World War II: The Autobiography Read online

  Jon E. Lewis is the author of numerous books in the Autobiography series including England: The Autobiography, London: The Autobiography and The Autobiography of the British Soldier.

  Praise for his previous books

  England: The Autobiography:

  ‘A triumph.’

  Saul David, author of Victoria’s Army

  The British Solider: The Autobiography:

  ‘This thoughtful compilation . . . almost unbearably moving.’

  Guardian

  ‘[A] compelling tommy’s eye view of war.’

  Daily Telegraph

  ‘What a book. Five Stars.’

  Daily Express

  WORLD WAR II

  THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY

  Edited by JON E. LEWIS

  Constable & Robinson Ltd

  3 The Lanchesters

  162 Fulham Palace Road

  London W6 9ER

  www.constablerobinson.com

  First published in the UK as The Mammoth Book of How It Happened: World War II, by Robinson, an imprint of Constable & Robinson, 2002 This revised and updated edition published by Robinson, an imprint of Constable & Robinson Ltd, 2009

  Collection and editorial material

  copyright © J. Lewis-Stempel, 2002, 2009

  The right of J. Lewis-Stempel to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  All rights reserved. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

  A copy of the British Library Cataloguing in Publication data is available from the British Library

  ISBN: 978-1-84901-003-0

  Printed and bound in the EU

  First published in the United States in 2009

  by Running Press Book Publishers

  All rights reserved under the Pan-American and International Copyright Conventions

  No part of this work may be produced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  Digit on the right indicates the number of this printing

  US Library of Congress Control Number: 2009920967

  US ISBN: 978-0-7624-3735-1

  Running Press Book Publishers

  2300 Chestnut Street

  Philadelphia, PA 19103-4371

  www.runningpress.com

  We may be destroyed, but if we are, we shall drag a world with us – a world inflames.

  Adolf Hitler, 23 November 1939

  For those in my family who fought the good fight:

  E.J. Lewis, R.I.J. Stempel, G. Charles, F. Williams, H. Knowles, J. Stempel, M.P. Jessop, A. Jessop, S. Parry, H.A.G. Stempel.

  CONTENTS

  Foreword

  Part I Blitzkreig: The War in Europe, September 1939-October 1940

  INTRODUCTION

  HITLER ORDERS WAR, 31 AUGUST 1939

  Adolf Hitler

  THE HOUSE OF COMMONS DISCUSSES WAR AND PEACE, LONDON, 2 SEPTEMBER 1939

  Ralph Glyn, MP

  BRITAIN DECLARES WAR ON GERMANY, 3 SEPTEMBER 1939

  Neville Chamberlain

  HOME FRONT: LONDON AT WAR, 3 SEPTEMBER 1939

  Mollie Panter-Downes

  POLAND: “WE MARCHED AROUND IN CIRCLES”, 3 SEPTEMBER-5 OCTOBER 1939

  Private K.S Karol, Polish Army

  FINLAND: GUERILLA WAR IN THE SNOW, 2 FEBRUARY 1940

  Virginia Cowles

  NORWAY: THE ROUT OF THE BRITISH EXPEDITIONARY FORCE, 14 APRIL-5 MAY, 1940

  General Sir Adrian Carton

  THE HOME FRONT: THE PROTECTION OF YOUR HOME AGAINST AIR RAIDS

  Sir John Anderson

  OPERATION YELLOW: THE GERMAN ATTACK ON ROTTERDAM, 10-11 MAY 1940

  Dirk van der Heide

  OPERATION YELLOW: CROSSING THE MEUSE, FRANCE, 13 MAY 1940

  Erwin Rommel 7th Panzer Division

  CHURCHILL OFFERS “BLOOD, TOIL, TEARS AND SWEAT”, House of Commons, 13 MAY 1940

  Winston Churchill

  THE BATTLE OF FRANCE: SERGEANT PEXTON IS TAKEN PRISONER, 20 MAY 1940

  Sergeant L.D. Pexton

  DUNKIRK: THE VIEW FROM THE BOATS, 1 JUNE 1940

  Commander C.H. Lighloller, RNR (Retd)

