Marching From Defeat

A lot of people have seen “As Far As My Feet Will Carry Me”, a 2001 WWII movie based on a book by Josef Martin Bauer. Both can be summed up as an exciting escape story: a German soldier, Clemens Forell, is sent to a very remote Soviet camp and walks to freedom against all odds. However, it has turned out that very little in that film/book can have come from the actual life of the real Forell, Cornelius Rost. Well, is the new book Marching From Defeat by Claus Neuber better than Bauer´s book?

Marching From Defeat is a book from 2020 in English but was published in German seven years ago, as Marsch aus dem Untergang. Simply put it is an autobiographical escape account by Claus Neuber, who was a German Army artillery lieutenant on the 1944 Eastern Front, serving in the 18th Panzergrenadier Division. Like thousands of other German soldiers he finds himself caught up in Operation Bagration, the huge Red Army offensive in the summer of 1944. He is then on the run behind Soviet lines for more than two months and during that time he is captured by the Soviets but manages to escape from his first camp.

Neuber recorded his experiences of escaping from Soviet captivity in a report soon afterwards, and later expanded his account. But it was not published in Germany until 2014. To tell you what I think of his book I will start with the credibility and then what it was like reading it.

Basically I wish Claus Neuber had met a more objective and professional German publisher/editor. Because his account has many signs of being authentic and therefore it should have been “left alone”, i.e. not been mixed with a lot of postwar thoughts. Of course the book could still have included postwar insights and comments. Actually, it could well have had some more postwar comments – from different historians of the Eastern Front. But the postwar insights and comments should have been in chapters separate from the wartime experiences. So, I object to how Neuber´s 1944 memories have been “developed”, because that process has not improved the book.

Still, especially once you get to the start of the long trek towards the new German lines, Marching From Defeat is often an amazing read. One gets the feeling that these are indeed the thoughts, experiences and conversations of German soldiers on the run. Surprisingly often they are helped by locals and some of the most moving scenes in the book are the encounters between the author´s group and villagers that often had no reason to help Germans - but still did so because they recognized the human beings behind the remains of German uniform.

I do not wish to spoil your reading experience but think the following quote from the author gives an idea of the challenges he encountered, without revealing too much: “Had I known about the ordeal that lay ahead of me, I would have given up all hope, but luckily I didn´t know and none of us knew because it was unimaginable.”

Neuber encountered countless setbacks of all kinds but also learnt repeatedly how a setback can turn out to be for the best. Sometimes it is almost beyond belief how he could carry on walking.

So, if you are into WWII escape & survival stories and/or have been intrigued by As Far As My Feet Will Carry Me, then Marching From Defeat should interest you. Hopefully some future book will examine Claus Neuber´s account in more detail, comparing it with wartime documents and also with similar fates.

The Most Amazing Tank Destroyer Ever

 

Which tank destroyer can be called the most effective? We could probably debate that forever. However, I find one tank destroyer a bit more fascinating than the rest. Not least because after 76 years it is still in service. There is now a brilliant book in English about it.

 

Both the Third Reich and the Soviet Union produced some larger and deadlier tank destroyers than the Soviet SU-100. But in the Red Army the SU-100 was the most powerful medium tank destroyer. At medium ranges it could take out both Panthers and Tigers, even King Tigers. So, why has not that much been written about the SU-100 in English? Well one reason is that it entered service only in the fall of 1944. Another being that you basically have to be Russian and work in Russia many years to produce a book like this. Well, half of the pair behind SU-100 Self-Propelled Gun is Nikolai Polikarpov, chief editor of M-Hobby, a Russian modelling magazine which has been in publication since 1993. I read several of the first issues and still have them. Mr. Polikarpov´s research is one reason this new book is a dream come true for Soviet era AFV modellers. But it is also rich in details for military vehicle buffs. There is no detail of the SU-100 that is not featured, also in splendid colour photographs. The other author of the book, James Kinnear, has brought with him long experience of writing on military subjects, e.g. for IHS Jane´s defence yearbooks and Osprey Vanguard. In addition, the Swedish publisher, Canfora, has done a splendid job presenting the work of the authors. 

 

The combat debut of the SU-100 took place in Hungary in the first days of 1945. Here one of the few problems with the vehicle instantly became obvious, it lacked secondary armament, i.e. machine guns. This of course meant that to defend the vehicle against German infantry the crew would largely have to rely on personal small arms (SMGs) and hand grenades. The passage about the German documents about SU-100 employment in Hungary is sobering, evidently both combatants misidentified each others AFVs. 

 

The pages about SU-100s in post-1945 service are amazing if one is also a Cold War history buff. In Soviet service the type was formally taken out of service in 1968. But that was not the end, as it then entered “strategic reserve storage” and was at least returned to some active service during the 1980s. The Soviet forces in Afghanistan used SU-100s to knock out resistance fortifications. 

