17SS ‘Götz von Berlichingen’ Vol.3 by Helmut Günther
17SS ‘Götz von Berlichingen’ Vol.3 is the last of a three-volume set (this volume was written by Helmut Günther) and documents the final combats of the 17. SS Panzer-Grenadier-Division ‘Götz von Berlichingen’ from mid-March to the beginning of May 1945.
Decimated and exhausted, outnumbered and outgunned, and always under Allied air attacks, its soldiers fought and repeatedly retreated to the next defensive position. The desolate trail led through the Saar into the Westwall, which was penetrated easily. They defended at the Germersheim Bridgehead, in the Oden Forest, and in The Crailsheim Pocket and finally resisted bitterly in the street of Nürnberg. The remnants retreated southeast to the Tyrol, where they surrendered to US troops at Lake Achen.
This very detailed history excels on three levels: Stöber and Günther provide a continuous account of the overall situation on the Northwestern Front, daily and hourly reports on the actions of the Division’s units, and humanizes the fighting with many personal accounts from its soldiers. The numerous maps and appendices provide a detailed picture of the Division, its sub-units, and decisions undertaken by the higher command.
With the publication of the three volumes, any serious historian has an impressive divisional history that provides new information regarding combat in Normandy and later fighting until Germany’s surrender.
This three-volume set is one of the best German unit histories and stands proudly next to the divisional histories written by Weidinger, Lehmann/Tiemann and Hubert Meyer.
Book Data
Author: Helmut Günther
ISBN: 9781927332153
Pages: 480
Photos: 167
Maps: 14
Physical: Hardcover, 230x150mm, landscape
Contents
- Foreword
- In the Saarland
- The Attack
- Retreat to the Rhine
- Germersheim Bridgehead
- On Both Sides of the Neckar
- In the Odenwald
- Between the Hohenloher Land
- The Crailsheim Pocket
- In the Fore Field of Nürnberg
- Street Fighting in Nürnberg
- From the Altmühl to the Isar
- Capitulation at Lake Achen
- Concluding Remarks