Egan Posted November 23, 2002 Share Posted November 23, 2002 I've just been reading 'The forgotten soldier,' by Guy Seger,(I think that's his name,) and he keeps describing himself and the army in general as 'Landser,' Does anyone know what this meens and can anyone tell me what the difference is between Wermacht, Heer and Landser? is it just a term used on the eastern front as i've never seen it anywhere else before? Inquiring minds want to know! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwolf Posted November 23, 2002 Share Posted November 23, 2002 Heer = land army Wehrmacht = all of army (Heer), navy (Marine) and airforce (Luftwaffe) Landser = enlisted infantrymen, probably translates well to "grunt" in US terms, only applied by Germans to German infantrymen [ November 23, 2002, 10:46 AM: Message edited by: redwolf ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Steiner Posted November 23, 2002 Share Posted November 23, 2002 "Landser" is a German nickname for their soldiers, similar to "frontovik" for the Russians, "GI" for Americans, etc. The term "Wehrmacht" means armed forces, and "Heer" is the German term for army. So when you see something written describing "Heer troops" they mean army troops. You will also see troops referred to as "Wehrmacht troops", as opposed to "SS troops" for example. This has always irked me, being as Wehrmacht means the entire armed forces, of which the SS were a part of. However, everyone has heard the term Wehrmacht, and very few English speaking folks other than wargamers and reenactors know what "Heer" means. So Wehrmacht has unfortunately come to mean army almost exclusively. Hope that clears up a few things.. [ November 23, 2002, 10:48 AM: Message edited by: Sgt. Steiner ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwolf Posted November 23, 2002 Share Posted November 23, 2002 Wehrmacht included the Waffen-SS (but not other SS). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Steiner Posted November 23, 2002 Share Posted November 23, 2002 Good catch. I forgot to write Waffen-SS. SS troops usually is referring to Waffen-SS though.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landser Posted November 23, 2002 Share Posted November 23, 2002 Thought you were talking to me Yep, what they said. You'll see this term used in lots of books. Another is "In Deadly Combat" by Bidermann, which details his experiences on the eastern front from summer of '41 through the end of the war, which he spent in the Courland pocket (or "bridgehead" depending on perspective). He was a PaK gunner for the 132nd Infantry division, later becoming a junior infantry officer. The book describes many famous actions, including the assault of Sevastopol. This book is not like "The Forgotten Soldier", concentrating more on the factual and tactical aspects, as opposed to the inner thoughts and emotions of the front line infantryman like Sager's book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Dorosh Posted November 23, 2002 Share Posted November 23, 2002 Was the Waffen SS really part of the Wehrmacht in the technical sense? I always thought not. They drew their uniforms, etc., from seperate depots, for example. While they were under the operational control of the Field Army, I don't think that administratively, they were part of the Wehrmacht. They did not draw recruits from the Wehrkreise, for example, did they? I was under the impression they actually skimmed off the best candidates and left the Army with the dregs. It is an old question, but I have yet to see the definitive answer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Steiner Posted November 23, 2002 Share Posted November 23, 2002 That's a good question. One would think the Waffen-SS should be considered part of the entire German armed forces, instead of always remaining separate and apart. Maybe one of the German members of this forum can give a definitive answer on this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egan Posted November 23, 2002 Author Share Posted November 23, 2002 Ah! Thanks guys, I had never seen the term Landser before, I thought it was some sort of eastern front thing. On the subject of the SS, I don't think they were ever part of the regular army were they? I remember reading that Himmler retained control of the Entire SS - Waffen or not. There was a big bit in the the book " Order of the Deathshead," about this..? it suggests that although they basically acted and worked with regular army they still came under Himmler's control. Actually, there is a bit in the same book which talks about Himmlers SS fantasy. He decided that after the war was over he would create an SS state in Burgandy and rule over it. He wanted to recreate the sort of mini kingdoms that had been created by the tuetonic knights and suchlike. I had never heard this before, He was A total nutter! [ November 23, 2002, 01:40 PM: Message edited by: Egan ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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