Paul CarellRecensioni

Traducido del Aleman, por Félix Formosa Torres.
Titulo de la edición original, Die Wusten Fuchse.
Primera Edición 1961.

Doubly historical: as a history of the Normandy invasion and also as a historical comment (the book was published in 1960) on the rehabilitation of Germany during the Cold War. Author Paul Carrell needed a little rehabilitation himself, as he was an Obersturmbannführer. in the Allgemeine SS, It’s interesting enough as an account of things from the German side – you get exactly the same slice of life stories that you would in, say, The Longest Day, except instead of being from Yorkshire and Ontario and Oklahoma and Wales and California and Manitoba and Sussex and Georgia, the boys are from Westphalia and Saxony and Bavaria and, well, Georgia (the Georgians in the Wehrmacht didn’t do that well; one German general commented “We really couldn’t expect Russians to fight Americans in France for Germany.”)


As an account of the Normandy campaign, it is pretty good; in particular, it has better coverage of the Battle of Mortain and the Battle of the Falaise Pocket than anything I’ve read from the Anglo-American- Canadian side. (Hmmm. Keagan’s Six Armies in Normandy might be as good for the Falaise Pocket). Carrell, of course, blames everything on the materiel superiority on the Allied side; instead of using tactical skill the Americans simply obliterated anything in their path with high explosive. Well, we could.


In rehabilitation mode, Carrell is always ready to point out that this or that German soldier is now (i.e., 1960) an officer in the Bundeswehr or an official in some European organization or another. This also might explain Carrell’s admiration for Montgomery – emphasizing Germany’s new relationship with England. The only American general Carrell has any sort of praise for is Patton; Bradley is “too cautious” and Eisenhower gets acknowledged but neither praised nor criticized.


There are a couple of trivia items; I was surprised to find that tank commanders in the Wehrmacht were often corporals; I believe a tank commander in the Allied armies would be at least a sergeant or lieutenant. German defensive positions in Normandy often had what Carrell describes as “remote control mortars”; I’ve never heard of these anywhere else and can’t quite imagine how they would work. My best guess is something like a long distance minefield; perhaps the mortars were zeroed on a particular patch of terrain and could be discharged when something entered it? In any rate, there’s no account of the things actually being used in action; they were always disabled by shelling or bombing before they could be employed. The Germans were heavy users of captured ordnance; French R35 and H35 tanks were dug in as pillboxes and several artillery units are described as being equipped with “122mm guns”, which I assume came from the Russians.


Accounts like this always bring up the question of whether acknowledging that some WWII Germans were brave and honorable is somehow a validation of Nazi Germany. I suppose anybody who’s reasonable about it will accept that, and anybody who isn’t reasonable is by definition beyond argument anyway. It’s still a little creepy, though; kind of like playing the German side in a WWII wargame and winning.

This is a journalistic and colourful account of the campaign in Normandy up to the battles around Falaise in 19th August in 1944. Now, he calls it a breakout, as many German soldiers escaped with small arms by leaving their tanks, etc..behind. the English speaking writers call it a massacre. Be prepared for several such changes in terminology. But if the reader is interested in the ideas from "the other side of the hill" this is a valuable book. Carell did similar books on the invasion of the USSR, and North Africa. Good stuff well served by the translator.½

The maps are relatively crude, and there are many unit descriptions on the divisional level. The War on the East Front is told from the German point of view. Little analysis, but some local colour.½

The Russo German WWII, from July 1943 to June 1944. From Kursk to the destruction of Army Group Centre, this is a clear account. There are flashbacks to Stalingrad, and with the earlier "Hitler Moves East", the course of the major theatre of WWII is covered. The Russians killed the German army, and this is how.

Partiel et partial... de gros oublis½

This was the first book I read by Carell and it opened a new world of historical reporting to me. An accounting of the German serviceman on the Eastern Front as told by them. No need to speculate or theorize about their thoughts as they are told by those who were there. This is not an apologetic account of service to Germany during World War 2 and therefore may not be of interest to some.

Carell brings the reader the war on the Eastern Front through the eyes of Germans like no other author. Fantastic first-hand account as told by the people who were there. If you are looking for an apologetic German account of the war then look elsewhere. If you want to know what service in the German military was like then this is a must read.

Excellent account of D-Day from the German's perspective. I gained much insight into the actual happenings and myths regarding D-Day. Many small details I would never have considered without reading the book. Must read by historians and period collectors.

This book was translated from the German and the syntax shows it. It was also biased toward the Germans which, I suppose, is natural. It was somewhat troubling however as the book ignores anything beyond the strictly military.

The author blames the German defeat on Air superiority, Naval superiority, Economic superiority and the mistakes of the German General Staff and Adolf Hitler. No credit is given to Allied ground forces. In fact, their general incompetence is highlighted. If you are interested in the history of World War II then read the book but don't expect to agree with the point of view.

1108 Invasion--They're Coming! by Paul Carrell translated from the German by E. Osera (read 26 Mar 1971) I have no post-reading note on this book, but it is an account written from the German perspective of the time before and during the Normandy invasion. As I recall, I was not much taken by the book, maybe because it was 'for' the bad guys.

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