Hans Wijers – författare

Battling frigid weather, malnutrition and the constant onslaught of enemy fire, those who took part in the pivotal Battle of Stalingrad were sujected to some of the most challenging conditions of the battlefield. At times during the five bloody and desperate months of the conflict the average Soviet soldier’s life-expectancy dropped to just under 24 hours. Of the 91,000 German soldiers captured over the course of the battle only 5,000 survived to return to their homeland. It is thought that nearly two million lost their lives as a result of the deadly clash between the advancing German forces and the Soviet Union. This is the story of the German forces caught in the midst of one of the bloodiest battles the world has ever seen.The Wehrmacht stormed into Stalingrad on the back of a series of strategic bombings that saw the city reduced to a warren of ruins and rubble. The battle, fought across the city from building to building, often resulted in German forces holding over 90% of the territory. Despite support from the air, the German offensive was unable to force the Soviet defenders to give up their position on the west bank of the Volga. After months of fighting in the freezing Russian climate and facing devastating food shortages, the German hold on Stalingrad began to slip, paving the way for a Soviet victory.Here, Stackpole presents this stunning compilation of firsthand German accounts from the battle. Winter Storm depicts the life of German soldiers trapped in the city by Soviet forces to confront not only enemy troops but also extreme hunger and frigid weather. Few accounts communicate in such vivid detail the horrors German forces encountered in the hopeless closing days of the Battle of Stalingrad. Rare photographs punctuate the text bringing to life this truly desperate period of the war. Winter Storm is an indispensable account for anyone who seeks to understand the life of a soldier caught up on a merciless battlefield in a conflict that will forever be remembered as the turning point of World War II.

This book describes the action in the area southeast of Malmedy during the final stage--Christmas 1944 through the end of January 1945--of the Battle of the Bulge, focusing on the operations of the German 3rd Fallschirmjäger (Paratroop) Division. This is the story of bitter combat in the snow-encrusted Ardennes by soldiers who would never become household names like the generals--Eisenhower and Patton, Rundstedt and Dietrich--who commanded them but who nevertheless deserve to be remembered by history for their brave actions in trying times. The book relies heavily on the words of the soldiers themselves, the Germans and Americans who slogged through the snow and fought desperately.

In these firsthand accounts--never before published in English--German soldiers describe the horrors of combat on the Eastern Front during World War II. A panzer crewman holds out to the bitter end at Stalingrad, fighting the Soviets as well as cold and hunger. An assault gun commander seeks out and destroys enemy tanks in Poland. Along the Oder River, a ragtag antiaircraft battery turns its guns against Russian infantry. And in Berlin a paratrooper makes a last, desperate stand in the war’s closing days.

During the first week of the Battle of the Bulge, the Germans’ 6th SS Panzer Army rolled down the road to Bütgenbach, where the 26th Infantry Regiment of the U.S. 1st Infantry Division held out against constant attacks at the southern end of Elsenborn Ridge. Meanwhile, Jochen Peiper’s SS battle group raced toward the critical river bridges at Stavelot and Trois Ponts, massacring American prisoners along the way near Malmedy. The U.S. 30th Infantry Division and other units put up stiff resistance, destroyed the bridges, and forced Peiper’s men to withdraw.

Most accounts of the Battle of the Bulge focus on the center, where the 101st Airborne held Bastogne, but the Germans’ main thrust actually occurred to the north, where Sepp Dietrich’s 6th SS Panzer Army stormed through the Losheim Gap on its way to Liege and Antwerp. In this region of thick forests, snowy fields, and muddy trails during the battle’s first week in December 1944, U.S. troops from the 2nd and 99th Infantry Divisions successfully halted the best of the German war machine, including the 12th SS Panzer and the 3rd Fallschirmjäger Divisions.

Against-all-odds actions by the 1st Infantry Division during the Battle of the Bulge. Firsthand accounts from American and German soldiers. Details on Jochen Peiper and the notorious Malmedy Massacre.

The U.S. Army''s bloodiest battle of World War II. From-the-foxhole stories of American soldiers in combat. Based on official U.S. Army documents and after-action reports.

First-person German accounts of bloody combat. Includes never-before-seen photos.

This is the story of their bitter combat--in the words of German and American soldiers who were there.

Assault guns (Sturmgeschütz in German) were armored fighting vehicles similar to tanks, with the chassis and tracks of a panzer but without the rotating turret, which allowed the mounting of a larger gun. They were usually used to support infantry assaults, but they also proved effective as tank destroyers, especially late in the war when German tank inventory diminished. Among the most famous variants are the Sturmtiger and Brummbär (“Grouch”). Hans Wijers has assembled hundreds of photos—most of them never seen anywhere before—of these vehicles at war on the Eastern Front of World War II.