 

There are amazing sections about the SU-100 in Czechoslovak and Cuban service. In 1961 both SU-100s and T-34-85s were in combat against the American sponsored landings on Cuba. The photos from Cuba should also inspire any Cold War modeler, a great deal.

 

Then there is the story of the SD-100 (Czech-made SU-100) on display in the UKs fabulous Tank Museum at Bovington. I had no idea that it is one of several SD-100s knocked out by British paras in Egypt during the 1956 Suez Crisis. In general, the info and photos about preserved SU-100s and SD-100s is one of my favourite parts of the book.

 

The most remarkable thing, in my view, is the fact that several SU-100 again entered combat in 2014, when several companies of SU-100s were employed in the Yemeni Civil War. Accordingly, the last of the excellent colour profiles in the book shows a SU-100 in 2017, captured by Houthi rebels from government forces. During the Yemeni Civil War a number of SU-100s have of course been destroyed, but in 2020 at least one SU-100 remained in operation.  

 

The photographs in the book showing the SU-100 in operational WWII service are not that many, but on the other hand they are mostly of very high quality. I am especially fascinated by the image from Berlin April 1945 with two officers in British or Polish uniforms – the perfect subject for a small diorama. 

 

This book is so new it even contains photographs from the 75^thanniversary Victory Parade in Moscow 2020, when no less than seven working SU-100s paraded across Red Square. SU-100 Self-Propelled Gun is the second in the series “Red Machines” from Canfora. The first was T-60 Small Tank & Variants. 

 

To sum things up, this is the way.

An Eagle´s Odyssey

Ju 52 and Bf 110 are highlighted but in the end the author commanded Bf 109s.

Luftwaffe pilot memoirs are not rare but An Eagle´s Odyssey by Johannes Kaufman deserves special attention. Kaufmann was an extremely experienced pilot when the war ended and tells his story with precision.

Johannes Kaufmann´s first training flights took place in 1935. Ten years later, in April 1945, he escorted colleagues on Kamikaze type missions. What you get from reading An Eagle´s Odyssey is a real insider´s account of what life in the Third Reich´s Luftwaffe was like, from the incredibly fast rise to the ferocious end.

Professor Richard Overy provides a fitting foreword to this piece of air power history and I find it hard to not agree with him both about the great value of the book and also what it is lacking. It is a book that is very, very focused on the Luftwaffe pilot´s training, tools and combat experience. It is almost as if the war beyond the view from the cockpit did not exist. But the author explains this somewhat in passage about when news reached him of Hitler´s order to unleash war upon the West in 1940:

“All hopes of an early end to the war appeared to be dashed. Every radio bulletin was followed with keen interest. There was a definite feeling of apprehension, not to say concern [but] nobody expressed their misgivings out loud. We had already reached the stage where most of us were beginning to think it prudent to keep our views on current events to ourselves.”

Well, if you are aware of the book´s focus on aircraft and flying and are trying to understand e.g. the German side of some event in the air war, then you will be rewarded. To begin with, Johannes Kaufmann will take you along to the Luftwaffe´s early version of basic flying training. Then he flies Ju 52s during the war against Poland, becomes a flight instructor and is put in charge of collecting captured aircraft from all over France. All the time Kaufmann vividly describes his flights.

Messerschmitt´s twin-engined long-range Zerstörer (destroyer), i.e. heavy fighter, the Bf 110, then comes alive. This is thanks to Kaufmann´s posting to the Zerstörerschule (destroyer school) Schleissheim. Then follows a pilot´s view of the Eastern Front and here is a quote from the book to illustrate the early missions over the Soviet Union: “First we dive-bombed the hangars and technical sites, and then went in low to strafe the few aircraft dispersed about the field.”

Of great interest to UK readers should be Kaufmann´s words about how the RAF performed, and how he viewed the Spitfire. The real gem, though, in my opinion, is his time in Jagdgeschwader 4 and especially what he writes about the German Kamikaze equivalents, in German called SO pilots, SO meaning Selbstopfer = self-sacrifice.

This book was first published in German in 1989 but only last year appeared also in English. I have a strong feeling that the translation has captured both the meaning and style of the original text. It has also been somewhat updated, I understand. There are only four photos, on the back cover, but the text is the richest I have so far come across about a Luftwaffe pilot´s flight experiences.

Stunning Scale Models & Dioramas

Here focus on super detailed 1:32 aircraft, e.g. the B-25J Mitchell on the cover.

Few people find the time to spend hundreds of hours on a single scale model. The results can be simply stunning. They certainly are in the books from the Swedish publisher Canfora, and that is why I recently payed them a visit.

