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Hitler's Mountain Troops: Fighting at the Extremes
Warfare in the mountains--with its extremes of temperature and treacherous terrain--is unique and difficult. Hitler's iGebirgsjaeger/i, specially chosen troops of men who usually came from the Alpine regions, frequently succeeded in winning (or at least escaping) where others would have failed. Using anecdotes from surviving veterans, and photographs of men, landscape, and weapons, follow the troops from Poland down to Tunisia, chronicling their excellence, dedication, and iesprit de corps/i.
224 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1992
About the author
James Sidney Lucas
39 books21 followersAuthor and historian. Imperial War Museum, London, England, deputy head of department of photographs.
Mr. Lucas was a WWII veteran. He served with the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment, First Battalion, North Africa, infantryman, 1942; Queens' Own Royal West Surrey Regiment, Italy, 1943-44; Occupation Army, Austria, 1945; Foreign Office, Germany.
Most of James Lucas's professional life was associated with war. First, he served in the Queen's Own Royal Army as a British soldier in World War II, stationed in Africa, Italy, and later in Austria. In 1960 he joined the staff of the Imperial War Museum in London, eventually becoming the deputy head of the department of photographs. After retiring from this position, Lucas took up a third career, that of an author and historian. His favorite topic was World War II, a subject about which he became a respected authority—not only among scholars, but, through his work as an adviser on film and television productions about the war, among the general public as well. According to a London Times obituary, Lucas examined "almost every aspect of the Nazi war machine …combining technical information with first-hand testimony and so producing a body of work unequalled in its breadth. Having fought the Third Reich's best troops through North Africa and Italy, he knew their tenacity and resourcefulness."
Lucas's writing style was not considered typical of war histories. "Humour and enthusiasm, combined with rigorous attention to detail, were the hallmarks of his style," reported the Times obituary writer. Lucas was a prolific writer upon his topic of choice; and he covered many different aspects of the war, often concentrating on the German side of the conflicts.
As his Times obituarist declared, Lucas "saw himself as an archivist, searching for the ordinary men in the heat of battle, playing their part in the bigger picture." Lucas died on June 19, 2002, at the age of seventy-eight.
Mr. Lucas was a WWII veteran. He served with the Queen's Own Royal West Kent Regiment, First Battalion, North Africa, infantryman, 1942; Queens' Own Royal West Surrey Regiment, Italy, 1943-44; Occupation Army, Austria, 1945; Foreign Office, Germany.
Most of James Lucas's professional life was associated with war. First, he served in the Queen's Own Royal Army as a British soldier in World War II, stationed in Africa, Italy, and later in Austria. In 1960 he joined the staff of the Imperial War Museum in London, eventually becoming the deputy head of the department of photographs. After retiring from this position, Lucas took up a third career, that of an author and historian. His favorite topic was World War II, a subject about which he became a respected authority—not only among scholars, but, through his work as an adviser on film and television productions about the war, among the general public as well. According to a London Times obituary, Lucas examined "almost every aspect of the Nazi war machine …combining technical information with first-hand testimony and so producing a body of work unequalled in its breadth. Having fought the Third Reich's best troops through North Africa and Italy, he knew their tenacity and resourcefulness."
Lucas's writing style was not considered typical of war histories. "Humour and enthusiasm, combined with rigorous attention to detail, were the hallmarks of his style," reported the Times obituary writer. Lucas was a prolific writer upon his topic of choice; and he covered many different aspects of the war, often concentrating on the German side of the conflicts.
As his Times obituarist declared, Lucas "saw himself as an archivist, searching for the ordinary men in the heat of battle, playing their part in the bigger picture." Lucas died on June 19, 2002, at the age of seventy-eight.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 15, 2019
A read-and-weed from my father's collection used as a purse book. I have a hard time enjoying military history, but I've got several World War II paperbacks I need to read, so I chose this one first. It's dense, so it was hard to maintain momentum if I didn't stop at the end of a chapter. It's also a bit strange to feel like you're cheering the Nazis when you learn how well the Gebirgs performed. They were amazing soldiers, so if you like military history, you'll probably enjoy this book more than I did. I thought the best parts were the Norway and Lappland chapters because their mountaineering skills set them apart from other army divisions.
