'Aussie Rick'’s Comments (group member since Jun 12, 2009)

'Aussie Rick'’s comments from the THE WORLD WAR TWO GROUP group.

More good books there Mike, especially "The First World War" by Martin Gilbert and "Retreat from Moscow: A New History of Germany's Winter Campaign, 1941-1942" by David Stahel.

"Opening the Gates of Hell: Operation Barbarossa, June–July 1941" - NKVD prisoner massacres in Lvov:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NKVD_pr...

"Opening the Gates of Hell: Operation Barbarossa, June–July 1941" - The author describes not only the numerous and bloody pogroms against the Jewish population but also the gruesome massacre of Soviet prisoners by the NKVD before the Germans arrived:

https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war...

Thanks for that link, Mike! Gutsy fellows those men who flew their bombers over Germany during the night and day.

A lot of good books there, Mike! Thanks for the notification.

"Opening the Gates of Hell: Operation Barbarossa, June–July 1941" - The author covered in great detail the heavy fighting and large tank battle around Dubno that occurred during the early stages of Operation Barbarossa:

https://www.operationbarbarossa.net/t...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_...

"Opening the Gates of Hell: Operation Barbarossa, June–July 1941" - The German General Staff think all is proceeding well with Operation Barbarossa - some of those on the ground think a bit differently:

"Wolfgang Werthen, 16th Panzer Division's chronicler, gave a far more realistic assessment of the titanic clash of armour, comparing the advance in Ukraine with that across France and Belgium 12 months before. 'After ten days in France German panzers stood on the Atlantic following an 800-kilometre journey, driving terrified French and Englishmen before them,' he wrote. 'After ten days in the East, 100 kilometres had been covered and the German armoured spearheads faced an enemy who was technically and numerically superior and who often used hitherto unknown yet effective fighting methods.' Put simply, after ten days of bitter fighting, there had been no collapse on the Southern Front."

Opening the Gates of Hell: Operation Barbarossa, June–July 1941 by Richard Hargreaves

"Opening the Gates of Hell: Operation Barbarossa, June–July 1941" - The author described the terrible events that took place in Iași, Romania, at the start of the war in the East:

The Iași pogrom:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ia%C8%9...

Jonny wrote: "Given that's it's September and all, thought I'd bow to tradition (again) and make a start on Arnhem: Black Tuesday: The Classic World War II Battle Told As Never Before, bluff old..."

I hope it's a good account as I have an unread copy buried somewhere deep in a packing box!

I hope you find it as thought provoking as I did, Mike!

"Opening the Gates of Hell: Operation Barbarossa, June–July 1941" - Desperate times call for desperate actions like crashing your bomber into advancing German vehicles.

Captain Nikolai Gastello:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolai...

"Enemies and Neighbours", was for me, an excellent account!

"Opening the Gates of Hell: Operation Barbarossa, June–July 1941" - An account of the T-34 in action:

"In a duel with one panzer, Borodin's turret was gazed by an enemy shell. He responded by sending a 76mm round in the opposite direction. 'Flames and smoke come from the turret of the enemy tank,' he wrote. 'Victory! But there was no time to rejoice.' He disabled a second panzer by shooting off its caterpillar track, before his radio operator gunned down every member of the crew who leaped out of the crippled vehicle. Hit by a German shell, Boris Borodin withdrew from the field of battle. 'Thank you for the T-34 tank,' he wrote. 'How many lives it saved! This is not a T-26, BT-5 or BT-7, whose armour can be pierced by heavy machine-guns. Surrounded on three sides by petrol tanks, they burned like matchboxes'."

Opening the Gates of Hell: Operation Barbarossa, June–July 1941 by Richard Hargreaves

Second Marc's recommendation of "The Last Battle".

"Opening the Gates of Hell: Operation Barbarossa, June–July 1941" - More hard fighting as the German armoured units advance:

"4th Panzer was still following in 3rd Panzer's wake - and it had been a spectacularly successful day for the Berliners. By dusk, their spearhead was across the River Szczara, outside the town of Bereza Kartuska. In two days, the division had advanced nearly 90 miles. Whatever counter-attacks XIV Mechanised Corps had been able to mount were smashed; 36 t-26s were finished off in a single action by 6th Panzer Regiment in the mid-afternoon, 12 of them dispatched by just one company in a matter of minutes. By the time a small bridgehead had been forged over the Szczara, the main road all the way back to Kobrin was littered with the burned-out and abandoned hulks of more than 100 tanks and other armoured vehicles."

Opening the Gates of Hell: Operation Barbarossa, June–July 1941 by Richard Hargreaves

"Opening the Gates of Hell: Operation Barbarossa, June–July 1941" - Fort VII at Kaunas:

https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-s...

https://www.yadvashem.org/holocaust/t...

Jerome wrote: "An April 2026 release:

by Krzysztof Janowicz
Description:
K..."

That could be a future purchase for my library!

Richard wrote: "Finished the Beevor book, lots of great if depressing insights. Lots of discussion of the r*pe culture, as well as some great political decision examinations of the “allies”. Surprising how long it..."

I heard that after finishing his book on Berlin Antony Beevor was considering writing about the siege of Leningrad, but he was so depressed after writing about Berlin that he shelved that idea.

More good books at excellent prices!

"Opening the Gates of Hell: Operation Barbarossa, June–July 1941" - Another Soviet counterattack during the early stages of Operation Barbarossa:

"At first light on 28 June, 46th Tank Division thundered down the highway to Leningrad, the vanguard of Dmitri Lelyushenko's under-strength and ill-prepared XXI Mechanized Corps. Despite its weaknesses, the corps smashed its way into Daugavpil's eastern suburbs, where its armour engaged panzers at point-blank range and, when low on ammunition, Red Army crews resorted to attempting to crush and ram their foe. One Soviet soldier, Ivan Sereda, jumped on to a panzer and hacked its crew to death with an axe before using an anti-tank mine to destroy a second tank. He would be named a Hero of the Soviet Union for his actions."

Ivan Pavlovich Sereda:
https://www.grunge.com/1012788/a-germ...