Finding little time to myself build scale models, I have come to the conclusion that what I mainly long for is being able to see really good models up close. I mean, REALLY close and in superb photos. Therefore I visited Toni Canfora in Stockholm to discuss his own models and his books - that contain both his finished models and those of many other "model artists" as I would like to call them. On top of the superb photos in all his books Toni Canfora has added really interesting historical facts and model information as well as good captions (IMHO really good books must have really good captions). The main focus of Canfora is scale models and dioramas, but they have other kinds of books too. But first let me show you two more scale model book covers:

What most of all appeals to me with the Canfora scale model books is that some contain dioramas based on actual photographs, like the StuG book above. To me, that sort of diorama is the most amazing to see, the experience can be both like experiencing art and history.

In addition to the now quite many books on scale modeling, Canfora also offer books focused on large & previously mostly unpublished photographs of actual AFVs and aircraft. Mostly taken during WWII. Let me just say how very much I have been surprised by the three AFV Photo Album books about Panther tanks and other AFVs in Czechoslovakia. This is the latest volume, vol 3.

I had never thought that so many previously unpublished amazing Panther photos would appear. Like the scale model books, the AFV books have captions full of information, pointing out lots of details in the photos that one would otherwise miss. Now, do check out all the amazing books from Canfora.

The Year´s Best Military History

Seeing Field Marshal Montgomery´s "Giant Killer" was one highlight during 2019.

Several personal highlights in 2019 were connected to my first book release in London. But it was not in that city I found last year´s most impressive military history book.

Karl-Gunnar Norén and yours truly had a splendid time releasing The Long Range Desert Group: History & Legacy at the Swedish Embassy in London. Few experiences can beat meeting a cheerful LRDG & SAS veteran and the editor-in-chief of After the Battle. However, the day after was almost equally brilliant, as we then were given a surprise we had never even dreamt of: we were shown the ultimate collection of original Special Air Service (SAS) artifacts. We have still not fully recovered from this and I will return to our surprise visit in a special blog post. The above photograph is not from the SAS museum but from the desert section of the Imperial War Museum - that we visited later that day. The fly swatter actually bears the name "Giant Killer" and was used by Monty himself, in the desert - where also the Rommel portrait once was. More precisely, the portrait adorned Field Marshal Erwin Rommel´s own HQ until it was captured by the British Eighth Army.

Since those London days in May 2019 we have had the pleasure of reading about our LRDG book in After the Battle No. 186 and Classic Military Vehicle No. 219. By the way, my two English language articles about WWII in the Arctic are still in print, in After the Battle issues 99 and 136.

Summer in 2019 again meant history hiking with good friends in Narvik, and in October I had the privilege to break the news of the first film footage of a Junkers Ju 52 in pretty good shape at a depth of 75 metres, in a lake north of Narvik. Then three friends and yours truly located another Junkers aircraft, but this time a rather rare bomber, a Ju 86/B 3, and one not seen by anyone since it went down in 1943. This time the location was not in Norway but in Sweden and this is a discovery that is still not complete as we have yet to photograph and film the cockpit and tail section. So far we have basically recorded only the wings and brought up an aircraft tire and Junkers factory data plate, to clearly prove the aircraft identity. The bomber broke into sections upon crash landing on the lake ice, and the parts are very hard indeed to locate due to the nature of the lake. More info about the Ju 86/B 3 discovery will sooner or later appear on this blog.

Finally, in November, I came across the military history book that for me was the most original and important one last year, Red Assault: Soviet Airborne Forces 1939-1941 by Vladimir Kotelnikov. May the year 2020 provide less events that will go down in military history and more books as amazing as his.

Many thanks to all friends around the globe who made my three 2019 books possible.

Red Assault: Soviet Airborne Forces 1939-1941

A truly stunning book, 343 pages of Soviet airborne information and photographs.

For years I have been collecting books about airborne forces and therefore I can guarantee that this book is amazing. Very few readers outside what was once the Soviet Union will have previously seen more than two or three of the book´s photographs. And Red Assault has plenty of photos - that match the surprisingly rich text. And there is a Swedish connection.

Red Assault: Soviet Airborne Forces 1939-1941 by Vladimir Kotelnikov shows, with an amazingly detailed text and lots of different illustrations, that the Soviet airborne were pioneers in more ways than imagined. Because not only does it tell the story of the known airborne equipment and experiments, but also several ideas and tests that have never been documented in any previous book. The early Soviet airborne infatuation with armoured vehicles was not limited to the T-37A amphibious tank. Several other AFVs were tested by the airborne troops. Sketches and fine drawings reveal even more advanced ideas like a "helicopter tank" and then there was the quite adorable "avia-motorcycle" in two variants.

Airborne recoilless guns, an experimental camouflaged jump suit, various parachutes, special gliders, airborne dogs, airdrop sledges - this book has them all and often the quality of both the information and photographs is astounding.

