The Military History Group discussion

Here is our Eastern Front thread, feel free to start discussions on here, talk about books you've read, and/or recommend books on the Eastern Front here.

Let me start with a book of the "glorious defeat" of Dunkirk: The Miracle of Dunkirk by Walter Lord. I like Lord's work but did not know he had written this until I found it in the library. I am certainly glad I did.

This book, published in 1982, has a very personal touch as a history of the Great Rescue. Many of the survivors were still living when Lord wrote the book and his interviews with hundreds of them provide the reader with the "real" story based on their memories, even though some may have been a bit faulty.

One of the strengths of his writing is the coverage of the BEF and French soldiers fighting on the perimeter of the beach, trying to hold off the Germans until the beach was cleared. It is very disturbing as we learn that many of the Nazis murdered those they captured rather than taking prisoners.

I highly recommend this book.

Does it have the usual multi-POV narrative as in Lord's other books? I tried his books about Pearl Harbor and Titanic but couldn't comprehend the bigger picture past thousands of different POVs.

He doesn't use those POVs to excess and gives a complete picture of the rescue. But I know what you mean about some of his narratives.

Jill wrote: "Let me start with a book of the "glorious defeat" of Dunkirk: The Miracle of Dunkirk by Walter Lord. I like Lord's work but did not know he had written this until I f..."

Oh hell yes. I have never read a book dedicated to this battle. It's in my queue now. Thanks, Jill.

I mean this intervention in the most respectful way - could someone define what is meant by 'Eastern Front' - I thought this would refer to the eastern front in either WWI or WWII or both.

Thank you

Liam wrote: "I mean this intervention in the most respectful way - could someone define what is meant by 'Eastern Front' - I thought this would refer to the eastern front in either WWI or WWII or both.

Thank you"
World War Two Eastern Front.

I've noticed some people have written about stuff that isn't about the Eastern Front, so I have made a new folder for WW2 Eastern Front

Creighton wrote: "Liam wrote: "I mean this intervention in the most respectful way - could someone define what is meant by 'Eastern Front' - I thought this would refer to the eastern front in either WWI or WWII or b..."

Thank you

One of my favourite first-hand accounts of the fighting on the Eastern Front is; "In Deadly Combat: A German Soldier's Memoir of the Eastern Front" by Gottlob Herbert Bidermann.

In Deadly Combat: A German Soldier's Memoir of the Eastern Front by Gottlob Herbert Bidermann

Although fiction one of the best books I have read about the eastern front is Heinrich Gerlach's 'The Forsaken Army' about the Germans at Stalingrad.

My apologies for not setting up a link to the book - I am waiting for some younger person to help figure it out! In the meantime you'll have to use old fashioned ways.

We could talk about Barbarossa until we were blue in the face as we all know what a travesty that was. But it obviously affected other battles that were happening at the same time.

One that particularly comes to mind is Rommel's campaign in North Africa. I have to admit that I admire Rommel's military savvy and he was holding the British/Australian/NZ troops at bay. But then Hitler started taking his troops, weapons, and supplies to throw into the Russian campaign and weakened the Afrika Corps beyond recovery. I'm not saying that Rommel could have won that campaign but it certainly would have changed the history of that battle.

I just finished Albanian Assignment: The Memoir of an SOE Agent in World War Two. It is memoir of a British officer dropped into Albania during WW2. The most important thing about this book is that so little is written about Albania in WW2.