Book Review of
The Waffen-SS At Arnhem
Rare Photographs From Wartime Archives
Author: Ian Baxter
Pen & Sword Books Images of War Series
ISBN: 9781399012040
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright: 2022
MSRP; $26.95
ISBN: 9781399012040
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright: 2022
MSRP; $26.95
HISTORY:
The 1944 Arnhem airborne operation, immortalized by the film A Bridge Too Far, will forever be remembered as a great British feat of arms. British and Polish paratroopers displayed outstanding courage and tenacity in a desperate last stand situation. And yet, as this book describes, the plan was fatally flawed as the 9th and 10th SS Panzer Divisions were recuperating and concealed nearby. What followed was a bloody battle of attrition the result of which was arguably inevitable.
Drawing on rare and unpublished photographs, this Images of War Series work reveals the historical combat record of the Hohenstaufen and Frundsberg divisions. It describes the intensity of the fighting in and around Arnhem between these elite SS and supporting units against a lightly armed, yet equally determined enemy. In spite of the war being only months away from its end and the defeat increasingly certain, the SS soldier remained fanatically motivated.
This superbly illustrated book, with its well-researched text and full captions, captures the drama of that historic battle for a bridge over the Rhine.
THE BOOK:
Pen & Sword Books is located in the UK.
This book is of soft-cover of 112 pages. Five pages are blank. In 7” x 9 ½” page format.
It contains 144 black and white wartime photos.
At the top of the cover art there is a photo of a Sturmgeschutz III Ausf. G from Panzer Brigade 107 on the move. This brigade was employed as a quick reactionary unit against lightly armed paratroopers that had just landed. The airborne troops did not stand a chance against its firepower.
Across the bottom of the cover there are 4 more black and white wartime photos,
A photo of the Arnhem bridge, an Allied soldier with a machine gun, an SS infantryman drinking from a canteen and a SS howitzer crew.
The back cover has 3 more black and white wartime photos on it. All three show SS infantrymen in the fields.
The photos in the book show:
Obergruppenführer Wilhelm Bittrich, commander of 5th SS Panzer Division “Hohenstaufen” in February 1943 until the end of 1944.
Sixty-three photos of SS infantrymen, a Volkswagen Schwimmwagen, 2 photos of a 15cm Hummel tank, a Flak gun crew, 2 photos of a Sd.Kfz. 250/1, 11 photos of SS officers, a Sturmgeschutz III, 11 photos of Panther tank, 10 photos of a Pz.Kpfw. IV, cloth uniform cuff bands saying Frundsberg and Hohenstaufen, 2 photos of a kubelwagen, 4 photos of Allied paratroopers, 2 photos of Soviet officers, 2 photos of a Sd.Kfz. 251/3, a PAK 35-36 anti-tank gun, 9 photos of Sturmgeschutz III, a MG-42 machine gun crew, a Flakpanzer IV, 2 aerial photos of the Arnhem bridge and one ground shot of it, a captured U.S. supplied (Lend Lease) Jeep, SS infantrymen riding bicycles, 5 photos of British POWs and a photo of British troops with a Churchill tank.
There is a post card inserted into the book to mail to Pen & Sword to get more information about their books.
This is a neat photo album about this battle. It will be of interest to modelers and military historians alike,
I sincerely wish to thank Casemate Publishers for this review sample. Casemate is the North American distributor of Pen & Sword Books and all their titles can be viewed on Casemate’s website at:
The 1944 Arnhem airborne operation, immortalized by the film A Bridge Too Far, will forever be remembered as a great British feat of arms. British and Polish paratroopers displayed outstanding courage and tenacity in a desperate last stand situation. And yet, as this book describes, the plan was fatally flawed as the 9th and 10th SS Panzer Divisions were recuperating and concealed nearby. What followed was a bloody battle of attrition the result of which was arguably inevitable.
Drawing on rare and unpublished photographs, this Images of War Series work reveals the historical combat record of the Hohenstaufen and Frundsberg divisions. It describes the intensity of the fighting in and around Arnhem between these elite SS and supporting units against a lightly armed, yet equally determined enemy. In spite of the war being only months away from its end and the defeat increasingly certain, the SS soldier remained fanatically motivated.
This superbly illustrated book, with its well-researched text and full captions, captures the drama of that historic battle for a bridge over the Rhine.
THE BOOK:
Pen & Sword Books is located in the UK.
This book is of soft-cover of 112 pages. Five pages are blank. In 7” x 9 ½” page format.
It contains 144 black and white wartime photos.
At the top of the cover art there is a photo of a Sturmgeschutz III Ausf. G from Panzer Brigade 107 on the move. This brigade was employed as a quick reactionary unit against lightly armed paratroopers that had just landed. The airborne troops did not stand a chance against its firepower.
Across the bottom of the cover there are 4 more black and white wartime photos,
A photo of the Arnhem bridge, an Allied soldier with a machine gun, an SS infantryman drinking from a canteen and a SS howitzer crew.
The back cover has 3 more black and white wartime photos on it. All three show SS infantrymen in the fields.
The photos in the book show:
Obergruppenführer Wilhelm Bittrich, commander of 5th SS Panzer Division “Hohenstaufen” in February 1943 until the end of 1944.
Sixty-three photos of SS infantrymen, a Volkswagen Schwimmwagen, 2 photos of a 15cm Hummel tank, a Flak gun crew, 2 photos of a Sd.Kfz. 250/1, 11 photos of SS officers, a Sturmgeschutz III, 11 photos of Panther tank, 10 photos of a Pz.Kpfw. IV, cloth uniform cuff bands saying Frundsberg and Hohenstaufen, 2 photos of a kubelwagen, 4 photos of Allied paratroopers, 2 photos of Soviet officers, 2 photos of a Sd.Kfz. 251/3, a PAK 35-36 anti-tank gun, 9 photos of Sturmgeschutz III, a MG-42 machine gun crew, a Flakpanzer IV, 2 aerial photos of the Arnhem bridge and one ground shot of it, a captured U.S. supplied (Lend Lease) Jeep, SS infantrymen riding bicycles, 5 photos of British POWs and a photo of British troops with a Churchill tank.
There is a post card inserted into the book to mail to Pen & Sword to get more information about their books.
This is a neat photo album about this battle. It will be of interest to modelers and military historians alike,
I sincerely wish to thank Casemate Publishers for this review sample. Casemate is the North American distributor of Pen & Sword Books and all their titles can be viewed on Casemate’s website at:
Highly recommended.