Aircraft buffs will also be baffled, because early Soviet paratroopers were not only dropped from huge TB-3s, Red Assault contains many more types, some very futuristic designs. And now a Swedish connection: "There was a shortage of alloy steel in the country at the time and it had to be imported first and foremost from Sweden."

Not that surprisingly, Mikhail Tukhachevskiy is one of the officers portrayed in this book. But Vladimir Kotelnikov, for credible reasons, writes more about the "fanatic" and "genius" Pavel Grokhovskiy. This airborne pioneer deserves to become better known.

Is there nothing lacking in this book? The parts about the operations in Poland and Finland are short. What about the scope, the book ends in 1941. Well, if it were to cover also 1941-45 with the same degree of detail as 1930-1939 it would be thick as a brick. Better focus on that period in another book. But by the very nature of the events between 1941 and 1945 such a book can not contain as much about airborne development and equipment as Red Assault does. This is because the Soviet airborne forces in 1941-45 found themselves fighting most desperately, largely without aircraft and with no time or resources for airborne development. The Soviet visions of massive airborne operations were not possible to realize until the 1960s.

Sometimes book covers claim that a book is original and contains new insights, photos etc, but the book then actually offers very little that collectors have not seen before. Well, this is just not the case with Red Assault. It delivers. Both airborne and aircraft buffs will be pleasantly surprised by Vladimir Kotelnikov´s book, translated by Kevin Bridge and published by the UK publisher Helion & Company.

Arctic WWII Wrecks Tour 2018

Marking the 75th "Dambusters" anniversary by "EASY ELSIE" - "EASY" still visible. PHOTO: Mikael Norman

This summer´s WWII field research tour to Narvik and Setermoen included some nice stops also in northernmost Sweden, as we have some rather remarkable traces of WWII also on Swedish soil, not least the remains of a 617 Squadron "Dambusters" Lancaster and a German Ju 52 with paratroopers.

Although we, the expedition members, had been to these places before, we hoped that we might be able to find some new traces from the war years. And so we did, both by hiking and visiting museums. Here follow some of the highlights IMHO. Well, our first stop was the privately owned Tractor Museum in Svartbyn outside Överkalix (not to be confused with the many other Svartbyns), better known as Holgers traktormuseum. It is, of course, mainly a tractor museum, but it does have some military vehicles and, since a few weeks ago, also a propeller from a Heinkel He 111 bomber aircraft (donated to the museum after our trip). Let me also stress that this is an informal museum, more of a private collection. For current opening hours etc you will have to search the web.

Holger´s M29 Weasel is, like his tractors, preserved outdoors - but functioning.

What I find so fascinating about the M29 Weasel is that its father was the British inventor Geoffrey Pyke, as a result of the early and abandoned idea to attack German forces in Norway by conducting massive raids with elite forces using new snow equipment. One of the units earmarked for these operations was the US 99th "Viking" Infantry Battalion, that I have written about quite extensively in my latest book (Svenskar i strid mot Hitler) as it contained not only Norwegians and Norwegian-Americans but also some Swedes and Swedish-Americans.

My fist ever trip to Normandy was in 1984 on a GMC. Some friends and I went to the 40th anniversary of D-Day, and to do this we lived as inexpensively as possible, on the truck. Holger´s GMC thus brought back many memories.

This was my mobile home in Normandy, June 1984.

Aside from these WWII vehicles Holger also has i.a. an odd British 1950s (?) tracked vehicle from the Atkinson Hacker Tractor Company Ltd. that seems to be based on a tankette - but I have not been able to figure out which tankette it might be. Please do comment if you happen to know the answer.

The tracked vehicle from the Atkinson Hacker Tractor Company Ltd.

Then we briefly stopped in Kiruna to i.a. check out a non-public diorama there, depicting the German battleship Tirpitz shortly before it was attacked by British X-craft midget submarines. Click the below photos to see them in larger size.

Note the anti-submarine nets and the X-craft lurking in the lower left corner.

To see how realistic this diorama is, check it out without colour.

After Kiruna we drove to the border and hiked from the Norwegian village of Björnfjell to the Rombak fjord, walking along the old navvy trail - yes, it is spelt navvy and it means manual labourer working on a major civil engineering project, in this case the incredible railway stretch between Kiruna and Narvik. As you can see, we had great weather conditions, in fact it was almost a bit too warm.

Hiking on the navvy trail on a day like this is just awesome. PHOTO: Mikael Norman

My son Jarl discovered something quite amazing by the Katterat railway station. We had on a previous trip seen that the easternmost building still has marks from an attack with British aircraft (Swordfish, if I recall correctly). Well, Jarl pointed out some bullet holes in a mast close to the wall with the marks. How could we have missed that mast?

Jarl pointing out the bullet holes we had missed on our previous visit.

A closer look at the holes, probably caused by a British attack in April-May 1940.