February 11, 2021
The Traditions of recruiting and training special military units for mountain and/or winter warfare goes back as far as Macedon and Persia, perhaps beyond. In the late 1930s, the Wehrmacht decided to resurrect the German and Austrian "AlpenKorps" that had been successful for Border skirmishing and in WWI on the Italian and Eastern fronts. Thus were born the "Gebirgsjager" of WWII- Germany's mountain soldiers. James Lucas, a WWII writer and Wehrmacht/Heer/Waffen SS historian traces the whole history of the corps- from creation to ignominous surrenders in 1945. We follow the ever expanding number of Gebirgs Divisions from Poland to Norway, France and the Netherlands, Greece, Yugoslavia, Crete, the Eastern Front, Lappland/Finland, the Leningrad Front, the Caucasus, the Western front, and eventually Hungary and Austria. At each chapter, we get a Strategic/Grand Tactical appreciation of the salient issues, a history of the campaign, and usually several battle reports and veteran memories. There are maps of every campaign at the back of the book as well as more information on all the units that claimed the Gebirgs Title, not all of which were actually elite units trained to the original standard.
Lucas is very good about explaining the advantages and disadvantages of the "mountain" units in some of their battles. Designed for combat in off road circumstances, the Jagers Walked alongside the Mules and Horses carrying their light weight "heavy" weapons and Artillery, so were vulnerable in static or armoured warfare. All too often the Gebirgs units were sent to fight heavier formations on unfavorable ground. Many of the later Divisions, some part of the Waffen SS, armed with captured Czech, French and Soviet Equipment and unevenly trained, were really best used as Police and Anti Partisan/Resistance formations although Lucas shows that by the end of the war, Flush with Captured Italian Artillery and Vehicles, Tito's Jugoslavian Army could compete evenly. Massive Soviet and Western Allied armoured thrusts at the end of the war tended to bypass units that still walked to get anywhere, in addition to outgunning the GebirgsJagers. In their element, the best of these Formations were truly elite, but as the war went on, and the Allies began to dictate the pace, Germany's weak logistical base was unable to serve or protect such specialist unit the way they really required. It is a compelling story of flow and eventual ebb- like so many Nazi soldiers' tales.
There are few adult themes in this book and little graphic description, so a Junior reader over about 11 should be able to handle and learn from this book. For the Gamer/Modeler/Military Enthusiast, this is a really good intro to the Gebirgjager. Lots of Diorama ideas in the prose and many B/W photos, and the Chapters and Maps give the Gamer the whole panoply of fronts where the Jagers fought. Crete, where Fallschirmjager (Paras) dropped from planes and Gebirgsjager flew in on JU52s or sailed in vulnerable Fishing Boat convoys is a Wargame Scenario favourite, but Lucas shows other fronts that might make for interesting games, like the Partisan war in the Balkans where many formations fought. With these units so popular with Bolt Action/Flames of War/BattleGroup/Angriff /C&C players, a book that shows you where they fought and what they did is sure to be popular. I could have used a few more battle reports and maps and diagrams- but this is a fine start in understanding the Gebirgs phenomenon . A good addition to the WWII library , and one of those single books one can hand to a Warhammer player who wants to understand historical wargame subjects.
Lucas is very good about explaining the advantages and disadvantages of the "mountain" units in some of their battles. Designed for combat in off road circumstances, the Jagers Walked alongside the Mules and Horses carrying their light weight "heavy" weapons and Artillery, so were vulnerable in static or armoured warfare. All too often the Gebirgs units were sent to fight heavier formations on unfavorable ground. Many of the later Divisions, some part of the Waffen SS, armed with captured Czech, French and Soviet Equipment and unevenly trained, were really best used as Police and Anti Partisan/Resistance formations although Lucas shows that by the end of the war, Flush with Captured Italian Artillery and Vehicles, Tito's Jugoslavian Army could compete evenly. Massive Soviet and Western Allied armoured thrusts at the end of the war tended to bypass units that still walked to get anywhere, in addition to outgunning the GebirgsJagers. In their element, the best of these Formations were truly elite, but as the war went on, and the Allies began to dictate the pace, Germany's weak logistical base was unable to serve or protect such specialist unit the way they really required. It is a compelling story of flow and eventual ebb- like so many Nazi soldiers' tales.
