Common Soldier Books

I am looking for books about the common soldier in WWII, form any country. If you are familiar with American Civil War literature, you may be familiar with Bell Wiley's 'Johny Reb' and 'Billy Yank'. If I could find the WWII version of these books, I would be pleased. Something that discusses the training, equipment, food, on the march, in camp, battle experiences, etc.

 

These are books that are personal accounts of WW2...

Dennis Edwards - The Devils Own Luck
This is one of my favourite books and is Dennis personal account of joining the 6th Airborne Division and includes his Normandy Diary. He fought the entire campaign in France as a sniper and its a cracking read.

Martin Poppel - Heaven and Hell
This is the diary of a German Paratrooper who joined up before the war and fought all the way through.

Baron Von der Heydte - Deadalus Returned
A very different book from a German Para commander, very moving and philisophical, a complete contrast to most military memoirs, but it is solely concerned with the battle on Crete which deeply affected the author. Sadly out of print but Aberdeen books had a few copies.

Otto Carius - Tigers in the mud
Great book, about Tigers in Russia. Need I say more! Just been reprinted in soft back at half the price I paid for my copy!

Vladimir Pianikoff - Popski's Private Army
Not sure if its in print, I picked my copy up in a second hand book shop for a couple of quid. One mans war on the Germans in the desert full of intresting skirmishes and incidents.

There are lots of books around for personal exp. but also have a look at John Keegan - The Face of Battle, and if you are interested in the psycological side of war Ben Shepard's book - A war of nerves is worth a look.

One final book I would recommend, though not WW2, is David Hackworth's - About Face. Its the story of a young yank who joins the army just after WW2 and fights through Korea and Vietnam. Its a huge book but one of the greatest books I have ever read. His descriptions of firefights with the Chinese and Koreans and later the VC are outstanding, one of the few books to really bring combat to life.

 

A classic of the genre is Donald Burgett's 'Currahee ! - We Stand Alone ' published in 1967.

Very topically, this is Burgett's memoir of life and training with the 101st Airborne in the months before D-Day, culminating in the D-Day 'drop' itself.

Written while Burgett was still relatively young, it's a vivid and in places quite brutal account of soldiering with the 101st.

It's well worth seeking out a copy; I believe it may have been republished due to the interest surrounding 'Band Of Brothers'.

 

All of Burgett's books are worthwhile! And, he was in the same company as Art Morneweck's brother, Robert, KIA 12 april 1945 and buried at Margraten.

By Tank Into Normandy - Stuart Hills

Foot Soldier - Roscoe C Blunt

Roll Me Over - ??? at the moment, can't seem to find it. Good read.

 

Two more from the British Army -

'The Only Way Out' by R M Wingfield, for the NW Europe campaign, and

'The Recollections Of Rifleman Bowlby' by Alex Bowlby for Italy, 1944.

 

Theres also a book written by the father of my Father's best friend growing up in indiana


D-Day to the Bulge By Richard Courtney


Really good read.

Cvm

 

"Soldat" by Major Siegfried Knappe. Good account for an artillery and then staff young German officer.

"Forgotten Soldier" by Guy Sajer.

"Band of Brothers" by Stephen E. Ambrose, of course. Many don't like Ambrose but that book is quite good.

 

And not forgetting the fictional 'Cross of Iron'...

 

If you want fictional, i guess

All Quiet on the Western Front would be a good read too

 

Just read Blunt's Foot Soldier. Not a pretty picture.

Also recommend Frontsoldaten by Stephen Fritz. Being a private in the Wehrmacht was not a fun thing likely to bring any sort of longevity.

 

Although he was a sailor, not a soldier, commander Herbert Werner's book "Iron Coffins" is an outstanding first hand account of the U-Boat war. He was one of the few lucky U-Boat men to survive the entire war, and you will simply be astounded by reading about his numerous near death experiences.
​

 

..good list Jeff...here's one I worked on with Jason Mark for Leaping Horseman books which gets good reviews on Amazon...

 

Vaino Linna: Unknown soldier - personally my favorite book. It talks about Finnish continuation war, really excellent.

 

Nice to know people outside of Finland have also read the nationally famous "Unknown soldier" book...!!

 

..paperback edition is just published...

 

George G. Blackburn's trilogy as a member of the Royal Canadian Artillery's 4th Field Regiment Where the Hell Are the Guns?: A Soldier's Eye View of the Anxious Years, 1939-44, The Guns of Normandy, The Guns of Victory all very informative and easy to read despite being large volumes. Where the Hell Are the Guns? was written after the other two.

 

I'd go with Hills's 'By Tank into Normandy' & Bessonov's 'Tank Rider' above and would add Henry Metelmann's 'Through Hell for Hitler' as an immensely readable and honest memoir of the East from a Young German soldier's perspective.

Cheers,
Adam.

 

With the Old Breed by Eugene Sledge offers an enlisted man's account of the battles at Peleliu and Okinawa with the First Marine Division. It's an excellent work.

JT