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Radio Operator on the Eastern Front

An Illustrated Memoir, 1940-1949

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About this listen

This is the true and dramatic testimony of a German grenadier during World War II.

Erhard Steiniger joined his Wehrmacht unit on October 12, 1940, as a radio operator, a role which required his constant presence with troops at the Front, right in the midst of combat. On June 22, 1941, he accompanied his division to Lithuania where he experienced the catastrophic first day of Operation Barbarossa.

He later witnessed intense clashes during the conquest of the Baltic islands and the battles leading up to Leningrad on the Volkhov and Lake Ladoga. He describes the retreat from battles in Estonia, Kurland, and East Prussia and his eventual surrender and captivity in Siberia. He finally returned to Germany in October 1949, a broken man.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2019 Verlagshaus Würzburg GmbH & Co, KG, Würzburg Fleschig Verlag; Forward copyright 2020 by Anthony Tucker-Jones; Translation copyright 2020 by Geoffrey Brooks (P)2021 Tantor Military Military & War World War II Memoir War
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I really liked this honest and truthful approach and writing. This veteran said it as he remembered it which gave a good insight into what he experienced. A Good story overall.

Radio Operator on the Eastern Front

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Being a big fan of Guy Sajer’s The Forgotten Soldier I was looking forward to this and it didn’t disappoint. Not as good as Sajer but an interesting insight into a widely under appreciated experience lived by the Germans. Well worth a listen

Easy and informative listen.

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Good narration makes this a good book and the story is very believable and interesting

Interesting

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A good story with clear narration made this easy listening. It comes wth supplementary photography. I found myself listening and then reviewing the imagery. I could put faces, uniforms and landscape to the story!

An honest and compelling account.

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I find listening to this book very difficult, because it's not my first German WW2, but it's the first that wasn't some big plane/sub/panzer, rather the guy just seems like the typical soldier from any country, any era, very likeable, but he's on the "wrong side" of history, against the whole world, and anyone who's spent 5 minutes in history class knows where this will go. He describes losses almost from the get go, at a horrific rate. I've read so many war stories where people make friends and lose a couple, but this is something else. I forget, Germany was mostly against Russia during the war, in terms of effort and material etc. It's fast paced book and sometimes months pass in just a few minutes, while other times, it's much more intense on specific battles or situations. the narrator is ok, but lacks real emotion, ie He stumbles into his brothers grave, while fighting out in Russia. Perhaps a stark reminder of how bad they had it, his parents living in part of Germany that was broken off, given zero compensation for loss of home and property. it reminds us there were no winners in ww2, least of all those on losing side. The very last few words brought some much needed hope and colour back into a very bleak book, reflecting the time of history. I don't agree with comments that he should be made to endlessly apologise for being on the wrong side.

A Defeated German

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