Special forces, secret agents, elite soldiers and policemen, and others who have proven themselves as skilled, dedicated, and tough beyond the average person always make for interesting stories, both in real-life history and in fiction. I am usually interested in such material, especially if it’s from actual wars and other events, although I did read the original Jason Bourne trilogy (admittedly, while on an exercise bike). I have usually read from a U.S.-centric position and certainly from one focused on the West, both because that’s what interests me most, but also because that is what tends to be available to me (the victors write history, right?).
Kommando: German Special Forces of World War Two by James Lucas (ISBN: 0-304-35127-X) is a book that takes a look at special forces from the other side. Lucas is clearly pro-Ally and writes from a perspective driven purely by scholarly interest. The writing is dispassionate and appropriately covers the material. He discusses German special forces in the army, navy, and air force during World War II. He notes that German efforts in this area, just like happens to be the case for many other countries, historical and modern, were hampered by bureaucratic infighting, although this is probably a good thing in the case of World War II. The book catalogues various battles and operations that German special forces were involved in, some successful, such as the taking of a large fortress, the Belgian Fort Eben-Emael, and others resulting in large losses for the Germans, such as an attempt at capturing Yugoslav Partisan leader Josip Tito. There were also descriptions of guerilla action and more political things, such as an operation in Poland, where the intent of the operation was to make it look like the Poles were revolting, harming Germans, and giving Germany a reason to attack. There were descriptions of the German Navy trying to conduct special operations in specially designed boats and submarines, most of which were abject failures. The air force didn’t fare much better, although the author places much of the blame for this on German military leadership, including Hitler, who expected too much and did not use the special forces in appropriate situations. Finally, the book examines non-military forces, which were special only in the sense that they weren’t regular soldiers. In general, using civilians was even more havoc-filled than the failed operations that involved professional soldiers.
I am, by no means, a military historian, so this was an interesting book, although it faded toward the end as it catalogued the various failures of the German navy and Luftwaffe to conduct special operations. Maybe that is another reason I’ve read so much about American and other Allied successes? Victory and success probably make for better stories. It was interesting to learn about a new subject, but it was a little dry once it got outside the major successes. I, like the author, found that something ultimately to be grateful for, as that meant that Germany likely had the tools at its disposal to be successful using special operations in the war, but often didn’t because of management and other problems, which was a boon to the Allies.
Kommando: German Special Forces of World War Two by James Lucas (ISBN: 0-304-35127-X) is a book that takes a look at special forces from the other side. Lucas is clearly pro-Ally and writes from a perspective driven purely by scholarly interest. The writing is dispassionate and appropriately covers the material. He discusses German special forces in the army, navy, and air force during World War II. He notes that German efforts in this area, just like happens to be the case for many other countries, historical and modern, were hampered by bureaucratic infighting, although this is probably a good thing in the case of World War II. The book catalogues various battles and operations that German special forces were involved in, some successful, such as the taking of a large fortress, the Belgian Fort Eben-Emael, and others resulting in large losses for the Germans, such as an attempt at capturing Yugoslav Partisan leader Josip Tito. There were also descriptions of guerilla action and more political things, such as an operation in Poland, where the intent of the operation was to make it look like the Poles were revolting, harming Germans, and giving Germany a reason to attack. There were descriptions of the German Navy trying to conduct special operations in specially designed boats and submarines, most of which were abject failures. The air force didn’t fare much better, although the author places much of the blame for this on German military leadership, including Hitler, who expected too much and did not use the special forces in appropriate situations. Finally, the book examines non-military forces, which were special only in the sense that they weren’t regular soldiers. In general, using civilians was even more havoc-filled than the failed operations that involved professional soldiers.I am, by no means, a military historian, so this was an interesting book, although it faded toward the end as it catalogued the various failures of the German navy and Luftwaffe to conduct special operations. Maybe that is another reason I’ve read so much about American and other Allied successes? Victory and success probably make for better stories. It was interesting to learn about a new subject, but it was a little dry once it got outside the major successes. I, like the author, found that something ultimately to be grateful for, as that meant that Germany likely had the tools at its disposal to be successful using special operations in the war, but often didn’t because of management and other problems, which was a boon to the Allies.
 | This work, including all text, photographs, and other original work, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives 3.0 License and is copyrighted © MMXIV John Pruess. |
No comments:
Post a Comment