He was drafted into the Mountain Reserve Battalian at the age of 18 but discharged five months. Sniper on the Eastern Front. Josef Sepp Allerberger was the second most successful sniper of the German Wehrmacht and one of the few private soldiers to be honoured with the award of the Knights Cross. An Austrian conscript, after qualifying as a machine gunner he was drafted to the southern sector of the Russian Front in.
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Chilling detail. This book offers a chilling look at life on the eastern front, something on which little value was placed.
From the author's perspective, It offers a more human look at the life of the average German soldier and makes a brute of the Russian soldier. Unfortunately, he was assigned as a machine gunner and soon realized that, on the Eastern front, machine gunners were targeted by the Russians.
Fortunately, he was a decent shot with a rifle and quickly became a German sniper. Allerberger scored the second highest number of "confirmed" kills by any German Sniper with Only those kills witnessed by an officer or an NCO were counted.
The story is about his retreat from the Russian front, fleeing the Soviet advance. How he and his unit fought to stay alive although sorely out manned by the enemy. Eventually, the war ended and he did make it home safely. This is the first book I've read from a Germans point of view. It was well written and enjoyable. Details the accounts of the second most successful Wehrmacht sniper Josef Sepp Allerberger, credited with kills he saw some of the fiercest fighting of the war.
Not quite sure about this one, its entertaining for sure, but maybe at the expense of the book being exaggerated and with sensationalized accounts. Reads like a Sven Hassel novel at times. Its also clear the author has a very low opinion of the Red Army, i suppose total war eastern front style will do that to you barely 10 pages in Details the accounts of the second most successful Wehrmacht sniper Josef Sepp Allerberger, credited with kills he saw some of the fiercest fighting of the war.
Its also clear the author has a very low opinion of the Red Army, i suppose total war eastern front style will do that to you barely 10 pages in and there are Russian troops slow roasting their own comrades on a spit. Despite this there are great moments and insights into sniping, camo techniques, explosive bullets, heads popping like melons and all that good stuff. A quick entertaining read Jan 10, J M Davis rated it really liked it.
Is there such a thing as an "ethical sniper? Sniping is seen by some as somehow ungentlemanly, or unsportsmanlike.. War is not a sport, to be played by gentleman and contrary to what some people think, it doesn't come with rules and umpires. Sniping is a tool, a battlefield tactic - one chooses sniping just as one chooses artillery or air support, as a means of a Is there such a thing as an "ethical sniper?
Sniping is a tool, a battlefield tactic - one chooses sniping just as one chooses artillery or air support, as a means of advancing or defending your position.
Allerberger's story, recounted in such a simple, matter-of-fact way, makes that argument most eloquently. The only sniper story I've read so far that seemed truthfully told The only sniper story I've read so far that seemed truthfully told View 1 comment.
No details are spared. The book is gory, full of maimed bodies, rape, intestines, cannibalism and the overall horror of the deadliest war the world has seen.
Still, the narrative is full of poetic embellishment, sometimes ridiculous, but often beautiful, if that word can be used in such a violent context. I have my doubts about the the veracity of the book, though.
Not because some of the events looked like taken from the worst torture films, as reality was probably worst. Not because the narrative makes the Russians look like beasts and the Germans as some sort of victims of circumstance, who even try to help local populations; this I can believe, as Sepp was a victim of the propaganda of his time, so you have to understand the book as his own reality. The issue is that some recollections don't make sense: in one scene, for example, Russians are about to murder innocent Germans.
None of them speaks Russian, but somehow full sentences in Russian are quoted. The author says he filled the gaps, so if he filled this one, how much more he was padding? In either case, truth or not, the story is great. I've had this book since forever and decided to read and finish it till now.
The sniper role is one of the most romanticized, and glamorized roles of infantry soldiers among war aficionados. Which is understandable because they come in handy in difficult situations for the damage they can do to platoons with just a bunch of them and their rifles. However it's not a role apt for any person and Sepp Allerberger atests to that in this memoir.
This book was intended to be narrated as if it was a war n I've had this book since forever and decided to read and finish it till now. This book was intended to be narrated as if it was a war novel in the direct POV of the soldier but in reality it's told more like Allerberger telling his journey during WWII himself, making it a bit difficult to get the hang of the story in the beginning however it becomes more gripping once you get accustomed to the literary style.
Allerberger doesn't shy away from describing from the very beginning how brutal and soul crushing was the encounter with the soviets in Russia and how those encounters as a machine gunner made him ditch that suicidal position and self teach how to be a sniper after he picked up a rifle from a dead sniper soviet.
From there on his natural prowess and good luck made him survive the war physically unscathed but no less emotionally scarred by the experiences he went through in the thick of war. Suffice to say, it's important to not take Sepp Allerberger's accounts for granted since he sells himself as a good catholic young man, arrogant at times, too badass in the final moments, who seldom acknowledges his comrades participation and helpful hand in lessen the Soviet's advance, and whose political views are completely neutral though calling out the mistakes the Wehrmacht made in favor of Hitler's command, and notes Soviet's strategy failings as well.
In the end he only says he just did his duty and what he had to do to survive and doesn't stops to ponder about the atrocities his own kind did neither mentions what's his reaction when he discovered the whole concentration camps thing of the SS side I believe he had to discover that at some point right?
Overall it was a great read. Short but not easy, also very informative both in the general life of a Wehrmacht soldier and in the tactical work of a sniper.
Mar 31, Jane rated it really liked it. What is it about snipers? Not only that; they also need nerves of ice and an unquestioning belief in the rightness of what they do. Which means they are not like the rest of us. Still, this first-person account by a Wehrmacht sniper on the Eastern Front showed not a monster, but someone who, just like his Rus What is it about snipers? Still, this first-person account by a Wehrmacht sniper on the Eastern Front showed not a monster, but someone who, just like his Russian counterparts, tried to do the right thing for his countrymen.
A riveting account. This is not the type of book I would normally read. My boyfriend had bought this, and he does not read at all, ever. He saw that I am always reading a book, and asked me if I would read it for him and kind of explain what was going on, and let him know if it was good.
I was surprised how much I liked it, since it is not something I would have chosen for myself in a million year This is not the type of book I would normally read. I was surprised how much I liked it, since it is not something I would have chosen for myself in a million years. The things these men have gone through fighting for their countries is enough to give even the toughest people nightmares. It would have been a great story if it was just made up, but the fact that the whole thing was true made it even crazier.
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