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Panzer Gunner
- From My Native Canada to the German Ostfront and Back. In Action with 25th Panzer Regiment, 7th Panzer Division 1944-45
- Narrated by: David de Vries
- Length: 8 hrs and 31 mins
- Categories: Biographies & Memoirs, Military & War
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Bismarck entered service in the summer of 1940. She was well-armed, with eight 15-inch guns as well as a powerful array of lighter weapons, while her armored protection earned her the reputation of being unsinkable. This claim was finally put to the test in May 1941, when she sortied into the Atlantic and fought the legendary battle of the Denmark Strait, destroying HMS Hood, the pride of the Royal Navy. Bismarck was now loose in the North Atlantic.
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Grand & Inspiring.
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Summary
Panzer Gunner is a unique memoir of a Canadian serving in a German armored division. Bruno Friesen explains what it was like to fight in a tank on the Eastern Front and provides details on the battlefield performance of the Panzer IV tank. Six months before World War II erupted in 1939, Bruno Friesen was sent to Germany by his father in hopes of a better life. Friesen was drafted into the Wehrmacht three years later and ended up in the 7th Panzer Division. Serving as a gunner in a Panzer IV tank and then a Jagdpanzer IV tank destroyer, Friesen experienced intense combat against the Soviets in Romania, Lithuania, and West Prussia.
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What listeners say about Panzer Gunner
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Ian
- 22-09-20
Not the best
It was half decent ,not a great chronological story ,was missing some personal touches really and you didn't feel like you where right there with the author ,was overly technical in places with regards to sightings the gun and just be came a massive list of numbers and calculations ,
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- R. J. Selwyn
- 01-09-20
Brilliant Now in my Top 5
Brilliant story and so very detailed. Very interesting explaining why for instance different tanks of WWII had certain advantages and disadvantages over other tanks. Loved this rare account from a German point of view.
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- G Patterson
- 21-04-20
Technical.
A great book spoiled in places by the writer getting a bit too technical over the vehicle specifications.
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- B COOK
- 29-09-19
fantastic read
this is a fantastic read. it sadly does not go into a lot of information about the battles fought in. but the technical details about the gun sight was something i never thought possible.
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- john lockwood
- 24-05-19
goes in to a great detail.
this book from a person who was there goes into a great deal of details that normally is not covered by many authors .
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- Ryan
- 03-05-18
Turning a war novel into an English Lit Project
Two and half hours in and the most exciting thing to happen is a whorehouse recap. Too much about how someone else might tell the story. Not like "their version" but comparing literary styles. Yep... returning this one.
4 people found this helpful
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- jacob
- 10-05-18
strangest WW2 book you will ever read.
the only WW2 book that talks about farts. the author does not alude to any suffering, fear, or trauma. if one didn't know better , you would think he was playing a game and not fighting on the Eastern front. a strange book.
3 people found this helpful
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- Jeremy J
- 31-07-19
Disappointed
When I got this audio book, I was expecting a memoir from a German-Canadian that had served as a gunner in a Panzer and talk about hit combat and his memories of it. What I got seemed more like historical research about German tanks than anything else. I disliked when it went "In this chapter..." or talked about statics or using other books as references to talk about the Panzer IV or Jadpanzer. There seemed to very little information about his service and almost no talk about his fellow comrades that he must have been close to especially in a 5 man crew. The narrator at times sounds like he inhales before talking which can get take you away and he seems to be talking a mile a minute which made it hard to comprehend or recall anything about this book. I tried to listen through the entire thing twice but I could not find myself able to finish it.
2 people found this helpful
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- David Yarbrough
- 01-10-19
Panzer Gunner
Good read but a little too technical and not enough personal stories for me. Great research book for students of the Panzer IV.
1 person found this helpful
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- Jesse W.A.
- 20-12-18
Not something you hear everyday!
This book gives the listener amazing insight into what an allied born individual has to go through while fighting for the enemy side and coming back to “face the music”. Really amazing to listen to someone who had this unique experience.
1 person found this helpful
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- James K Sparks Jr
- 05-06-20
Measurements of a jagdpanzer
if you are looking for an exciting war story of tank combat look elsewhere. The book spends way too much time of the measurements of a Panzer 4 and Jadgpanzer 4. The book had about 3 chapters of combat. The title is misleading as the Panzer gunner only explained 3 engagements he was involved in. I would suggest reading Love and War: An American Volunteer in the Soviet Red Army - Book 1: 1941-1943 (Love and War: An American Volunteer in the Soviet Red Army)
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- Steven Z.
- 31-07-19
Great reading. Inside story of Panzer Gunner.
I loved it! Not often do you get the inside look at a Panzer Mk IV as well as a Jagpanzer V.