Nazi Saboteurs on the Bayou
America Joins World War II -1942
Steven Burgauer, 324 pp. Oxford, Fl, Battleground Press, 2016. Intro, Notes, Readings and Sources.
Reviewed by John Bud Cunnally, Chief Electronics Technician Submarines, U.S. Navy (Retired)

The dark days of 1942 when America was suddenly thrust into a full-scale raging war and Lost its Innocence. The United States’ entry into all its foreign entanglements was preceded by a period of national discussion before the decision was made to engage. Not so for World War II (WWII). The United States was in a “let’s stay out of the European and Asia Wars” mindset; Fortress America will protect us from conflicts continents away. This attitude changed on 07 Dec 1041. The USA was — in the words of Franklin Delano Roosevelt in his Day of Infamy Pearl Harbor speech 08 Dec 1941 — “suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.” This attack tossed the Nation into a panic with rumors of an imminent attack by Japan on the West Coast adding to the fears of its citizens. To add into the mix of terror Adolph Hitler launched “Operation Pastorius” in June of 1942, when experienced Nazi Saboteurs were smuggled into the United States via German Submarines. They had put ashore in Long Island and in Florida with the intention of wreaking havoc on the burgeoning war effort. Thank goodness, the Nazi Saboteurs were caught, tried, and quickly disposed of by a military tribunal.

Steven Burgauer’s newest book is based on that frightening time of uncertainty and obsessional war nerves. The core of this fast moving “I cannot wait to finish the next chapter and find out what happens next” is the group of Nazis saboteurs planning to blow up the Andrew Higgins boat yard in New Orleans. Higgins was the genius who developed the assault boats with the drop-down bow ramps used for landing troops on enemy shores. A major interruption of this valuable asset would have caused immeasurable harm to the amphibious landings that the U.S. and its allies were planning throughout the various invasion theaters. These familiar boats manufactured at the Higgins yards were the ones seen in constant accounts of soldiers and marines streaming from them on beaches throughout the world. Indeed, the D-Day landings in France would have been very difficult without these Landing Craft Vehicle Personnel (LCVP). Imagine an American hearing that a strategic manufacturing facility had been blown up by a handful of Nazis. Adding to the nightly sinkings of our merchant ships just off the Atlantic Coast by German U-Boats; additional panic would have set in among the citizens of the U.S.

However, this book is not only about a plot to destroy these valuable assets of the American war machine. Assisted by Private First Class, Robert DeGise, US Marine Corps, writing about his combat experiences in WWII during the Pacific Ocean, island hopping missions brought an eywitness to the events at Guadalcanal to the book. Steven dovetails the dates of the Guadalcanal landings using the LCVP’s at the same time the Saboteurs are plotting to destroy the boat yards. Robert DeGise was one of those Jarheads who went on shore to fight the Japanese from these very same assault vessels the Nazis planned to destroy in the story. This chronicle of wartime service is but one example of Burgauer’s uncanny ability to use well researched historical facts to create a riveting story using real and mythical characters to make history come alive. His list of sources is something, which could keep a researcher busy for several weeks.

Burgauer has a well-earned reputation for writing exciting books with historical facts intertwined with fiction to make his writings interesting to absorb. See The Night of the Eleventh Sun, The Road to War, or The Last American for more exciting novels.

Our reviewer, Chief Cunnally retired USN, is affiliated with the Orange County Regional History Center in Orlando, FL. He is a graduate of American Public/Military University with a Bachelor’s Degree in American History and is currently pursuing his Masters in History/Archival management.

Naval Historical Foundation
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“ . . . a novel for those who love non-fiction . . . ”
— December 13, 2016, The Book Bag (UK), Ani Johnson

A sudden death in New Orleans’ red light district, the invention of a more effective US military landing craft with a big future, a crime family with links back to occupied Sicily and two Germans lurking suspiciously in America’s southern states. All these are connected and, as World War II hots up across a fortnight in 1942, the links become more obvious as well as more dangerous.

American author Steven Burgauer informed, scared and touched our hearts when he brought us The Road To War: Duty & Drill, Courage & Capture, the diaries of an American officer trapped in France after D Day. That time out, in order to add emotional depth to factual memoirs, he fictionalised it slightly. This time he does it the other way around by treating us to the fictional story of a Nazi plot in the Deep South’s bayous while adding some encyclopaedic facts.

Pretty soon we begin to realise that it’s the facts that take precedence, but that’s not a complaint. The way Steven writes makes this book different: a novel for those who love non-fiction. On the way there are some unforgettable characters, who together provide a broad gateway to the history of two weeks during 1942, within post-Pearl Harbour period of the conflict.

For instance via Kentucky Rose and her colleagues we learn not just about the harsh lifestyle of black prostitutes but the barbaric realities of being black in 1940s America. Their brothel owner and pimp Nico Carolla treats them better than most but this can be a lethal way to earn money.

