Colin’s Comments (group member since Dec 16, 2012)

Colin’s comments from the THE WORLD WAR TWO GROUP group.

'Aussie Rick' wrote: "The sinking of Kretschmer's U-Boat:

"Walker pulled up to her, lowered nets and helped pull the men aboard. ‘Some of them,’ noted Macintyre, ‘were in the last stages of exhaustion from the cold of ..."

I knew and interviewed Otto a few times, at both his homes in Bremen and in Spain. He was a very unique gentleman indeed.

Operation Husky in july 1943 was started by the airborne drop into Sicily.

I knew Admiral Erich Topp quite well, along some of the other notable commanders. I still have some of his letters I think. Good man.

After 12 years in the infantry, over a 100 jumps, hundreds of humps, and a medical board, my bones were screaming along with my joints when I was in my 30s.

I met Dieter years ago.

H respected American tenacity, if not some of the logic they used to deploy their troops

I knew Otto Carius very well, as well as some of his fellow commanders, such Albert Kerscher, Paul Eggar, Will Fey, Wolfgang Koltermann, Willy Jaehde, Ernst Barkmann, and others. I had the luck of interviewing them all (as they were at Kursk), as well as a T-34 commander who fought them.

Read the book "Five Years to Freedom" by Special Forces Col. James N. Rowe. I knew Rowe, he recruited me, and he is also mentioned in my book "Noble Warrior". Rowe was one of a kind.

Most people do not know that the late actor Donald Pleasance, who played the blind POW Colin, was an actual POW in Stalag Luft III when his bomber was shot down. he was not part of the Great Escape due to injury, but wanted to be in the film as he knew Roger Bushell, Tom Calnan and the others.

The Great Escape was 50% Hollywood and not reality, but still a great classic.

Adam Makos' book Voices of the Pacific has many first person testimonies from Marines in WW II, my books, especially The Star of Africa are full of first person comments.

In my book Four War Boer, Pieter Krueler was a mercenary in Spain, hired by the Germans, but then changed his mind and worked with the basques. Interesting perspective.

I interviewed and knew many U-Boat commanders, two of whom were famous for notifying the British when they sank a ship. See them at my website www.lewisheatonbooks.com and go to the "Future Book Projects" page.

That areas was also the first of several events where Mark Clark wanted the white French officers commanding French Moroccan troops court martialed, and executed. He was denied by Marshall via Roosevelt and Eisenhower.

Jerome wrote: "A June 2016 release:

by Ben H. Shepherd
Description:
For decades after 1945, it was generally believed ..."

I know Ben Shepherd well, from his days at the University if Birmingham in England, and later at Glasgow Caledonian. We helped each other out quite a bit, he is a great historian.

FYI, Kurt Vonnegut was captured by Mellenthin's forces, and the general became a great fan after the war, and wrote to Vonnegut apologizing for the "unsoldierly" actions of those who dishonored the German military, mainly the Gestapo and non combat SS units.

General Friedrich-Wilhelm von Melenthin was one of my first interviews, long ago. Very interesting man.

Pamela wrote: "Colin wrote: "I have some insights on the bombing of Auschwitz and other camps, as I interviewed Doolittle and Lemay. I also researched the 449th Bombardment Group, 15th AF based in Italy, went thr..."

I wrote Occupation and Insurgency which covers the international law aspects on the Eastern Front, with interviews.

I have some insights on the bombing of Auschwitz and other camps, as I interviewed Doolittle and Lemay. I also researched the 449th Bombardment Group, 15th AF based in Italy, went through their records, and pinned many of their missions where they targeted the rail lines, marshaling yards and bridges, saving b/w 25-75,000 Jews from deportation and death. FYI Auaschwits was not an up and running death camp until Sept 1941, and was not specifically designated as such along with nearby Birkenau until January 1942 following the Wannsee Conference of that month. I also interviewed the last surviving member of that meeting, Dr. Gerhard Klopfer, and Himmler's left hand man SS Obergruppenfuehrer Karl Wolff. See the film Conspiracy, starring Kenneth Brannagh, Satan Tucci, Colin Firth, etc.

Look at some of the books I wrote, The Star of Africa is still quite popular, as are The German Aces Speak books. May be of interest.