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Zusatztext “A better book [than] All Quiet on the Western Front .” –Journal of Military History Informationen zum Autor The late GEORG GROSSJOHANN enlisted in the Reichswehr from his hometown in East Prussia in 1928 as a soldier bound for twelve years service to the Weimar Republic. His World War II service began as an NCO in the Polish campaign and ended as a regimental commander. In between he earned the Iron Cross and other awards for bravery on the battlefield. Klappentext After Hitler's invasions of Poland and France came the Russian Front-and that's when the real war started. An infantryman who rose from the enlisted ranks to regimental command in combat, Georg Grossjohann fought on four different fronts during World War II, but saw most of his fighting-from 1941 to 1944-against Russians in the Soviet Union and Romania. He provides shattering glimpses of the horror and chaos of the war, as well as profound insights into everyday life in the Wehrmacht. Five Years, Four Fronts chronicles the combat experiences of Grossjohann and his men as they triumphantly roll across Poland, France, and the sunny steppes of the Ukraine, only to ultimately sustain grinding defeats in the endless, freezing plains of the Soviet Union and the grim, dark Vosges Mountains of France. Grossjohann was a soldier's soldier, respected by his men, undaunted by his superiors, and, as can be observed in this raw, brutally honest account, not afraid to call the shots as he saw them.Chapter One The Polish Campaign: Stukas, Haystacks, and High Ranking Generals Historical Commentary September 1939 marked the end of bloodless victories for the Third Reich and the beginning of general war in Europe for the second time in less than twenty-one years. After formally repudiating the military limitations of the Versailles Treaty in March 1935, Hitler supervised the vigorous reconstruction of the German Armed Forces (Wehrmacht), including a new Navy (Kriegsmarine) and Air Force (Luftwaffe), as well as a much larger and partially mechanized Army (Heer). The following four years brought immense territorial gains for Germany, without the loss of a single German soldier’s life in combat. Between March 1936 and March 1939, the German Army reoccupied the Rhineland, annexed Austria, seized most of Czechoslovakia, and occupied Lithuanian Memel, all without firing a shot. As a result, when the German Army was called upon to invade Poland in September 1939, it was a hugely reinvigorated but essentially untried organization. Given their defensive mission, the Polish Army seemed to have a chance against the Germans. The Germans were committing fourteen mechanized divisions, forty-four infantry and mountain divisions, and a cavalry brigade to the conquest of the twenty-three-year-old Polish state. With a standing establishment of thirty infantry divisions, a cavalry division, and eleven cavalry brigades, the Poles could effectively double that number upon mobilization. Their soldiers were generally well trained and highly motivated. Unfortunately for them, mobilization of their Army only began on 30 August, and the German invasion began on 1 September. Furthermore, a significant number of units had to be deployed in the east in the event of a Soviet invasion, thus diluting what was available to oppose the Germans in the west. With the conclusion of the German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact on 23 August, the Poles had every reason to suspect trouble from the East. To make things worse for the Poles, their Army was supported by a weak and poorly equipped Air Force which counted fewer than four hundred combat aircraft. Overwhelmed by the 1,400 fighters and bombers of the Luftwaffe, the Polish Air Force offered no effective resistance throughout the conflict. Tanks and antitank guns were outdated and few in number and were deployed ineffectively in a dispersed fashion...