After having hiked for two days and enjoyed the Rombaksfjord all to ourselves (no other tents in spite of superb weather), we took a train back to Björnfjell railway station and then drove to the Troms Defense Museum in Setermoen. Remember, you can click the below photos to see them in larger size.

A Blohm & Voss Bv 138 flying boat diorama in the Troms Defense Museum.

The museum in Setermoen differs from the Narvik War Museum. Both are very worthwhile seeing, but for the military vehicle enthusiast the Troms Defense Museum in Setermoen has much more to offer, and it deals with older times as well as Norway´s more recent defense history. Setermoen also covers the war in Norway after the battle of Narvik, including the Allied special operations in the area, conducted from bases on Swedish soil, e.g. the "Kari" and "Sepals" bases.

Scout Car used also postwar for many decades by the Norwegian Armed Forces.

The Troms Defense Museum offers visitors the chance to study WWII up close.

Full size diorama of the inside of an Allied special operations base in Sweden.

German occupation soldier in Norway after 1940, with a MG 34 machine gun.

Norwegian "police trooper" from the Norwegian forces in Sweden 1943-45.

A 1-shot gun made in a German POW camp, probably by Soviet POWs.

The above photographs show only a fraction of the equipment and vehicles on display in Setermoen. Speaking of military vehicles I was very happy to receive a copy of MUD & SNOW, the journal of HMK, the Norwegian MV buff club. I was just astounded by the restoration of a 1917 T-Ford ambulance and a Hotchkiss H-39 tank. The latter was a simply horrible wreck but is gradually being restored. From Setermoen we drove into Narvik town, revisited the Narvik War Museum and had a great dinner in the sun at the fish restaurant by the main town square.

Back in Sweden, but within sight of Norway, we revisited the remains of the German Junkers Ju 52 with paratroopers that was shot down over Sweden by Swedish AA-gunners on June 2, 1940. I have visited this site many times before, but once in a while we see parts or personal gear that we have not seen before. This time we happened to find a piece of wreckage with German writing on it, something none of us had seen there before.

"Entlüftung" means the "out" part of the ventilation.

An entrenching tool among the wreckage. Presumably from one of the paras.

As with the next plane we visited, we took nothing away from the Ju 52, and hope future visitors show the same respect.

The remains of the Lancaster "Easy Elsie" of "Dambuster" squadron fame are located a few kilometers outside the Swedish village of Porjus in the municipality of Jokkmokk.

"Elsie" is missing engines etc but has parts that are not visible in museums.

Yes, after all these years you can still see "EASY", but "ELSIE" has faded away.

Might this be the last remaining mechanism for the "Tall Boy" bomb?

The single bomb that "Easy Elsie" carried was a "Tall Boy", the second biggest bomb type used during WWII. The most famous use resulted in the sinking of the German battleship Tirpitz. But to achieve this, 77 "Tall Boys" had to be dropped, in three attacks.

Having visited the remains of "Easy Elsie" one might want to have lunch or dinner. Well, we can warmly recommend the new restaurant/cafe in Porjus: Arctic Colors, that also offers accommodation. Delicious reindeer and elk burgers and much more! Plus the place is run by a gentleman whose father belonged to the Dambuster squadron.

Our final stop was a flea market/cafe outside Gunnarsbyn (municipality of Boden), where I just happened to notice the below item, for sale for 30 Swedish Crowns. I had a hunch (seeing "DRGM" on it) that it might be something from WWI or WWII, so I bought it.

Note the DRGM-marking, commonly used on German equipment.

Back home I discovered it was a German oil can for machine guns, and it was still in good shape. It may well have come to Nestors Cafe via a downed German aircraft.

Attention Tank & Airborne Buffs!

The tank that actually got wings now has the stunning book it deserves.

When did I start collecting books about Soviet tanks and airborne troops? Not sure, but sometime in the 1980s. To make clear how much I like this new book, let me immediately say that this is the most amazing and well-presented one about Soviet tanks/airborne I have yet come across.

Although little known, especially in the West, the T-60 small tank (yes, small tank = official designation), was the third most numerous tank-type built in the Soviet Union 1941-45, behind only the classic T-34 and the SU-76 self propelled gun in terms of production.

Aside from the basic T-60 and its more common variants this new 176-page book by James Kinnear and Yuri Pasholok presents the incredible tank-glider variant of the T-60 known as both the KT Flying Tank and A-40. They do so with details I have never seen before and thus make this book a must also for airborne troops history buffs.

Special mention should be made of the sections about the T-60 in combat and the history of both the few preserved T-60s and the full scale T-60-replicas that have been made in Russia in recent years.

This book has set a new standard with lots of new and high quality photos, new facts from primary sources plus fine colour illustrations. I can not recommend you enough to visit the website of the Stockholm publisher, Canfora, to learn more about this book, and their other books. Here is the link you are looking for.

Lapland 1944 Movie "Wildeye"

Teaser for "Wildeye".