  ONE MAN’S WAR: PRIVATE JACK TOOMEY IN FRANCE, MAY-JUNE 1940

  Private Jack Toomey 42nd Postal Unit, British Army

  FRANCE SURRENDERS, 21 JUNE 1940

  William Shirer, war correspondent

  BATTLE OF BRITAIN: A BRITISH FIGHTER PILOT’S DIARY, 19 AUGUST-7 OCTOBER 1940

  P/O D.H. Wissler RAF

  BATTLE OF BRITAIN: DOGFIGHT OVER SOUTH-EAST ENGLAND, 2 SEPTEMBER 1940

  P/O Roger Hall, 152 Sguadron RAF

  BATTLE OF BRITAIN: A SPITFIRE PILOT BALES OUT, 3 SEPTEMBER 1940

  Richard Hillary 603 Sguadron RAF

  THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN: THE BLITZ, LONDON, SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 1940

  Desmond Flower, Virginia Woolf Edward. R Murrow

  THE BATTLE OF BRITAIN: THE VIEW FROM THE OPERATIONS ROOM, No. 11 Fighter Group RAF, Uxbridge, 15 SEPTEMBER 1940

  Winston S. Churchill MP

  Part II The Battle of the Atlantic: 1939-44

  INTRODUCTION

  THE ROYAL OAK IS TORPEDOED, SCAPA FLOW, 13 OCTOBER 1939

  Gunther Prien

  THE BATTLE OF THE RIVER PLATE, 13 DECEMBER 1939

  Lieutenant-Commander R.E. Washbourn RN, HMNZS Achilles

  SURVIVAL, THE ARCTIC, 8-11 JUNE 1940

  Ronald Healiss, Royal Marines

  U-99 ATTACKS A CONVOY, THE ATLANTIC, 18-19 OCTOBER 1940

  Kapitan-Leutnant Otto Kretschmer, U-99

  HUNTING U-BOATS, 17 MARCH 1941

  Captain Donald Macintyre RN, HMS Walker

  THE PURSUIT OF THE BISMARCK, 24-27 MAY 1940

  Lieutenant Ludovic Kennedy RN, HMS Tartar

  ONE MAN’S WAR: THE DIARY OF AN ASDIC OPERATOR, 19 JANUARY-13 FEBRUARY 1942

  Frank Curry RCN, HMCS Kamsack

  VOYAGE TO MURMANSK, SEPTEMBER 1942

  Able Seaman Robert Carse, Merchant Navy

  A U-BOAT IS DEPTH-CHARGED, MID-ATLANTIC, 1942

  Midshipman Heinz Schaefer, U-977

  FATAL SIX WEEKS: THE LOG OF A U-BOAT KILLER, 31 JANUARY- 19 FEBRUARY 1944

  Commander DEG Wemyss RN, HMS Wild Goose

  Part III The War in the Desert: North Africa, 1940-43

  INTRODUCTION

  THE ITALIANS SURRENDER AT BEDA FOMM, 7 FEBRUARY 1941

  Cyril Joly 7th Armoured Division

  ENTER ROMMEL, FEBRUARY-JULY 1941

  Leutnant Heinz Werner Schmidt, Afrika Korps, General Erwin Rommel, Afrika Korps, Brigadier James Hargest, 5th New Zealand Infantry Brigade

  A TANK IS “BREWED UP”, LIBYA, 15 JUNE 1941

  Cyril Joly, 7th Armoured Division

  ONE MAN’S WAR: DESERT WEARINESS, OCTOBER 1991

  Private R. L. Crimp, 7th Armoured Division

  PANZER LIED: “HEISS UBER AFRIKAS BODEN”

