Besieged: The Epic Battle for Cholm
- ISBN-10
- 0975107690
- ISBN-13
- 9780975107690
- Series
- Besieged
- Category
- Germany
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2011-09-01
- Author
- Jason D. Mark
Description
Kampfgruppe Scherer's outstanding feat of arms was one of Germany's most famous military achievements during the Second World War. With only a few thousand men from all branches of the service, including mountain troopers, elderly reservists, police officers, navy drivers, SS partisan hunters and supply troops, Generalmajor Theodor Scherer was ordered to hold Cholm in the face of a superior enemy force. That Scherer and his men prevailed is now an historical fact but analysis of daily radio traffic and combat reports reveals that the pocket's survival was precarious; at times, even senior commanders doubted if it could be saved. On several occasions the Soviet onslaught looked poised to inflict the death blow but somehow the exhausted men of Cholm grimly clung to a few resistance nests upon which a new line was anchored. General Scherer, a popular leader and inspiration to all his soldiers, despaired many times and was forced to continually plead for more men, more supplies and more aerial support. Urgent demands by other sectors meant Kampfgruppe Scherer was drip-fed just enough supplies and reinforcements to stay alive until, eventually, a relief force forged a permanent link and freed the exhausted survivors. After a catastrophic winter of setbacks and resounding defeats for the Wehrmacht, the General and his men were lauded as heroes and recognised with an arm shield that marked them as “Cholmkämpfer,†men of exceptional courage who had prevailed despite overwhelming odds.Primary sources have been utilised for the first time to present this battle in a detailed day-by-day format, from the forlorn days of January and February to liberation in early May.
Get the book
Other editions
Similar books
-
Germany
By Rodney Boltand damp in summer , and stark and misty in the winter , when flocks of whitegeese fly in from Scandinavia and strut about in the mud . The people have a reputation for shyness and melancholy . Local cabaret artist Hanns Dieter Hüsch ...
-
Kein' Angst, Baby: A Singer's Guide to German Operatic Auditions in the 1990s
By Dorothy Maddison, Gail SullivanThis singers' guide to German operatic auditions in the 1990s provides information for the planning of an audition tour in Germany with comprehensive details on the Fach System, repertoire lists and general advice on how best to succeed.
-
"We are Here": New Approaches to Jewish Displaced Persons in Postwar Germany
By Michael Berkowitz, Avinoam J. PattDespite their unique position in the postwar period , these two communities and Hesse have been understudied within DP literature . Hesse was the only one of the three states in the U.S. zone of occupation that shared borders with all ...
-
Magdalena and Balthasar: An Intimate Portrait of Life in Sixteenth-century Europe Revealed in the Letters of a Nuremberg Husband and...
By Steven E. Ozment, Magdalena Balthasar PaumgartnerAutobiographical letters by a sixteenth century Lutheran couple much concerned with their health, their business, the small luxuries of life, and the inscrutable ways of God.
-
Great Elector: Frederick William of Brandenburg-Prussia
By Derek McKayGreat Elector: Frederick William of Brandenburg-Prussia
-
Germany, 1848-1914
By Bob WhitfieldA study of Germany between 1848 and 1890 for AS and A Level History students.
-
Soziale Gerechtigkeit - ein magisches Viereck: Zieldimensionen, Politikanalysen und empirische Befunde
By Irene Becker, Richard HauserSoziale Gerechtigkeit - ein magisches Viereck: Zieldimensionen, Politikanalysen und empirische Befunde
-
Karen Brown's Germany: Charming Inns and Itineraries, 1997
By Karen Brown, June Brown, Clare BrownYour genial hosts , Erich and Gerhild Kunz , will probably be there to welcome you . Although their English is limited , warm smiles and exuberant gestures overcome any language barrier . Several lovely bedrooms are found in the inn ...
-
Die Geschichte der FDP: Metamorphosen einer Partei zwischen rechts, sozialliberal und neokonservativ
By Udo LeuschnerBeide verband auch der schroffe Gegensatz zur oppositionellen SPD unter Kurt Schumacher. Unterschiede zur Union gab es vor allem in Fragen der Schul-, Wirtschafts-, Sozial- und Deutschlandpolitik. Während die Unionsparteien die ...
-
Germany 1918-1945: From Days of Hope to Years of Horror
By Douglas J. NewtonGermany 1918-1945: From Days of Hope to Years of Horror