I can´t recall having seen a single Finnish movie about the Lapland War of 1944 between Finland and Germany - although one famous war movie was partially made in Finnish Lapland, see my previous post about the 1993 version of "Stalingrad". But last fall such a movie premiered in Finland, entitled "Wildeye" in English.

As it has been filmed in areas where I have hiked several times I am very anxious to see this film. However, due to the lack of "film contact" between Finland and my native Sweden I guess I will have to wait for the DVD to see this one. The only other movie I can recall that deals with the Lapland War of 1944 is the 2002 Russian film "The Cuckoo".

My last post here in 2015 was about how the Lapland War is being described in new ways in Finland, e.g. in the Rovaniemi exhibition "We were friends".

From China to Stalingrad

Soviet I-16 fighter with Chinese insignia. I-16 was the main fighter plane used by the Chinese Air Force and Soviet pilots in China 1937-41.

Let us refresh our minds about strategy by looking at the past. More specifically a battle just before WWII and how it compares to Stalingrad.

Have you ever heard about a battle in China 1938 called the battle of Taierzhuang? Probably not, am I right? But why on earth should this matter? Well, let me quote a single sentence from the book Taierzhuang 1938 - Stalingrad 1942 by Lance Olsen: "The major portion of Japan´s military might was - at all times from 1931 to 1945 - consumed in China".

Yes, at all times between 1931 (not 1939!) and 1945.

The battle of Taierzhuang in 1938 was the first major Chinese victory in the largely unknown (i.e. in the West) first stage of the Asian part of WWII. It is hard not to agree with Lance Olsen that Japan´s invasion of China, that started in 1931, spared the Soviet Union from having to fight a 2-front war. For, at the battle of Moscow 1941, had those reinforcements from Siberia not been able to come - WWII would have taken a different course - perhaps even a radically different course.

Lance Olsen has done serious students of WWII a great favour by revealing a huge blind spot in the western mainstream narrative of WWII. Read his book for a very refreshing take on WWII, and after having read it consider if we today are much better at taking into account how the balance in Asia counts not only in Asia.

Stunning WWII Aircraft Wreck Photos

A Junkers Ju 88 on Svalbard, just one of several stunning photos in this compilation.

The Ju 88 in the above clip is without location but I know from a film project I was involved in in that the location is Svalbard i.e. the group of Norwegian Arctic islands on the way to the North Pole.

I wonder, which book has the full story of the Svalbard Ju 88? Anything still at the site to see? The Ju 52 that appears after three minutes is, I think, close to Bodö in Norway. Probably photographed quite long ago. I think it has since been removed to the aircraft museum in Bodö.

Thanks, Mikke, for the tip - I hadn´t seen this one before.

Russian Great War Mystery

In this former prison in Karlskrona, Sweden, one of Russia´s first aviators was imprisoned. I met and interviewed him in 1988.

Today it is exactly 100 years since Russia became part of World War One, or as it is still known in some countries, the Great War. But there is almost nothing that reminds about it in today´s Russia, although the Russians generally have a great interest in history and especially wars.

You will find a World War Two monument in just about every Russian town, and in many villages too. In large cities you will find several statues and busts commemorating WWII heroes and a T-34 tank in some public area. Museums and exhibitions about WWII are also very numerous. But the first monument about World War One was unveiled only in 2004 and the first-ever Russian World War I museum has not yet opened (but it will, in St. Petersburg). These and other signs of low interest and scanty knowledge are covered in a highly readable article in today´s English-language The Moscow Times.

Why this low interest? After all, three million Russians lost their lives during WWI. Yes, THREE million lives. The above article tries to explain this mystery and I am not saying it got things wrong but perhaps one could explain even more simply by saying that there was just zero use for WWI. It could not benefit the Soviet state in any way and "stole" attention from the "October Revolution", although one can argue that with no WWI there had also been no revolutions in 1917...

I was thinking a lot about Russia 1914-18 when I recently for the first time visited the former prison in Karlskrona (south Sweden) of Anton Nilson, the Swedish revolutionary who went to Russia during the last stage of WWI and became one of the Red Army´s first aviators. I interviewed him during five intense hours in 1988 and the result is in Swedes at War 1914-45. Part of Nilson´s former prison is now becoming an international school and part of it is a cool restaurant. You should visit it when in Karlskrona. Thanks to the kind staff I got to see several prison cells, some of which looked pretty unchanged since Anton Nilson was in the building.

Swedish Volunteers In Crimea

The grave of a major in the Red Army, born and raised in Sweden. He served in Crimea.

Crimea is back in the news for sure. Balaclavas worldwide are only one largely forgotten reminder of how much Crimea has meant for military history. I happen to have met a Swedish SS-volunteer who was in Crimea and I have stood by the grave (see above) of a Swede who was on the opposing side there...

