Panzer Commander: The Memoirs of Colonel Hans von Luck (CASSELL MILITARY PAPERBACKS)

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At this refusal Luck drew his service pistol, leveled it at the man and said "Either you're a dead man or you can earn yourself a medal. During the next days there were frequent encounters with British patrols seeking alternative paths to outflank the Germans.

I'm not sure what to make of his claim not to have known anything about the camps before learning of the fate of his prospective father-in-law in Sachsenhausen. He served with the 7th Panzer Division and 21st Panzer Division, seeing action in Poland, France, North Africa, Italy and Russia. Later, Luck relates the increasing desperation of the German army as they realize (from about 1943 onward) that the war is lost and they are fighting for survival and increasingly diminishing chances of being allowed something more than unconditional surrender. His evolution in the German army to the rank of colonel is interesting - he fought in France under Rommel, on the Russian front, almost reaching Moscow, in Africa under Rommel again - at his request, becoming quite intimate with the Desert Fox, then defended in France during Operation Goodwood, escaping the Falaise pocket, and defended against the Russians while commanding one of the combat units trying to escape the Halbe pocket.Highly recommended for militory history buffs and for anyone aspiring to be an officer in the armed forces. The Soviet air force put the retreating columns under constant attack, and it suffered heavy losses. About half of the 100,000 trapped troops managed to escape, though most of the heavy materiel and vehicles were destroyed in the pocket. Hans Von Luck (pronounced like the English name "Luke" not the English word "luck") was a "good German," which makes his memoir an interesting story that has certain elephants constantly lurking in the back of the room.

On 1 June the Afrikakorps had managed to disengage, and Luck could finally be evacuated to a field hospital, while Rommel resumed the attack on the British positions south of Gazala. It is a about the memories and experiences of a man who happened to be involved in the Battles of Poland, France, Eastern Front, Africa, D-Day, and the final attempt to stop the Russians at the Halbe.All the while, von Luck is at great pains to point out he was never a Nazi nor had any sympathies with Hitler or National Socialism. m. directing other elements of the unit to move against the paratroopers of the British 6th Airborne Division and thus farther away from the coast. Luck was brought up in a strict household by his adoptive father, in what was a typical "Prussian" manner, a manner which he believed was ultimately to his benefit during the hardships of later years. Kao dete, imao sam rođaka, tada već u odmaklim godinama, koji je bio poznati pukovnik jugoslovenske vojske za vreme 2.