There are few adult themes in this book and little graphic description, so a Junior reader over about 11 should be able to handle and learn from this book. For the Gamer/Modeler/Military Enthusiast, this is a really good intro to the Gebirgjager. Lots of Diorama ideas in the prose and many B/W photos, and the Chapters and Maps give the Gamer the whole panoply of fronts where the Jagers fought. Crete, where Fallschirmjager (Paras) dropped from planes and Gebirgsjager flew in on JU52s or sailed in vulnerable Fishing Boat convoys is a Wargame Scenario favourite, but Lucas shows other fronts that might make for interesting games, like the Partisan war in the Balkans where many formations fought. With these units so popular with Bolt Action/Flames of War/BattleGroup/Angriff /C&C players, a book that shows you where they fought and what they did is sure to be popular. I could have used a few more battle reports and maps and diagrams- but this is a fine start in understanding the Gebirgs phenomenon . A good addition to the WWII library , and one of those single books one can hand to a Warhammer player who wants to understand historical wargame subjects.
September 17, 2017
Decent general overview of the origin and wartime service record of Germany's Gebirgsjager, but the writer felt a little too partial to them. While the Gebirgsjager fought a relatively clean war as far as I know the author only makes 5 mentions of atrocities in this book. Of these 5 only 1 was committed by the Gebirgsjager which Lucas claims (possibly correctly) they were not guilty of and the other 4 were allied war crimes. I think if you write a book about the wartime service of 10 WW2 German divisions and decide to mention only 5 war crimes all of which the Germans are victims of then your book is biased. The 5 incidents are quoted below.
"an incident ...which demonstrates the power and durability of hostile propaganda. Rovaniemi was destroyed by fire, an incident which was promptly denounced by the Soviets as a Fascist atrocity and which , despite all evidence to the contrary, is still widely accepted as being true."
"The battle was an unceasing one which the SS Corps could not win, unless it acted in as vicious and unprincipled fashion as did JANL which at that time shot all prisoners of war. The 7th SS did not"
"On 16 May the remnant of 7th Waffen Gebirgsjager Division 'Prinz Eugen' surrendered and passed into a brutal, not to say murderous, captivity out of which few returned to their homes"
"civilians, fearful of the rape and pillage that accompanied the Red Army"
"the flames of burning farms and houses in the Oststeier as the Soviets, in an orgy of destruction, burned these to the ground".
"an incident ...which demonstrates the power and durability of hostile propaganda. Rovaniemi was destroyed by fire, an incident which was promptly denounced by the Soviets as a Fascist atrocity and which , despite all evidence to the contrary, is still widely accepted as being true."
"The battle was an unceasing one which the SS Corps could not win, unless it acted in as vicious and unprincipled fashion as did JANL which at that time shot all prisoners of war. The 7th SS did not"
"On 16 May the remnant of 7th Waffen Gebirgsjager Division 'Prinz Eugen' surrendered and passed into a brutal, not to say murderous, captivity out of which few returned to their homes"
"civilians, fearful of the rape and pillage that accompanied the Red Army"
"the flames of burning farms and houses in the Oststeier as the Soviets, in an orgy of destruction, burned these to the ground".
February 9, 2023
Very good & concise account of the German Alpine corps in WWII. Each chapter covers the gebirgs division(s) involvement in a campaign throughout the war. The author uses published material and interviews with gebirgs veterans. Written from operational perspective, many chapters present high level view of troop movement and battle. But other chapters are written from the company level view. These chapters convey an excellent account of men in battle and I found them quite exciting.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews