Product Description

This is the remarkable story of a German soldier who fought throughout World War II, rising from conscript private to captain of a heavy weapons company on the Eastern Front.

William Lubbeck, age 19, was drafted into the Wehrmacht in August 1939. As a member of the 58th Infantry Division, he received his baptism of fire during the 1940 invasion of France. The following spring his division served on the left flank of Army Group North in Operation Barbarossa. After grueling marches admidst countless Russian bodies, burnt-out vehicles, and a great number of cheering Baltic civilians, Lubbeck's unit entered the outskirts of Leningrad, making the deepest penetration of any German formation.

The Germans suffered brutal hardships the following winter as they fought both Russian counterattacks and the brutal cold. The 58th Division was thrown back and forth across the front of Army Group North, from Novgorod to Demyansk, at one point fighting back Russian attacks on the ice of Lake Ilmen. Returning to the outskirts of Leningrad, the 58th was placed in support of the Spanish "Blue" Division. Relations between the allied formations soured at one point when the Spaniards used a Russian bath house for target practice, not realizing that Germans were relaxing inside.

A soldier who preferred to be close to the action, Lubbeck served as forward observer for his company, dueling with Russian snipers, partisans and full-scale assaults alike. His worries were not confined to his own safety, however, as news arrived of disasters in Germany, including the destruction of Hamburg where his girlfriend served as an Army nurse.

In September 1943, Lubbeck earned the Iron Cross First Class and was assigned to officers' training school in Dresden. By the time he returned to Russia, Army Group North was in full-scale retreat. Now commanding his former heavy weapons company, Lubbeck alternated sharp counterattacks with inexorable withdrawal, from Riga to Memel on the Baltic. In April 1945 Lubbeck's company became stalled in a traffic jam and was nearly obliterated by a Russian barrage followed by air attacks.

In the last chaotic scramble from East Prussia, Lubbeck was able to evacuate on a newly minted German destroyer. He recounts how the ship arrived in the British zone off Denmark with all guns blazing against pursuing Russians. The following morning, May 8, 1945, he learned that the war was over.

After his release from British captivity, Lubbeck married his sweetheart, Anneliese, and in 1949 immigrated to the United States where he raised a successful family. With the assistance of David B. Hurt, he has drawn on his wartime notes and letters, Soldatbuch, regimental history and personal memories to recount his four years of frontline experience. Containing rare firsthand accounts of both triumph and disaster, At Leningrad's Gates provides a fascinating glimpse into the reality of combat on the Eastern Front.

REVIEWS

"...a well-wrought ground level view of daily life in hell."WWII Magazine No 3, 06/2007

"... compiled with attention to details. The reader will feel as though he is alongside Lubbeck as he calls fire missions on the enemy during his three years of service."Military Trader 11/2007

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #118820 in Books
• Published on: 2006-11
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 264 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781932033557
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

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Customer Reviews

The Best Eastern Front Memoir Thus Far...
Of the many accounts of German soldiers' experiences of combat on the Eastern Front published in recent years, "At Leningrad's Gates" is by far the best to date. Not only is this an extremely interesting and well written memoir of combat experience with Army Group North in the campaigns around Leningrad and the retreat back into Germany, "At Leningrad's Gates" also details the difficulties Lubbecke's family faced living in Nazi Germany and after the war under Soviet domination in East Germany. Wilhelm Lubbecke emigrated with his wife and young son first to Canada and then to the United States after the war. Because of this his memoir is unique in that it not only views World War II from the perspective of a German citizen and soldier, but also from the point of view of an American who spent half of his life living, working and raising his children here in America.

A good solid memoir
This is a welcome addition to WW2 German soldier memoirs. It does start out a bit slow, as the author has included a lot of material on his pre-war youth, but in the end is a good comparison to farm life in Germany under Soviet rule.

My only real complaint about this book is I do wish it were longer. There's a lot of interesting material in here from an average infantry division, and as far as I know perhaps the only such book in which the author served in the heavy weapons support company. And in Army Group North by Lenningrad which we have not had much to read about. Of particular interest is his lucky escape from East Prussia aboard one of the German ships.

All in all, a good solid book by a former landser abut life in the German Army.

Rock-Solid German Infantryman's Memoir
Highly recommended. The author served in the 13th Company (Infantry Gun Company) in a German regiment in France 1940 and on the northern sector of the Eastern Front from 1941-45. This book contains detailed information on the organization, training, equipment, and operations of his unit. The author attained the rank of sergeant before being assigned in late 1943 to officer training in Germany. He returned to the Eastern Front and was assigned as the company commander of his old unit just before the massive Soviet summer offensives commenced in 1944. My only regret is the book contains few details of the fighting during this period. Details of combat from 1944-45 are few, but the ones he provides will hold your interest. All in all; 5 Stars. Great book, great history, fascinating read.