The name "balaclava" comes from the town of Balaklava near the magnificent city of Sevastopol. The HQ of both the Ukrainian Naval Forces and Russia's Black Sea Fleet are located in this city... Other reasons for Crimea´s military fame is the Charge of the Light Brigade, later this year it will be 160 years ago. The charge took place during the same war that produced the balaclava, the Crimean War of 1853-1856. Oddly enough a woman is the best remembered person from that war, i.e. in English-speaking countries. Her name: Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing. She came to prominence while serving as a nurse in the Crimean War.

During the Russian Civil War of 1917-1923 Crimea changed hands a number of times. It was in Crimea that some of the bloodiest fighting took place, plus mass executions.

During WWII Crimea was in the big news both during 1941, 1942 and 1945. Sevastopol held out against the Germans from October 1941 until 4 July 1942 when the Germans finally captured the city. In spite of that great loss the Crimean mountains remained a resistance stronghold until the end of the German occupation of Crimea. BTW the SS had all sorts of loony ideas about the mystic significance of Crimea. Finally, the Yalta Conference, also called the Crimea Conference, held in February 1945, was the BIG World War II meeting that deciced a lot about post-war Europe.

Now, in February 2014, there is talk about Swedish Nationalists/National Socialists on their way to Ukraine to support the nationalist party Svoboda as foreign volunteers. Although a fighting role is not promised by the organizers their words about volunteers ring familiar and I would therefore like to remind of the last time Ukraine, and especially Crimea, saw Swedish volunteers. Those volunteers are documented in English in Swedes at War (in Swedish Svenskar i krig) by Lennart Westberg and yours truly. What will probably come as surprise for most readers of the book is that in Ukraine there were Swedes both in the Waffen-SS and in the Red Army. The highest ranking of the latter, Anders Gustafsson (photo above), served in Crimea. Another fact is that most Swedish-speakers who fought in Ukraine were not volunteers but had been drafted. They were from the rather unknown Swedish minority group in Ukraine. Some fought in the Wehrmacht and some in the Red Army.

Thus, you will by now understand my great interest in the area. But let me mention another reason - that the Crimean War, in spite of its name, managed to spread both to the Baltic and the Arctic. In fact, even the Russian Kola Peninsula was shelled by the Royal Navy as a part of the Crimean War. Considering the many and very dispersed battles of that war the name of the war is quite misleading.

Stalingrad and Karelia News

The big Soviet war movie of 1975 - now with English subtitles.

Attention all students of the Eastern Front and Finland in WWII: there are some new sources and a new exhibition to check out.

Mosfilm has put several complete Soviet films on Youtube, some with English subtitles. Just click on the above to watch the first half of "They Fought for Their Country" a classic 1975 Soviet war film directed by Sergei Bondarchuk. The film lets you follow a Soviet platoon fighting a rearguard action during the German drive on Stalingrad. For more old Mosfilm movies just check out the official Mosfilm site on Youtube.

My colleague Bair Irincheev, the author of several books that I have reviewed, has recently opened a permanent exhibition in Vyborg (in Finnish Viipuri and in Swedish Viborg) called "Karelian Isthmus 1939-44 Wars". I have not yet been there myself but from visiting Bair´s page about the exhibition I reckon it is a must if you are in the area.

Finally, fellow tank buffs, Bair is now also the author of a book so new I have not yet received it, but it looks promising: "Tanki v Zimney voinye", which translates as "Tanks in the Winter War". Any chance it might be translated, Bair?

New Stalingrad Movie Looks Incredible

Russia´s first 3D and IMAX movie, "Stalingrad".

After having followed the production and seen the new trailer I must say I am extremely keen to see the whole film, which premiered in Russia two days ago.

Even if you do not speak Russian you should also see this review as it has a number of still photographs from the film that in themselves are pieces of art.

Interestingly, the German actor Thomas Kretschmann, who portrayed Hermann Fegelein in "Downfall" and before that Hans von Witzland in the German 1993 movie "Stalingrad", also is in the new Russian "Stalingrad". The official website of the new movie is well worth visiting.

Koreans in German WWII Service

How could a Korean end up serving in the German Wehrmacht in Normandy?

"My Way" is the first movie about Koreans in the German Wehrmacht. It might seem like a weird fantasy, but there were actually such cases, the most well documented one being Yang Kyoungjong. Perhaps the time is ripe for films about non-Germans in German uniform?

Recently I saw the Russian movie "Paradox Soldiers" that is partially about Ukrainians in the Waffen-SS. Before that one there was "Frostbite" that touches on the subject of Nordics in the Waffen-SS. Going further back there was "Soldier of Orange" with Rutger Hauer (!) that has some Dutch soldiers of the Waffen-SS in the story. But none of these movies deeply explores the subject of non-Germans in German service. There is hardly anything in them about motives for joining or the reasons for being conscripted. What about "My Way" then? Well, I have not seen it yet, only the above trailer. The film has reached Sweden on DVD, but here it is called "My War". I guess the distributors here thought "My Way" was too Sinatra. I will check it out eventually. Perhaps someone reading this has already seen it?

