartime photo of mountain troops around a large pile of equipment cartons. The bottom of the cover show troops atop a tank, a trooper reading a book and troops in a truck.
The fold over flap on the front cover gives the history of the mountain troops and a book description.
Casemate is a book publisher and also a distributor of other brands of books. They are based in Pennsylvania.
This book contains 128 pages in 7” x 10” page format.
It holds 87 black and white photos and 81 color ones.
The black and white photos both contain shots of officers and troops, various uniforms and vehicles.
There is an event calendar, color photo of an over-coat, 3 parkas, a steel helmet and shoes.
There are 26 color photos of unit badges, 5 of different caps and 4 of fez’s, 8 different arm bands, 2 wood shacks, a barracks, 3 shots of the cover of Wehrmacht Magazine, troops with a weather balloon, a painting of troops in a trench, troops pulling a sled, a cover of Signal Magazine, troops on horse-back, troops next to a Focke Achgelis Fu-223 helicopter.
At the back of the book there is SOURCES page and the INDEX.
The back cover has a color illustration of 2 mountain troops in a machine gun position, a black and white photo of troops with mules. At the bottom there is a color photo of a long line of mountain troops on the march
The back fold over flap tells about the author:
Yves Beraud comes from a family with a history of service in mountain units. He was a senior officer of the French Army. Now retired, he has had several studies published, in a number of languages, focusing primarily on mountain troops.
Below this there are 4 black and white cover arts of other Casemate books: “German Mountain Troops 1939-42”, “The 3rd SS Panzer Regiment”, “Operation Typhoon” and “From Moscow to Stalingrad”.
This is a neat book about mountain troops. It will be of interest to figure modelers and military historians alike.
I want to sincerely thank Casemate Publishers for this review sample. All casemate book titles and other brands can be viewed on their site at:
Their training, equipment, and adaptability, meant these elite troops would be deployed to operate in extreme environments on all fronts throughout WWII, from ice-bound mountains to the blistering desert heat.
In 1942, Gebirgsjager were fighting across Europe, North Africa, on the Eastern Front, and in Norway. Subordinated to a bewildering number of different units in order to utilize their unique skills, they would be repeatedly thrown into the fray without a break, often far from the mountains in which they were trained to operate.
Then, as the Reich was pushed back on all fronts in 1944/45, many of the mountain divisions were deployed to counter insurgencies in the Balkans, Italy, and in the South of France, in anti-partisan campaigns marked by brutal atrocities.
This book, along with its companion “German Mountain Troops 1939-42”, is the culmination of four decades of research and created with the support of many veteran’s and collectors. It describes the uniforms, specialist equipment, including skis, and dog sleds, and the campaigns of these units during the second half of WWII.
The text is complemented by period photographs taken at the front, including many color and colorized photographs, and modern photographs showing uniform details.
This book is soft-cover with fold over flaps.
The front cover has a large colorized wartime photo of mountain troops around a large pile of equipment cartons. The bottom of the cover show troops atop a tank, a trooper reading a book and troops in a truck.
The fold over flap on the front cover gives the history of the mountain troops and a book description.
Casemate is a book publisher and also a distributor of other brands of books. They are based in Pennsylvania.
This book contains 128 pages in 7” x 10” page format.
It holds 87 black and white photos and 81 color ones.
The black and white photos both contain shots of officers and troops, various uniforms and vehicles.
There is an event calendar, color photo of an over-coat, 3 parkas, a steel helmet and shoes.
There are 26 color photos of unit badges, 5 of different caps and 4 of fez’s, 8 different arm bands, 2 wood shacks, a barracks, 3 shots of the cover of Wehrmacht Magazine, troops with a weather balloon, a painting of troops in a trench, troops pulling a sled, a cover of Signal Magazine, troops on horse-back, troops next to a Focke Achgelis Fu-223 helicopter.
At the back of the book there is SOURCES page and the INDEX.
The back cover has a color illustration of 2 mountain troops in a machine gun position, a black and white photo of troops with mules. At the bottom there is a color photo of a long line of mountain troops on the march
The back fold over flap tells about the author:
Yves Beraud comes from a family with a history of service in mountain units. He was a senior officer of the French Army. Now retired, he has had several studies published, in a number of languages, focusing primarily on mountain troops.
Below this there are 4 black and white cover arts of other Casemate books: “German Mountain Troops 1939-42”, “The 3rd SS Panzer Regiment”, “Operation Typhoon” and “From Moscow to Stalingrad”.
This is a neat book about mountain troops. It will be of interest to figure modelers and military historians alike.
I want to sincerely thank Casemate Publishers for this review sample. All casemate book titles and other brands can be viewed on their site at:
Highly recommended.