Armor Battles of the Waffen-SS, 1943-45 - Will Fey [epub]

The Waffen SS were considered the elite of the German armed forces in the Second World War and were involved in almost continuous combat. From the sweeping tank battle of Kursk on the Russian front to the bitter fighting among the hedgerows of Normandy and the last great offensive in the Ardennes, forever immortalized in history as the Battle of the Bulge, these men and their tanks made history.

Foreword:
As commander of a Tiger Panzer and a platoon leader in a Tiger Abteilung, I faced, as did many of my comrades in the uniforms of the Heer and the Waffen-SS, British, Canadian, and U.S. units throughout the tough attacks and defensive battles in Normandy and the Ardennes. The bitterness of the fighting was balanced by the integrity of both sides. Throughout those weeks and months, we faced each other as soldiers at the front, without regard to ideological differences. The chivalry of the fighting, which was not eliminated by the increasing mechanization of the battlefield—more than once did we save wounded and disabled enemy soldiers from their knocked-out tanks—formed the basis for the later understanding that made us into allies.

From the encounters during my service with the Bundeswehr (German Federal Armed Forces) and during gatherings on the battlefields of Normandy with our former enemies, friendships developed, which have, through subsequent exchange of correspondence, remained alive today.

The events described on the following pages are not meant to glorify war, which is no longer a means of politics, but instead to preserve the memory of our fallen comrades on both sides.

Will Fey