At Leningrad's Gates: The Story of a Soldier with Army Group North
288
At Leningrad's Gates: The Story of a Soldier with Army Group North
288Paperback
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Overview
This is the remarkable story of a German soldier who fought throughout World War II, rising from conscript private to captain of a heavy weapons company on the Eastern Front.
William Lubbeck, age 19, was drafted into the Wehrmacht in August 1939. As a member of the 58th Infantry Division, he received his baptism of fire during the 1940 invasion of France. The following spring his division served on the left flank of Army Group North in Operation Barbarossa. After grueling marches amidst countless Russian bodies, burnt-out vehicles, and a great number of cheering Baltic civilians, Lubbeck’s unit entered the outskirts of Leningrad, making the deepest penetration of any German formation.
The Germans suffered hardships the following winter as they fought both Russian counterattacks and the brutal cold. The 58th Division was thrown back and forth across the front of Army Group North, from Novgorod to Demyansk, at one point fighting back Russian attacks on the ice of Lake Ilmen. A soldier who preferred to be close to the action, Lubbeck served as forward observer for his company, dueling with Russian snipers, partisans and full-scale assaults alike. His worries were not confined to his own safety, however, as news arrived of disasters in Germany, including the destruction of Hamburg where his girlfriend served as an Army nurse.
In September 1943, Lubbeck earned the Iron Cross and was assigned to officers’ training school in Dresden. By the time he returned to Russia, Army Group North was in full-scale retreat. Now commanding his former heavy weapons company, Lubbeck alternated sharp counterattacks with inexorable withdrawal to Memel on the Baltic. In April 1945 his company was nearly obliterated, but in the last scramble from East Prussia, he was able to evacuate on a newly minted German destroyer.
After his release from British captivity, Lubbeck emigrated to the United States where he raised a successful family. With the assistance of David B. Hurt, he has drawn on his wartime notes and letters, Soldatbuch, regimental history and personal memories to recount his frontline experience, including rare firsthand accounts of both triumph and disaster.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781935149378 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Casemate Publishers |
| Publication date: | 09/14/2010 |
| Pages: | 288 |
| Product dimensions: | 5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.90(d) |
About the Author
David B. Hurt received a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Florida and a M.A. in International Affairs from Florida State University. He worked with William Lubbeck as the co-author of At Leningrad's Gates: The Story of a Soldier with Army Group North (Casemate, 2006). He currently serves as an academic advisor at a college in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Table of Contents
Preface vii
Introduction ix
Prologue 1
1 A Village Upbringing 15
2 Under The Nazi Dictatorship 29
3 Prelude To War 39
4 Training For Combat 53
5 War in the West 67
6 Blitzkrieg into Russia 81
7 To The Gates of Leningrad 93
8 Winter at Uritsk 103
9 Counterattack at the Volkhov 121
10 The Demyansk Corridor 133
11 Holding The Line at Ladoga 143
12 Officer Candidate 153
13 Kriegschule 161
14 Return to The Front 169
15 Retreat into The Reich 183
16 Catastrophe 195
17 The Price of Defeat 205
18 Post-War Germany 217
19 A New Life Abroad 229
Epilogue 245
Acknowledgments 251
Appendices 253
Endnote 258
What People are Saying About This
"As WWII veterans pass, it's important to recognize the contributions of the front line soldiers from all armies. Memoirs like this one help to understand what it was like in combat. At Leningrad's Gates offers a priceless piece of history from a young soldier who spent four years on the Russian Front."--(Russ Lockwood, Magweb.com)