Nico himself is rather interesting. As a real life American with a finger in a racquet flavoured pie or two and links to crime families in the Sicilian old country, he is of special interest to American intelligence and the FBI, bringing as much benefit as it does danger.

There are other real people peppered throughout piquing our interest, not all of them as famous as the wartime leaders we’re allowed to observe. As Exhibit A I offer you Andrew Jackson Higgins, designer/creator of the Higgins landing craft. Although landing craft in general have been around for a while, there is always room for improvement, especially as the marines approach the Pacific Island landings and the accompanying hazards.

Yes, we definitely travel and not just to the Pacific Islands. In fact we travel as widely in geography as we do in facts. We take in places like Bletchley Park and its code breakers, along with the Navajo code breakers back in the States, as well as picking up factoid nuggets like the existence of ‘The Green Book.’ This particular directory listed the places that black Americans of the era are safe to frequent. Oh and be prepared to smile when you discover what the US marines used to keep their gun nozzles dry. (Some of you are probably ahead of me on that one!)

By the time the novel’s panoramic plot builds to its crescendo we’ve developed an almost Pavolvian response. The plot is one that draws us in once we’re used to the patois and dialect of the south, but there are other things to think about than storyline and pacing. It doesn’t take long for us to realise that conversational cues like ‘What do you mean?’ and ‘What’s that?’ signal a thorough and fascinating explanation that’ll ensure we come away with our history appetites happily sated.

(Grateful thanks to the author for providing us with a copy for review.)

Further Reading: If this appeals, we definitely recommend Burgauer’s The Road to War. If you’d like to read more of the marines, try The Suicide Run by William Styron.

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“A rich and complex plot that’s as compelling as it is entertaining. Nazi Saboteurs on the Bayou proves a wholly enjoyable read and one that is highly recommended.”
— BookViral, December 4, 2016

Far too many World War II novels try to deliver excitement through an abundance of action and adventure, but Burgauer restrains himself from going too far and in doing so has penned an absorbing and intelligent read that engages from the start. Perhaps more impressive though is the fact that whilst the premise underpinning Nazi Saboteurs on the Bayou promises much, it actually delivers far more. It certainly isn’t a prototypical World War II novel as Burgauer takes us beyond a conventional pseudo-historical slant of pivotal events to instead embrace a more clandestine and thought-provoking perspective. Intertwining an eclectic mix of historic persons who are well-conceived and finely-tuned to the story, its setting, and its locale, he weaves a rich and complex plot that is as compelling as it is entertaining and accessible. As a military adventure it’s an exciting one laden with double-crossing and unexpected adversities that take us into the world of wartime intrigue. It might be a relatively quick read but Burgauer has a fine eye for detail when it comes to setting up plot and characters, with the payback being a novel that captures the spirit and exuberance of a James Bond movie.

Sure to be met with approval by Burgauer’s followers, Nazi Saboteurs on the Bayou proves a wholly enjoyable read and one that is highly recommended.

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“In a war that rips apart entire worlds, who can truly be the winner? Add a dash of romance to the intrigue for a solid World War II thriller that’s intricate, frighteningly realistic, and hard to put down.”
— Diane Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review, December 2016

Nazi Saboteurs on the Bayou comes with an intriguing author disclaimer: that the CIA and U.S. Department of Defense continue to deny that the events outlined in this book ever happened — which makes it all the more intriguing a piece of fiction that skirts the line between factual history and a thriller.

The story centers around an event that took place in 1942. It is not set in the usual military battlefields of Europe or the Pacific but in New Orleans, where the Higgins boat landing craft key to military operations in the Pacific is being manufactured.

A fictional Nazi plot to disrupt the manufacture of these boats involves world arenas as disparate as New Orleans, San Diego, North Africa, and beyond. Winding this series of events into a short, two-week period may seem ambitious, but in this case it serves to heighten tension, condense the action, and results in a terse story that excels in detailing a tightly-crafted series of events where no word is wasted.

From a half-drunk aristocratic German’s death in a brothel and the discovery of a book that holds a map of the naval facilities nearby (indicating he might be a spy, to other German presences in America and the forces they represent), chapters unfold with the staccato precision of an intrigue and adventure saga spiced by Louisiana dialect and military encounters alike.

It’s a desperate race for all sides as time runs out, and readers will find themselves immersed in the desperate search for a hidden book that involves death and individuals who come from disparate backgrounds: “Deputy Marshal Nolan Greeley was new to the Gulf Coast area. His previous assignment had been in the Colorado Rockies, not far from where he grew up, the oldest son of German immigrants. His parents and kin still spoke the language at home. So did he. But that job in the mountains had gone south on him when he kept showing up in the field half-drunk. So the U.S. Marshal Service transferred him down here, to the Gulf Coast District. For the moment, Greeley rented a home from a woman he met in a local bar his first week on the job, a ramshackle house near New Orleans on the so-called ‘German Coast.’ If he screwed this up, the Gulf Coast would be Greeley’s last stop before a forced retirement.”

An important strength to this story lies in Steven Burgauer’s ability to not just describe a scene, but to take readers aboard ships and land alike for a kind of action that translates well to “you are there” impacts: “Now the big guns onboard the taskforce ships let go a salvo. The cruiser USS San Juan (CL-54), the destroyers Monssen and Buchanan. The sound blew away the last vestiges of sleep. Brock was instantly awake and alert. Now came the deadly symphony of artillery. Booming cannon fire. Banks of deadly rockets. Shells launched from armored tanks on deck. All from a menagerie of Navy ships positioned in and around the LSTs in the sea. “CRA-A-ACK!” Again from the San Juan. Sixteen, five-inch guns. Sixteen, one-point-one-inch guns. The ship heeled over following each discharge from its big guns.”

This attention to detail embraces characters, plot, subplots, and different settings, lending an authentic and riveting feel to events. From boat contracts and naval forces to sabotage efforts, genuine World War II history is deftly woven into the story line to the point where it’s hard to separate fact from fiction. In a war that rips apart entire worlds, who can truly be the winner? Add a dash of romance to the intrigue for a solid World War II thriller that’s intricate, frighteningly realistic, and hard to put down.

It is 2 a.m. on July 30, 1942, and Heinrich von Brockdorff lies dead in a French Quarter whore’s bed.

It’s a quiet start to a saga that spreads from Mahogany Hall in New Orleans to the war-torn islands of the South Pacific and beyond. For von Brockdorff is no ordinary “john.” He is — or was — a strategically placed German spy on American soil.

This is a sweeping story of heroism and heartache, bravery and betrayal, set against the backdrop of the cataclysmic events forever remembered as World War Two.

On July 31, 1942, one day after von Brockdorff dies, his grandson stands sweltering in a sandy foxhole on the tropical island of Fiji. U.S. Marine PFC Russell Brock never knew his grandfather — and he certainly doesn’t know his grandfather is dead. He has other things on his mind — such as how to survive the upcoming amphibious assault on heavily fortified Japanese positions.

He will be jumping off the steel-reinforced front ramp of a specially made Higgins boat — also known as an LCVP — Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel. Coincidentally, the shallow-draft landing craft was made in New Orleans, the scene of his grandfather’s untimely demise.

In a series of cunningly wrought vignettes, author Steven Burgauer pulls together far-flung people, places and events to tell — through fascinating historical side notes and fiction-based-on-fact — the story surrounding the humble LCVP’s genesis and its crucial role in winning the war.

Interwoven with this central thread are the lives and deeds of many colorful characters: crime boss Nico Carolla; luckless prostitute Kentucky Rose; Andrew Jackson Higgins, namesake of the landing craft; PFC Stanley Whitehorse, one of several Navajo Indians vital to developing a war-winning, unbreakable code; Sebastian Grimm, a young captain in the Waffen-SS, and many others.

Of particular note is the author’s gift for dialect in dialogue, often using it to paint compelling word pictures of people and places in the Deep South:

“He had crooked toes. Dey peeped out of shufflin’ shoes. His trousers was all torn an’ tattered. He wore an old frockcoat. It be all threadbare and smellin’ like burnt cinders.”

Central to the loosely connected stories is the ingenious development of the LCVP, from a small plywood craft capable of carrying only a few dozen men to one that was built entirely of steel, and which could carry many more men or entire pieces of mechanized equipment, including tanks.

The author painstakingly details how Higgins and his dedicated team designed and mass-produced the boats, guarded by both U.S. Marines and a deadly cadre of New Orleans Mafiosi.

It’s a unique arrangement with the mobsters that eventually reaches as far as Sicily and Tunis, where Nico Carolla’s family members, aided by local community residents and fishermen, help the Allies harry and defeat fascist forces on their native land.

Readers are treated to history lessons at every turn in this outstanding read that blends fictional characters with real-life war heroes. Even famed spy novelist Ian Fleming takes a turn in the story, dispensing unique diversionary tactics to be used against the enemy in novel ways.

But what of von Brockdorff and PFC Brock? And, more importantly, what becomes of the tattered Nazi codebook found sewn into von Brockdorff’s shirt lining? What secret does it carry that is central to the future of the war — and perhaps the entire world?

These characters come to life for the reader as they pass through the pages and into the imagination. Nico gets a life-changing surprise and barely survives a rival mob hit. U.S. Marines firefight their way across several islands, exchanging precious blood for mere feet of Japanese-held soil. And the Navajo code-talkers call down a rain of artillery shells on the so-called “Sons of Nippon,” each Native American zealously guarded by heavily armed Marine sergeants.

There is so much more in this book that cannot be detailed here. Suffice to say that fans of both meticulously researched history and little-known wartime events will enjoy it tremendously.

Five stars to Steven Burgauer and his tale of historical World War Two fiction. May we never again need to live through such a terrible conflict.
— November 20, 2016, Publishers Daily Reviews

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