  OPERATION CRUSADER: TANK BATTLE AT SIDI REZEGH, 28 NOVEMBER 1941

  Captain Robert Crisp, 3rd Royal Tank

  Regiment, 4th Armoured Brigade

  IN THE CAULDRON, 12 JUNE 1942

  Anonymous British Gunner

  TOBRUK: THE CONQUEROR ENTERS, 21 JUNE 1942

  General Erwin Rommel, Afrika Korps

  MONTGOMERY
TAKES OVER AS COMMANDER EIGHTH ARMY, AUGUST 1942

  General Bernard Montgomery, Commander Eighth Army

  SAS BATTLE REPORT: RAID ON TOBRUK, SEPTEMBER 1942

  Anonymous SAS Soldier

  ROMMEL’S AILING HEALTH, 26 AUGUST 1942

  Leutnant Alfred Berndt, Afrika Korps

  EL ALAMEIN: THE PLAN, SEPTEMBER 1942

  General Bernard Montgomery, Eighth Army

  EL ALAMEIN: THE VIEW FROM THE AFRIKA KORPS, 24-27 OCTOBER 1942

  Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, Afrika Korps

  EL ALAMEIN: GERMAN PRISONERS, 2 NOVEMBER 1942

  Keith Douglas, Eighth Army

  EL ALAMEIN: THE DEFEAT OF THE AFRIKA KORPS, 4 NOVEMBER 1942

  General Fritz Bayerlain, Afrika Korps

  ONE MAN’S WAR: THE DIARY OF A BRITISH SOLDIER AT EL ALAMEIN, 23 0CT0BER-10 NOVEMBER 1942

  Corporal John Green, Military Police

  A MEETING WITH THE FÜHRER RASTENBURG, 28 NOVEMBER 1942

  Field Marshall Erwin Rommel, Afrika Korps

  OPERATION TORCH: GI MEALS, NOVEMBER 1941

  Ernie Pyle, war correspondents

  “FIGHTING LIKE THE THE DEVIL”: THE US 26TH REGIMENT AT EL GUETTAR 23 MARCH 1943

  Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt Jr. 26th Regiment, US 1st Infantry Division

  TUNIS FALLS, 7 MAY 1943

  Allan Moorehead, war correspondents

  ENVOI: “I WOULDNT MISS THE EXPERIENCE I ENCOUNTERED,” JULY 1943

  Sergeant Ray salisbury, USAAF

  Part IV Barbarossa: The German Invasion of Russia, June 1941-February 1943

  INTRODUCTION

  “WE'RE GOING TO SHOW THOSE BOLSHEVIK BUMS WHO’S WHO”: A GERMAN TANK GUNNER WRITES HOME, 25 JUNE 1941

  Sergeant Karl Fuchs, 25 Panzer Regiment

  THE WEHRMACHTADVANCES INTO RUSSIA, JULY 1941

  General Blumentritt, Wehrmacht

  ONE MAN’S WAR: A MOSCOVITE JOINS THE RED ARMY, JULY 1941

  Zhuravlev Alexander Grigoryevich

  STUKAS DIVE-BOMB THE SOVIET FLEET, 21 SEPTEMBER 1941

  Hans Ulrich Rudel, Luftwaffe

  LENINGRAD DURING THE BLOCKADE, SEPTEMBER 1941-JANUARY 1944

  Alexander Werth, war correspondent

  THE ARRIVAL OF “GENERAL WINTER”, 13 NOVEMBER 1941

  Heinrich Haape, Wehrmacht

  ONE MAN’S WAR: A WEHRMACHT SOLDIER’S DIARY OF THE RUSSIAN FRONT, 31 MARCH-26 SEPTEMBER 1942

  Private First Class Wolfgang Knoblich

  MR CHURCHILL GOES TO MOSCOW, 12 AUGUST 1942

  Henry C. Cassidy, Journalist

  HOLOCAUST: SS EXECUTION OF JEWS IN THE UKRAINE, 5 OCTOBER 1942

  Herman Graebe

  RUSSIAN PRISONERS, JULY 1941

  Benno Zieser, Wehrmacht 229

  THE BATTLE FOR SEVASTAPOL, 7 JUNE-4 JULY 1942

  General von Manstein, GOC 11th Army Ostheer

  STALINGRAD: “THE RAT WAR”, OCTOBER 1942

  Anonymous Officer, 24th Panzer Division, Benno Zieser

  STALINGRAD: THE RUSSIAN ULTIMATUM, 8 JANUARY 1943

  STALINGRAD: LAST LETTERS HOME, JANUARY 1943

  Anonymous German soldiers

  STALINGRAD: THE SUFFERING OF THE GERMAN TROOPS, LATE JANUARY 1943

  Joachim Wieder, Intelligence Officer, VIII Corps, German Sixth Army

  STALINGRAD: THE END

  Sixth Army to High Command, 24 JANUARY 1943

  STALINGRAD: TAKEN PRISONER, 2 FEBRUARY 1943

  Joachim Wieder, Intelligence Officer, VIII Corps, German Sixth Army

  PART V Banzai: The War in the Pacific, December 1941-June 1942

  INTRODUCTION

  PEARL HARBOR: THE VIEW FROM THE JAPANESE COCKPIT, 7 DECEMBER 1941

  Taisa Mitsuo Fuchida, Imperial Japanese Naval Air Service

  PEARL HARBOR: THE VIEW FROM THE GROUND, 7 DECEMBER 1941

  John Garcia, 7th Infantry Division

  CABLE: PRESIDENT FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT TO PRIME MINISTER WINSTON CHURCHILL, 8 DECEMBER 1941

