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West Wall
Adolf Hitler intended it to be the ultimate defender of his much vaunted 1,000-year Reich. Constructed in the utmost secrecy and at enormous cost, and dismissed by many as a 'white elephant', the 'Great Wall of Germany' very nearly lived up to the Fuhrer's expectations, and is judged to have prolonged the war in Europe by six months. "The Battle for the Siegfried Line" was not only the most important of the 1944-45 campaign against Germany, it was to prove the key battle in the entire war in the west. It raged for six long bloody months along a front of 350 miles, and cost over a quarter of a million British, American, Canadian and French casualties. Today, more than sixty years after Hitler ordered its construction, the 'Great Wall of Germany' can reputedly still be seen from the stratosphere, crawling across the German countryside like some obscene, grey, primeval reptile. The disdain with which the 'Tommy' was going to 'hang out his washing on the Siegfried line' was mingled with awe at the sheer difficulty and dangers of the campaign. Charles Whiting's vivid account brings to life the principal personalities engaged in the struggle to break through the "West Wall".
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
About the author
Charles Whiting
279 books55 followersCharles Whiting was a British writer and military historian and with some 350 books of fiction and non-fiction to his credit, under his own name and a variety of pseudonyms including Ian Harding, Duncan Harding, K.N. Kostov, John Kerrigan, Klaus Konrad, and Leo Kessler.
Born in the Bootham area of York, England, he was a pupil at the prestigious Nunthorpe Grammar School, leaving at the age of 16 to join the British Army by lying about his age. Keen to be in on the wartime action, Whiting was attached to the 52nd Reconnaissance Regiment and by the age of 18 saw duty as a sergeant in France, Holland, Belgium and Germany in the latter stages of World War II. While still a soldier, he observed conflicts between the highest-ranking British and American generals which he would write about extensively in later years.
After the war, he stayed on in Germany completing his A-levels via correspondence course and teaching English before being enrolled at Leeds University reading History and German Language. As an undergraduate he was afforded opportunities for study at several European universities and, after gaining his degree, would go on to become an assistant professor of history. Elsewhere, Whiting held a variety of jobs which included working as a translator for a German chemical factory and spells as a publicist, a correspondent for The Times and feature writer for such diverse magazines as International Review of Linguistics, Soldier and Playboy.
His first novel was written while still an undergraduate, was published in 1954 and by 1958 had been followed by three wartime thrillers. Between 1960 and 2007 Charles went on to write over 350 titles, including 70 non-fiction titles covering varied topics from the Nazi intelligence service to British Regiments during World War II.
One of his publishers, Easingwold-based Rupert Smith of GH Smith & Son said he was a quiet man and prolific writer.
"He's one of a band of forgotten authors because he sold millions of copies and still, up to his death was doing publishing deals.He was the kind of man who was very self-effacing, one of Britain's forgotten authors, still working at 80 years of age, with his nose down and kicking out books."
Charles Henry Whiting, author and military historian died on July 24 2007, leaving his wife and son.
Born in the Bootham area of York, England, he was a pupil at the prestigious Nunthorpe Grammar School, leaving at the age of 16 to join the British Army by lying about his age. Keen to be in on the wartime action, Whiting was attached to the 52nd Reconnaissance Regiment and by the age of 18 saw duty as a sergeant in France, Holland, Belgium and Germany in the latter stages of World War II. While still a soldier, he observed conflicts between the highest-ranking British and American generals which he would write about extensively in later years.
After the war, he stayed on in Germany completing his A-levels via correspondence course and teaching English before being enrolled at Leeds University reading History and German Language. As an undergraduate he was afforded opportunities for study at several European universities and, after gaining his degree, would go on to become an assistant professor of history. Elsewhere, Whiting held a variety of jobs which included working as a translator for a German chemical factory and spells as a publicist, a correspondent for The Times and feature writer for such diverse magazines as International Review of Linguistics, Soldier and Playboy.
His first novel was written while still an undergraduate, was published in 1954 and by 1958 had been followed by three wartime thrillers. Between 1960 and 2007 Charles went on to write over 350 titles, including 70 non-fiction titles covering varied topics from the Nazi intelligence service to British Regiments during World War II.
One of his publishers, Easingwold-based Rupert Smith of GH Smith & Son said he was a quiet man and prolific writer.
"He's one of a band of forgotten authors because he sold millions of copies and still, up to his death was doing publishing deals.He was the kind of man who was very self-effacing, one of Britain's forgotten authors, still working at 80 years of age, with his nose down and kicking out books."
Charles Henry Whiting, author and military historian died on July 24 2007, leaving his wife and son.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 20, 2026
This is an okay look at at the allied campaign in early 1945 against the West Wall. There is an overview of the strategic concept of the wall and some photographs. The author does make some disparaging remarks about some allied generals and alludes to a theory that Eisenhower knew and may have encouraged the German battle of the Bulge in order to draw them out from the west wall (seemingly based on Magic intercepts) which doesn`t really hold water.
What is apparent is that even in January 1945 the Allies faced a hard slog to get through the West Wall to the Rhine and that the Germans were determined to make them pay for it, as was commented at the time the Allies could still have lost the war (unlikely though)
What is apparent is that even in January 1945 the Allies faced a hard slog to get through the West Wall to the Rhine and that the Germans were determined to make them pay for it, as was commented at the time the Allies could still have lost the war (unlikely though)
November 22, 2010
As a history 'buff' I loved it. I now have a more complete view of WW2. Seemed very accurate.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews