new SS memoir

[book lover]

http://www.amazon.com/On-Devils-Tail...ref=pd_sim_b_8

[Terry OToole]

http://www.amazon.com/On-Devils-Tail...ref=pd_sim_b_8

I ve had this on order for a while now , publishing has been pushed back to july 14 , at least theres a bit more info on the content than there was initially

[Terry OToole]

just been informed its now in the post

[k9mike]

Seems to me I read something very similar to this, with also a similar name...Anyone?? same more or less story...just not sure if this one. went to fight with French as well...seems there were quite a few that did this...Really think it may be same book...has this been published in past?? The one I read was from an older book that could only find as a PDF type file to read.
Mike

[Herr Lyppe]

Hi Mike,

A couple of years ago I read a book called 'The Survivor' by Eddy Hukov that was published in the 50s and have also heard of a one called 'The Devil's Brigade' but never read it as I beleieve that it's quite hard to find.
Disillusioned Wehrmacht veterans going on to fight in Indochina is certainly an interesting, and much ignored, part of history and have been looking forward to this new book for quite awhile.

Cheers
Allan

[k9mike]

Yes Alan...that's the one I read...very good. thanks for helping me remember...
Mike

[Josh Cowell]

Hi Mike,

A couple of years ago I read a book called 'The Survivor' by Eddy Hukov that was published in the 50s and have also heard of a one called 'The Devil's Brigade' but never read it as I beleieve that it's quite hard to find.
Disillusioned Wehrmacht veterans going on to fight in Indochina is certainly an interesting, and much ignored, part of history and have been looking forward to this new book for quite awhile.

Cheers
Allan

The "Devil's Guard" maybe. I read it a while back. It was good, but there's a lot of controversy on whether it is fact or fiction.

[Herr Lyppe]

That'd be it Josh. I'd never heard anything particularly glowing about it so never bothered reading a copy that a friend had. The Survivor was a decent read but very reflective of the time in which it was published and centred more about his trek to Thailand rather than much emphasis being placed on his immediate post-war experiences in Germany.
I've read that the greater majority of the French garrison destroyed by the Viet Mien at Dien Bien Phu were German veterans and it would be interesting to see if the French Foreign Legion have an official history that documents the details of these foreign volunteers.

Allan

[Michael Fay]

That'd be it Josh. I'd never heard anything particularly glowing about it so never bothered reading a copy that a friend had. The Survivor was a decent read but very reflective of the time in which it was published and centred more about his trek to Thailand rather than much emphasis being placed on his immediate post-war experiences in Germany.
I've read that the greater majority of the French garrison destroyed by the Viet Mien at Dien Bien Phu were German veterans and it would be interesting to see if the French Foreign Legion have an official history that documents the details of these foreign volunteers.

Allan

I don't know for a fact, but Im betting there is no history of SS vets (or any others from anywhere) that would ever be made public.
After all, did not the offer of anonymity/new identity and protection from legal authorities be the main tenet and draw of foreign volunteers in the first place?

[Woolgar]

'The Devils Guard' is one of the best books I have read

Nick

[Josh Cowell]

I don't know for a fact, but Im betting there is no history of SS vets (or any others from anywhere) that would ever be made public.
After all, did not the offer of anonymity/new identity and protection from legal authorities be the main tenet and draw of foreign volunteers in the first place?

Yeah, I heard that the ex Waffen SS troops who fought as part of the French Foreign Legion in Vietnam would sing the Horst Wessel Lied as they marched past the French embassy. I dunno if there's any truth to that though.
It's too bad that they died without being recognised as who they were at Dien Bien Phu. It reminds me of something out of the Dirty Dozen.

[Terry OToole]

i ve just finished"on the devils tail" I enjoyed it ! French /German lad enlists in the waffen ss "Charlmagne" division, fights on the eastern front ,ends up in French custody after the war then joins the post war French army in indo china , good read,personable account

[Josh Cowell]

i ve just finished"on the devils tail" I enjoyed it ! French /German lad enlists in the waffen ss "Charlmagne" division, fights on the eastern front ,ends up in French custody after the war then joins the post war French army in indo china , good read,personable account

Terry where did you purchase it? Amazon keeps delaying shipment. I've been waiting for ages.

[FrenchVolunteer]

Hi,

as of April 16, 2015, "On The Devil's Tail" is under heavy suspicion to be a full fantasy tale, as the whole "Charlemagne" part is heavily faked, ridiculous and impossible claims contradicted by (historical) facts.
All the names and locations are usually wrongly used or located, events didn't happen (Spitfire strafing the SS-Ausbildungslager Sennheim during an oath ceremony, yeah right !) and we have almost no factual info or date during all the 1944-1945 timeline.
Too many factual errors, this can't be due to the veteran losing his memory at this stage.
Too many ridiculous WWII cliches...

To date Helion was unable to provide a contact to Vittornio, and it is impossible to get access to the original french (or italian) memoirs to get a french edition.

French specialists and historians are now trying to check in the military archives to know if the guy was even in the "Charlemagne". It may take months unfortunately...

It is the first "Walter Mitty" in the (french) Waffen-SS... and probably not the last.

To ask 35 euros for this "Sven Hassel" crap is just ridiculous.

Strongly NOT recommended. You will get better story in "Landser" or other similar publications.

See You

Vince

[Kyle Harrington]

Be wary

Having gravitated towards this type of memoir in my youth I would be very cagey about any of them to say the least !!