  THE LOSS OF THE REPULSE AND PRINCE OF WALES, OFF THE COAST OF MALAYA, 10 DECEMBER 1941

  O.D. Gallagher, war correspondent

  FLYING TIGER: AMERICAN VOLUNTEER GROUP PILOT IN ACTION AGAINST THE JAPANESE, 19 DECEMBER 1941

  Claire L Chennault, AVG

  THE FALL OF SINGAPORE: A CIVILIAN DIARY, 9-15 FEBRUARY 1942

  Dr O.E Fisher

  DEATH MARCH ON BATAAN: THE FIRST DAY, 10 APRIL 1942

  Lieutenant-Colonel William Dyess, 21st Pursuit Squadron, USAAF

  BURMA: THE BATTLE OF THE OIL FIELDS, 18 APRIL 1942

  General W.J. Slim, 1st Burma Division

  RAID ON TOKYO, 18 APRIL 1942

  Colonel James Doolittle, USAAF

  BOOT CAMP: THE MAKING OF A MARINE, VIRGINIA, USA, 1942

  William Manchester, USMC

  TALES OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC: A Gl WRITES HOME, MARCH 1942-JANUARY 1943

  Sergeant B.J Kazazkow, US Army

  HOME FRONT: “JIM CROW” IN THE ARMY

  Private Milton Adams, 24 Quarter Master’s Battalion

  BATTLE OF MIDWAY: ONE MAN’S DIARY, 4 JUNE 1942

  Robert J Casey, war correspondent

  MIDWAY: THE DECISIVE FIVE MINUTES, 4 JUNE 1942

  Taisa Mitsuo Fuchida, Imperial Japanese Naval Air Service

  Part VI Resistance & Reconquest - The War in Western and Southern Europe, November 1940-May 1945

  INTRODUCTION

  SWORDFISH ATTACK THE ITALIAN FLEET, TARANTO, 11 NOVEMBER 1940

  Lieutenant M. R. Maund RN, 824 Squadron

  LUNCH WITH DE GAULLE, London, 20 JANUARY 1941

  Harold Nicolson, MP

  ONE MAN’S WAR: THE DIARY OF A TRAINEE BOMBER PILOT, 26 JANUARY-18 MAY 1941

  Flying Officer Michael Scott, RAF Bomber Command

  THE GERMAN AIRBORNE ASSAULT ON CRETE, 20 MAY 1941

  Baron von der Heydte, 1st Battalion, 3rd German Parachute Regiment

  HOLOCAUST: MEDICAL EXPERIMENTS AT DACHAU, 1941-45

  Franz Blaha

  A “CIRCUS” OVER FRANCE, AUGUST 1941

  Flight Lieutenant “Johnnie” Johnson, 616 Squadron RAF

  HOME FRONT: THE GREAT MAN CHASE, ENGLAND, DECEMBER 1941

  Anonymous member of the British Women’s Auxiliary Air Force

  ESCAPE FROM COLDITZ, 5 JANUARY 1942

  Airey Neave

  NOTIFICATION OF THE DEATH OF ACTING SQUADRON LEADER ERNEST MASON, RAF, FEBRUARY 1942

  RAID ON DIEPPE, 19 AUGUST 1942

  Ross Munro, Canadian war correspondent

  THE TWATS IN THE OPS ROOM, 1942

  Anon

  HOLOCAUST: THE JEWS ARE ROUNDED UP, AMSTERDAM, 19 NOVEMBER 1942

  Anne Frank

  OFFICER SELECTION, BRITAIN, 1943

  Rifeman Alex Bowlby, Rifle Brigade

  ONE MAN’S WAR: AN AMERICAN AIRMAN’S LETTER, 1943

  Sergeant Carl Goldman, USAAF

  THE DAMBUSTERS RAID, Ruhr Valley, 16 MAY 1943

  Guy Gibson, RAF

  SICILY: AMERICAN COUNTER-ATTACK AT BIAZZA RIDGE, 9 JULY 1942

  General James M. Gavin, Parachute Regimental Combat Team, US 82nd Airborne Division

