Panzer Commander: The Memoirs of Colonel Hans von Luck (CASSELL MILITARY PAPERBACKS)

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Hans Von Luck (pronounced like the English name "Luke" not the English word "luck") was a "good German," which makes his memoir an interesting story that has certain elephants constantly lurking in the back of the room. After the war, Luck and Howard would have coffee together in Bénouville at probably the first building in France to be liberated from German occupation, the Café Gondrée.

With that I must say that the writing was smooth, and was more of a character study ythan dates, facts numbers which was a departure. He comes across as rather honorable as he changes names or does not give full names to people he thought would get in trouble or should be left alone. When Howard went to the cafe in the seventies and early eighties, he sometimes brought Hans von Luck with him. Kao dete, imao sam rođaka, tada već u odmaklim godinama, koji je bio poznati pukovnik jugoslovenske vojske za vreme 2. A week later, after a brief rest and refit, the 21st Panzer Division was sent to the Villers Bocage area south of Bayeux.To hear him tell it, he never abused a prisoner; never made a major blunder while commanding; and never got free or cheap goodies from the occupied French via the implicit threat of "for else.

There was little antiaircraft artillery available, and the Luftwaffe had already retreated to air bases further west. Luck's regiment was stationed at Vimont, southeast of Caen, with two companies of assault guns in support. The next couple of months Luck spent on leave (He was informed that he was to take 12 months leave after the meeting with Jodl, he suggested that it should be six months and he could be assigned to the Panzer Reconnaissance School in Paris.

Not that I doubt Luck's personal conduct — I'm sure he was a conscientious commander who followed the Geneva Convention.

The book ends up with Col Luck getting released from Russian Prison camp after spending harrowing 5 years as POW and trying to start a new life in post war Germany. I can't help thinking he would be disappointed by the direction things have taken in Europe today, that lessons have not been learned, or, forgotten, as the Second World War recedes from popular memory.The division was reorganized and reequipped to form the 7th Panzer Division, with Rommel assuming command on 6 February 1940. I suspect there's a bit of a gloss going on in von Luck's account, but the fact he appears to have become friends with some old adversaries signifies the respect this German officer had from those in a position to judge fairly.

Use on personal social media accounts, provided the individuals are not promoting themselves commercially. Panzer Commander" is, I am pleased to say, a riveting, fascinating book by a man who remarkably fought on all the main German fronts in the war. Rommel claimed that only an alliance between the Western countries against Russia could save Western Civilization, and Winston Churchill was the man to lead it. In this case the divisions single panzer regiment was equipped primarily with the Panzer 38(t) obtained from Czechoslovakia. Rommel decided to withdraw through the partially defended Gazala positions, and Luck was tasked with protecting the south flank of the withdrawal.The memoirs of Colonel Hans Von Luck provides an interesting read of the personal experiences of a German tank commander during his career in WW2. During this action Luck was wounded in the hand, but after a night's rest he was back with the unit. He describes in depth every theatre of the Second World War he was involved in, not just briefly but I believe in a very easily understandable way. He makes disparaging comments about Party functionaries, shows distaste for Himmler and the SS including the Waffen SS, set up, he says, to make sure the Wehrmacht could be kept under control.