John Kettler Posted December 10, 2018 Share Posted December 10, 2018 (edited) By sheer happenstance while trying to help a CoC gamer I found this in the sidebar. Was fascinated to learn there is a German expert, Helmut Von Keusgen, on the history of the German batteries at Normandy who has not only written a bunch of books on some of the others, but now has a controversial one on the Pegasus Bridge and the Merville Battery, based on what evidently are previously unpublished revelatory eyewitness accounts from the German side. The article below got me excited and curious, but frustratingly, the book was first published in German and now in French. It was published October 4th of this year in the French edition and is so new Amazon doesn't have a review on it yet. The Amazon description is so short that laconic would seem verbose by comparison. Nor is Look Inside enabled. Has anyone here glanced at or read it?https://www.dday-overlord.com/en/normandy/news/controversial-book-pegasus-bridge-helmut-von-keusgen Regards, John Kettler Edited December 10, 2018 by John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Combatintman Posted December 10, 2018 Share Posted December 10, 2018 The German edition, according to your link, was published in 2014 which is probably enough time to have garnered a review or two. The author: http://worldcat.org/identities/lccn-nb2003070679/ The original publisher of his books: http://www.hek-creativ-verlag.de/ The author and publisher being one and the same. How many reviews of his works over the years …? Not many … The absence of a substantial review base is not necessarily the be all and end all but he is also not a historian by trade. Whether the book is controversial or not is another matter, that label is applied by the person writing the linked article. If you delve into the narrative in the article, it seems that the 'controversy' boils down to: The Germans didn't fight much. True - they lost. Lieutenant Brotheridge was killed by his own side. Could have been, it was dark and there were a fair few rounds going down range. Lieutenant Brotheridges's circumstances of death have been covered up. Depends really on whether he was killed by his own side, whether anyone knew that his own side had killed him and what defines a cover up. Just for sh1ts and giggles, let's say that Lieutenant Brotheridge was killed by friendly fire. His death I am sure would have been recorded in official records as killed in action. I doubt anybody really had the time or inclination to investigate the cause of every death in action with there being a war on and all that. In conspiracy theorist world, because the accurate statement 'killed in action' does not say 'killed by own side' and that there was no further investigation, such omissions amount to a cover up. This reasoning is generally flawed. Back to the end of the article at your link: 'Although the author cannot provide further evidence to support his hypotheses than the many testimonies of veterans, he nevertheless contributes to shaking up the historic lines of D-Day.' This seems to me to indicate that the author lacks evidence beyond a few old people that he spoke to. Oral testimony has its place but as you ought to know from your intelligence background, you have to question the validity of such testimony years after the event, particularly when it is uncorroborated by other sources. So, that is a pretty long way of saying - don't get 'excited and curious' every time you see something labelled controversial. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjkerner Posted December 11, 2018 Share Posted December 11, 2018 Sigh...if only your sober reasoning would be heard, Combatintman. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Combatintman Posted December 11, 2018 Share Posted December 11, 2018 6 hours ago, mjkerner said: Sigh...if only your sober reasoning would be heard, Combatintman. To be honest I'd been in the pub all afternoon. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOS:96B2P Posted December 11, 2018 Share Posted December 11, 2018 3 hours ago, Combatintman said: To be honest I'd been in the pub all afternoon. That is easy to believe ................. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Combatintman Posted December 11, 2018 Share Posted December 11, 2018 (edited) 3 hours ago, MOS:96B2P said: That is easy to believe ................. I did the same today so as not to disrespect your belief system. Edited December 11, 2018 by Combatintman 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kettler Posted December 11, 2018 Author Share Posted December 11, 2018 Combatintman, Appreciate the info and the related thoughts! Would note I posted in the wee hours and provided what info I could given I was trying to stay focused enough to simply pass the word. You dug deeper than I did, but I was lucky to get the post out at all, for a number of reasons. I selected the title based on the approach of the article and having no real detailed knowledge on the battle per se, though I read some accounts years ago. mjkerner, Working on it. MOS:96B2P Tavern humor, probably involving beer. NO indication as to skittles. Regards, John Kettler 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sublime Posted December 11, 2018 Share Posted December 11, 2018 10 minutes ago, John Kettler said: <Snip> You dug deeper than I did, but I was lucky to get the post out at all, for a number of reasons. <snip> the repitilian shapeshifting illuminati hit squads had triangulated your position and were closing in huh? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeFF Posted December 12, 2018 Share Posted December 12, 2018 On 12/10/2018 at 1:34 AM, John Kettler said: By sheer happenstance ...you couldn't find the correct forum for this topic? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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