Considering the many men from Belgium, Estonia, Latvia, Russia (not just Cossacks), Spain etc in German uniform - why has there not yet been made a movie about them, or have I missed something? Note, I mean regular movies, not documentaries.

Stalingrad 1943-2013

From the set of the coming 3D IMAX movie "Stalingrad".

In three weeks it will be 70 years since the German surrender at Stalingrad. I had a small role in the translation of a book about the battle of Stalingrad, A Writer at War by Antony Beevor and Luba Vinogradova.

A Writer at War is a book about the author of the epic Stalingrad novel Life and Fate, Vasily Grossman. Le Monde called Life and Fate "the greatest Russian novel of the twentieth century". Comparisons have also been made abroad to War and Peace. In Sweden, however, I do not recall that the release of the new Swedish edition of Life and Fate resulted in much publicity. But on December 27, Sweden´s leading newspaper published this article by Roger Fjellström that describes the tragic and amazing story behind the manuscript that became Life and Fate.

Well, better late than never. And I suppose the same thing can be said about the making of the answer to Oliver Stone´s "JFK". The answer is called, like the book it is based on, "The Kennedy Detail". The filming will start in March and the director is my Californian relative Stephen Gyllenhaal. I am almost as keen to watch the coming Russian 3D and IMAX movie "Stalingrad", although I am no fan of 3D.

P.S. You might want to read what I have written about the German Stalingrad posters in Norway, in case you have not already read that post.

The Last Panzers, New Photos

"AFV Photo Album vol 1: Armoured Fighting Vehicles on Czechoslovakian Territory 1938-1968" by Marek Solar, Petr Dolezal and Vladimir Kos.

In my post "Nordland Panther in New Swedish Book" I mentioned the young Swedish publishers Canfora. They have since then become an even more interesting English language publisher for Armoured Fighting Vehicle (AFV) buffs and modellers.

Canfora's AFV Photo Album vol 1 is quite simply a treasure trove for AFV buffs and modellers. What you get is 224 A4 size pages with an incredible amount of large and high quality photos of mostly German, Soviet and US tanks and other AFVs in Czechoslovakia, mostly in 1945. I doubt if anyone outside the region has seen any of the book's images from 1945 before. Several photos are ideal for those into restoring or building vehicles and/or dioramas.

I would like to especially mention a photo in the book of a Bergepanther with a 37 mm Flak gun, a probably unique example of late-war improvisation. I was also intrigued by four photos of Jagdpanzers (38) abandoned in May 1945. Inside one of them was a woman in SS uniform, according to the authors. There is no photo of this woman in the book, nor her name, but I find the caption possible as she perhaps was not a regular tanker but someone from a staff, being transported. Could she have been a crew member? Well, considering that there did exist a handful of female Luftwaffe pilots, not impossible.

One of the very few negative things about this book is the main title, as it says too little about the contents. Otherwise it is a goldmine for AFV enthusiasts.

"The Nordic Edge Model Gallery Vol 3" edited by Toni Canfora.

The Nordic Edge series from Canfora is focused entirely on scale models made by modellers in the Nordic countries. However, even if you are not into modelling yourself I reckon these books could be of interest. Because they are simply astounding in their quality. Both the models, dioramas and the quality of the books.

Volume 3 is 143 pages in A4 size with both superb large size photos and text about the thoughts and work behind every subject. It is easy to get inspired by these books, and also to get practical tips from them.

1945 Reenactment in Ukraine

I have never seen reenactment photos like these before, especially the last ones.

Ukrainian and Russian reenactors are obviously not only into reenacting Stalingrad and Kursk. The theme of the above reenactment earlier this year was Graz, Austria, 1945. This enabled not only reenactors in Soviet and German kit to participate but also in US and British uniforms.

I had never thought there would be so many US Airborne and British Army reenactors in Ukraine and Russia. Note that one of the "Wiking" reenactors has a Norwegian arm shield.

Burnt By The Critics

The actors playing Stalin and Beria have an uncanny likeness to the real persons. This trailer has no subtitles, but the DVD has.

I just saw a grand Russian war movie, "Exodus", the first half of "Burnt By The Sun 2". For long I chose not to see it. Because I believed in the massive flak that the movie got. Well, I was wrong.

Of course, many scenes and details can be questioned. But, if you treat the movie like a novel about WWII I think it works fine. Some things are in fact better than in most WWII movies. In particular, I believe, the way many things look, like the uniforms. Most uniforms in this film look as if they have actually been used for months or even years.

Bluntly put, forget the critics and see the movie yourself!