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On the Devil's Tail
- In Combat with the Waffen-SS on the Eastern Front 1945, and with the French in Indochina 1951-54
- Narrated by: James Anderson Foster
- Length: 14 hrs and 3 mins
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On the Devil's Tail
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Summary
This is the riveting true story of Paul Martelli, a 15-year-old German-Italian who fought in Pomerania, on the Eastern Front, in 1945 as a member of the 33rd Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS "Charlemagne" and later as a soldier with French forces during three years (1951-1954) in the Tonkin area, Vietnam.
Paul recounts his time at the Sennheim military training base, where he was introduced to the rigorous discipline of body and mind. He then goes back to 1940, during the German invasion of France, when he was still a boy in Lorraine, hinting at his motivations for enlisting with the Waffen SS. He reveals his and many young soldiers' exciting and often humorous escapades at Greifenberg, his first love with a German girl helping refugees, and his experiences and feelings during the combats at Körlin, during the strenuous defense of Kolberg, while regrouping at Neustrelitz, and at the German defeat. With a companion, he ends up at a castle delivering a group of women camp prisoners to a Russian officer, living in disguise among enemy soldiers until he escapes and surrender to the Americans.
After his sentence, imprisonment, evasions, and military service in Morocco, Paul is sent to fight in defense of bases north of Hanoi, Vietnam. He survives three years of fierce combats, assaults, ambushes, night patrols, fatal traps, and mortal risks, but, deep down, he compares his service with the Waffen SS during the last year of war with the inefficiency of the French Expeditionary Force in the Far East and comes out deeply frustrated. At almost 26, he has fought and lost in two wars, both against the communists, be they Soviet or Viet-Minh. Unemployed, and with the ideals of a "Nouvelle Europe" in pieces, he briefly joins the French Foreign Legion, his last hope, but in the end chooses another path.
This is a unique memoir, packed with incident and recounting the story of one individual caught up in a series of life-changing events.
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What listeners say about On the Devil's Tail
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Anglian
- 16-08-20
Good
A very good book. The author was clearly a headstrong young man seeking adventure. The WW2 descriptions are very good. I wish more information was known about the author. My search online for information on him drew a blank. Possibly a false name. Who could blame him for that though!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Fox 3 Simulations
- 22-01-24
one of the best
easily one of the best military audiobook memoirs. The author lived a very exciting and adventurous life, and yet found some difficult and heartbreaking times, as the atrocities continued long after the wars end. his adventurous spirit will escape prisons and cross borders, before eventually being forgiven for "picking the wrong side" and his military story continues into Vietnam.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- james curley
- 23-06-22
Enjoyable
I did enjoy this one. Good story interesting tails, wether all true or not. Enjoyable
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- paul hadfeild
- 21-10-18
A good different angle
If you like ww2 memoir books you will like this, better than most but careful not to portray the author in a bad light .
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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- RH
- 12-11-18
Childish and Naive
Not very convincing at all. The French traitors that worked for the SS were nice boys that did no wrong and tried to save Europe from communism? I should coco. I couldn't finish this rubbish..
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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- Robert Hood
- 21-04-21
waste of your money
There is a great deal of fictional padding and I struggle to believe even half of it. I had no idea how 'saintly' the SS were until listening to this drivel. I had met several real old Waffen SS soldiers and whilst I understand the camaraderie that is inherent in any service that separates its self from main stream units by arduous training and deeds; they too down played the atrocities and played up the battlefield attributes. I don't condone them or what they stood for and found them just as unrepentant as that cretin Hess who was still rotting away in Spandau prison opposite our barracks in 1978. To me, this smacks of a play on a mix between Seven Hassel for SS on the Eastern Front and Devil's Guard for former SS in Indochina.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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- Max Powell
- 20-01-22
a bit of a Walter Mitty
Terrable I wasted a token because audible said it was a biography B S
i have served in the military twice and never have I known a corporal to be on first name terms with so many officers.its insulting and I blame audible . fiction audible fiction .
It's a cross between devils guard and the forgotten soldier , having served in 42 com royal marines and also five years in the French foreign legion I think i can spot a Walter Mitty a mile away.
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2 people found this helpful