German Tanks - MG-34s In Commander's Cupola?

[panzersaurkrautwerfer]

Veteran's accounts will always be tricky, simply given the limited perspective+time+frailties of human memory.

Like I'm not sure which post I was at for my first deployment any more.  Like I could show you where it was on a map, tell you about how it was laid out, but I can't remember the name (it was basically two large houses with a perimiter wall, not a big FOB or something).

If in 2040 or so I sat down and wrote out my less than illustrious career, it's doubtless someone would question if I was "really" there simply because in reality it turns out Ghaz Main was the callsign for the post vs Ghaz I which was the actual name, or it was actually Ghaz II but because it was the HQ for our unit it was called Ghaz Main etc, etc.  There's a lot of minutia that falls to the side simply because even though you're still caught up in historic events, you're still thinking more about getting real food/how long until you get some downtime/your local sports team and it's really not that relevant in the moment if you had an M16 or an M4 simply that your rifle was in your possession at that moment.

Always take first hand accounts with a grain of salt.  They're simply not going to be scholarly well researched writings with 100% accuracy (again, look at the difference between "A Time for Trumpets" and "Company Commander," same author, same battles, totally different perspectives). 

I think Forgotten Soldier is a mess of reality, a little fiction and some poor memory.  It jives okay enough with history to be at least illuminating in the absence of not-Tiger or Stuka pilot  writings.

The D-Day book sounds like rubbish though.  

[General Jack Ripper]

3 hours ago, landser said:

Slim, thanks for that link. Very interesting. What I think I can take from it is that Guy Sajer is in fact genuine and his book is, more likely than not, authentic. While there is nothing to prove so beyond doubt, I understand of course how details can be mistaken, I do it all the time.  Of course on one hand this understanding of factual mistakes is being used to cut Sajer slack, while on the other hand damning the D Day Through German Eyes book. I have no horse in this race, and don't mean to defend that book, only the desire to know if what I am taking to be authentic actually is.

It's the shortcoming of most personal memoirs. Human memory is fallible. Just keep in mind any memoir is subjective, and often prone to errors in terminology, and timeline.

One thing I enjoy memoirs for is getting things like slang correct, such as Sajer's use of the word "Spandau" for the MG-42. Historians tell us the MG 08 was called a "Spandau", but what Sajer tells us is the name persisted in an informal capacity, such as the common word "Tank" referring to track laying armored fighting vehicle. So, instead of using the word "Maschinengewehr", troops used the simpler word, "Spandau".

From the amazon book description of D-Day through the German Eyes: "This book sheds fascinating light on these questions, bringing together statements made by German survivors after the war, when time had allowed them to reflect on their state of mind, their actions and their choices of June 6th."

When enough time has elapsed from a historic event, especially a traumatic one, you can't expect perfect details to emerge from human memory. Details may be wrong, but you can still gain insight into the psychology of the event. Even many years after the war, the scars are often visible, such as when reading General Grant's memoirs. He looks back on the civil war, not really mentioning major campaign history, (basically, "we went over here to do this thing") but by offering his memories of specific events that happened on the battlefield, and his profound sense of regret over mistakes made by the higher command in the early days.

If you want details, dates, and order of battle, you're better off reading historians who can access reports and data from major archives. If you want to learn how things felt, then memoirs are your best references.

Sajer's imagery, describing the remnants of his unit late in the war on the Eastern Front. "Like an emaciated pack of wolves, staring across the empty landscape," held together only by the efforts of their commander, Herr Hauptmann Wesreidau, stuck with me long after reading the book.

[Michael Emrys]

34 minutes ago, SLIM said:

If you want details, dates, and order of battle, you're better off reading historians who can access reports and data from major archives. If you want to learn how things felt, then memoirs are your best references.

+1. That says it in a nutshell.

Starting in 1957 I have read Johnnie Johnson's Wing Leader two or three times with great pleasure. I wouldn't even try to guarantee that all the details are accurate and complete, but he does provide a wonderful sense of "what it was like".

Michael