Raymond Bagdonas

Was this, perhaps, a book that should neve have been written? Although the most decorated regimental commander in the Wehrmacht, the author notes that “Unfortunately the Panzer Graf himself wrote no memoirs;left no diary, and any notes and papers were destroyed along with his home in 1945. His records of service in the 16th Panzer Division were destroyed along with the division in the battle of Stalingrad in 1943. After a period of distinguished service with the elite. Grossdeutschland Division, he served as commander of several ad-hoc units, some bearing his name, in a period when records, if kept at all, were scanty, or lost. It all makes for a threadbare paper trail. His comrades-in-arms have now all passed away, so there are no witnesses to his many battles and exploits.”

If this were not enough, the author’s bibliography indicates that he may be unfamiliar with the German language, as almost almost all of them are in English, and many of them have little or nothing to do with Strachwitz.

Finally, the author has a shaky grasp of foreign names, personal or place, of which one example should suffice: We are told that the Allied defense plan “was to advance to the River Dyle with a defence line from Antwerp through Wause to Namier.” Would you believe “from Wavre to Namur”?… (mehr)