  HOME FRONT: FIRESTORM IN HAMBURG, 27 JULY 1943

  Else Wendel, Housewife

  US BOMBERS RAID THE OIL REFINERIES AT PLOESTI, RUMANIA, 1 AUGUST 1943

  Captain John S. Young, USAAF

  THE RESCUE OF MUSSOLINI FROM GRAN SASSO, 12 SEPTEMBER 1943

  Captain Otto Skorzeny, Waff en SS

  THE LANDINGS AT SALERNO, 9 SEPTEMBER 1943

  John Steinbeck, war correspondent

  HOME FRONT: RACHEL THE RIVETER, SAN DIEGO, 1943

  Rachel Wray, hand riveter, Consolidated Aircraft

  “WAITING, WAITING, WAITING”: THE LIFE OF A P.O.W., GERMANY, 1944

  Sergeant Nell, Green Howards

  A RESISTANCE GROUP BLOWS UP A TRAIN, FRANCE, 1944

  George Millar, SOE

  FLYING FOR THE FATHERLAND: A GERMAN FIGHTER PILOT INTERCEPTS H
EAVY BOMBERS, 10-21 FEBRUARY 1944

  Heinz Knoke, Luftwaffe

  COWARDICE, CASSINO, SPRING 1944

  Howard L Bond, US 36th Infantry Division

  CASSINO: THE END, 16-18 MAY 1944

  Major Fred Majdalany Lancashire Fusiliers

  HOME FRONT: PURE HELL FOR A GUY NOT IN UNIFORM, CANADA, 1943

  Anonymous

  D-DAY: EMBARKATION, 4 JUNE 1944

  Alan Moorehead, war correspondent

  IKE’S DAY BEFORE D-DAY, SHAEF ADVANCE (NEAR PORTSMOUTH), 5 JUNE 1944

  Captain Harry C. Butcher

  D-DAY: A PARATROOPER LISTS HIS KIT, WELFORD AERODROME, 5 JUNE 1944

  Donald Burgett, US 101st Airborne Division

  D-DAY: THE AIRBORNE LANDINGS, 6 JUNE 1944

  Major Friedrich Hayn, Wehrmacht Staff Officer

  D-DAY: THE LANDINGS, 6 JUNE 1944

  Lieutenant HT Bone, East Yorkshire Regiment, Captain Joseph Dawson, US 1st Infantry Division

  ONE MAN’S WAR: A NORMANDY DIARY, 6 JUNE 1944-24 JUNE 1944

  Corporal GE Hughes, 1st Battalion, Royal Hampshire Regiment

  SNIPING, NORMANDY, 26 JUNE 1944

  Ernie Pyle, war correspondent

  BUZZ BOMBS ON KENT, JUNE 1944

  Lionel King, Eight-year-old schoolboy

  THE ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION OF ADOLF HITLER, EASTERN GERMANY, 20 JULY 1944

  Heinrich Bucholz

  GUERILLA AMBUSH IN CRETE, AUGUST 1944

  W. Stanley Moss

  FALAISE: THE KILLING FIELD, 19 AUGUST 1944

  Johnnie Johnson RAF

  ARNHEM: AT THE BRIDGE, 18-29 SEPTEMBER 1944

  Lieutenant E.M. Mackay 1st Airborne Division

  PROSTITUTION, NAPLES, 4 OCTOBER 1944

  Sergeant Norman Lewis, Field Security Service

  THE SUICIDE OF FIELD MARSHAL ERWIN ROMMEL, GERMANY, 14 OCTOBER 1944

  Manfred Rommel

  HOLOCAUST: SURVIVAL IN AUSCHWITZ, OCTOBER 1944

  Primo Levi, prisoner

  THE FALL OF AACHEN, 17 SEPTEMBER 1944

  George Mucha, war correspondent

  THE US ARMY SLOGS UP ITALY, WINTER 1944

  Ernie Pyle, war correspondent

  THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE: THE AFTERMATH, JANUARY 1945

  Martha Gellhorn, war correspondent

  CROSSING THE GERMAN BORDER, 28 FEBRUARY 1945

  John Foley, British Tank Officer

  ONE MAN’S WAR: A G.I. FIGHTS HIS WAY INTO GERMANY MARCH-APRIL 1945

  Private Charles Cavas, 417th Infantry Regiment

  A BOMB HITS THE PROPAGANDA MINISTRY, BERLIN, 13 MARCH 1945

  Joseph Goebbels

  IN DYING WE LIVE: LAST TESTAMENT OF A DANISH ANTI-NAZI, 4 APRIL 1945