"Panzer Gunner by Bruno Friesen" Topic

"This German WW2 memoir has the highly unusual feature of being written by a Canadian born man of Ukrainian Menonite immigrants, of German origin. Due to the economic recovery in Germany and their debt laden Canadian existence, the family migrates to Germany just prior to WW2. Bruno goes first and becomes an unpaid farm hand which is pretty tough. He and the family find that the Nazi officials controlled everything – you had to apply for work opportunities through them and you were beholden to them. So they did what they had to do. Bruno and his brother are also required to serve in the army.

Bruno finds most of his training is based on bastardisation. He has fairly bitter memories of this. In some ways the training was remarkably sparse but there was great value in having veterans imparting hard won ‘turret wisdom' to recruits. Following the Italian surrender he is despatched there as part of the occupation force. On his return Bruno does an apprenticeship as a gun loader and ultimately serves as a gunner in Pz IVs and Jagdpanzers with the 7th Panzer Division on the Eastern Front in 1944.

There is quite a bit of detail on the several missions he undertook. There is also considerable variety in what happens. He is part of a tank group facing off against T34s, he conducts ambushes using the JgPz and there is a remarkable sequence of actions in conjunction with halftrack infantry and AA. He has considerable success in his role and it was quite astonishing how accurate a tank gunner could be! Also surprising was the number of times tanks and in particular the JgPzs, could be put out of action by minor hits or accidents.

The pages on the combat are some of the most fascinating I have read. Perhaps this is due to Mr Friesen's North American raising (and post-war life) and the cultural directness inherit in that? So on this score, this is a more detailed memoir than most written by German veterans who lean towards being reticient in combat matters. Friesen is also focused on technical issues, so there is a lot on the process of aiming guns, allowing for the usual variables (enemy speed, distance etc) and achieving hits. It was deadly stuff and Bruno himself is ultimately wounded. Note, there is some ribald language and observations, so this really has a soldier's flavour to it. Highly recommended!"

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Amicalement
Armand

Sounds interesting. Thanks.

Glad you enjoyed it my friend!. (smile)

Amicalement
Armand

I have this book – it's pretty good, though not many operations are covered, certainly not as a proportion of the pages. Worth buying if you see it cheap but not a must-have.

Keep meaning to buy it. Not only do I love reading primary accounts of soldiers who were actually in the thick of it, but he settled down in my hometown after the war, so there's even some local interest for me!