BOOK REVIEW : BLOOD AND SOIL>

Another very cheap new book from The Works. This book is a bit of a puzzle. The author was from South Tyrol, a German enclave in Northern Italy but prior to 1918, a part of Austria. He joined the Wehrmacht in 1940 and was posted to the Brandenbergers. This was a special unit formed of ethnic Germans who had a second language and was used in the early years of the war to dress in enemy uniforms and use captured vehicles to seize bridges and other important facilities in front of the advancing main army to prevent destruction by the defending forces. The author undertook many such operations during the invasions of the Balkans and Russia.  

A great deal of the book is devoted to the author trying to explain his feelings both before and after the war, why he felt the need to volunteer for the Wehrmacht and how he became disenchanted as the war progressed, reasonable I guess for an autobiography but not the most interesting reading to me. However the combat missions are very interestingly described although the timelines can be very confusing. It is clear a great deal of action has been missed out as there are huge gaps in the authors activities over the years. Indeed he was badly wounded  in 1944 fighting against Greek partisans yet there is not a single word about this action, just that he was wounded and by the time he had recovered and then been sent to officer school, the war had came to an end. The translator speculated in her comments that this could be because the fighting against the partisans in Greece was filled with atrocities on both sides and the author did not wish to recount his part in such events. The other disappointing element relates to the translation itself. The lady responsible clearly has no understanding of German military terminology and we therefore see lots of strange references including getting back on the "cars" rather than trucks and references to "pistols" when you know she means submachine guns. 

Overall only a moderately interesting book that is hard going in places and leaves you wondering more about what is not included than what you just read.