Reddit Reddit reviews Panzer Commander: The Memoirs of Colonel Hans Von Luck (World War II Library)

We found 16 Reddit comments about Panzer Commander: The Memoirs of Colonel Hans Von Luck (World War II Library). Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.

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Panzer Commander: The Memoirs of Colonel Hans Von Luck (World War II Library)
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16 Reddit comments about Panzer Commander: The Memoirs of Colonel Hans Von Luck (World War II Library):

u/jsu152 · 18 pointsr/ColorizedHistory

Hans von Luck was a busy man during WW2. He was in most of the major campaigns and battles of the war. On D-Day, he commanded a regiment in the 21st Panzer Division which was on the east side of the Orne river (the flank of the British side). When Pegasus bridge was taken (an incredible story by itself), it was his tanks that tried to retake it. His autobiography is a must read for WW2 buffs.

u/[deleted] · 17 pointsr/history

According to Hans von Luck, who worked with/under Rommel, basically the assassination was to end the war with the West/negotiate for peace, and then persuade the Allies to fight the USSR together to defeat communism.


https://www.amazon.com/Panzer-Commander-Memoirs-Colonel-Library/dp/0440208025

u/Engineer3227 · 13 pointsr/CombatFootage

In one autobiography I read written by Panzer Commander Colonel Hans von Luck (the book: http://www.amazon.com/Panzer-Commander-Memoirs-Colonel-Libary/dp/0440208025) he says at one point he spotted a convoy of allied tanks moving in the distance and at the time he was standing near a deployment of Flak 88s. He ordered the Flak 88 crews to direct their fire on the tanks but the crews refused saying that they were only anti-aircraft crews and weren't going to engage tanks. He pulled his pistol, aimed it at them, and said they either engage the tanks or he would shoot them for disobeying an order. They ended up engaging the tanks from long range and took out several of them.

I don't remember exactly where this happened but I seem to remember it was somewhere near Normandy after the allied landings.

EDIT I didn't mean to imply that the flak 88 crews thought the guns would be ineffective. I read the books like 8-10 years ago and always remembered that part. I figured it was because they didn't want to become tank targets but as someone else pointed out it was because the crew's point was that they only took orders from Luftwaffe commanders.

u/innocent_bystander · 10 pointsr/history

Very interesting original report of a POW interrogation that details the weeks after the Normandy invasion for a SS PzG division from the perspective of one of the division staff officers. Summary in the article and the entire actual report is provided as well.

EDIT: This intel report covers a similar time frame, location, and scope as one of the memoirs I have, Panzer Commander from Hanz Von Luck. It's a good read if you haven't gone through it, and want to get into additional first hand experience at a similar level on the same battlefield.

u/Fimbul-vinter · 6 pointsr/history

I read a lot of historical fiction, hope thats allowed to recommend:

The book that made the greatest impression on me with regards to the frontlines in WW2 was https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Forgotten_Soldier. It is a fantastic story seen by the footsoldier. I really, really, REALLY dont want to be on the receiving end of artillery fire after reading this book.

A very different book is this https://www.amazon.com/Panzer-Commander-Memoirs-Colonel-Library/dp/0440208025.

Here you experience the war from a senior officers point of view. It mostly works on a division/batallion level. Instead of describing the horrors in detail, it often just states "we took heavy losses". Still it takes you from Germany to France to Russia to Africa to France to Germany to Russia to Germany, so you get to experience the war in many different places, stages, viewpoints (attacker, defender, prisoner) and times.

Edit: If you are interested in Alexander the great and want action packed historical fiction, do this one: https://www.amazon.com/God-War-Story-Alexander-Great/dp/1409135942

u/MajorMonkyjuice · 5 pointsr/Warthunder

I won't pretend to support the actions of axis soldiers, just the same as I wouldn't support the actions of soldiers in muddled conflicts like we have going on today, however I respect the courage and stalwart determination of soldiers no matter which country they fight for, or for what political/religious ideology they fight for.


It's with that sense of respect in mind, that I find bringing stories to light, from both sides of any conflict, is beneficial, and why I detest people who dismiss those stories and soldiers because "they were our enemy and they did horrible things".
War is horrible by definition, horrible things are bound to happen, and even worse things are bound to happen when religion is thrown in, as shown with Japan's involvement in WWII, but that doesn't make the stories or the soldiers any less impressive, or detract from the insane amount of courage it would have taken for ANY soldier to fight on those fronts, in those conditions, and with those tools.


In the same way I can absolutely respect and be amazed by the courage shown by the soldiers during the raid of St. Nazaire, I can also be equally amazed and impressed by the courage and fighting spirit (and oftentimes surprising humility) of the German soldiers during their conflicts, such as some of the stories of Hanz Von Luck (very interesting book, I suggest finding a copy), it's for those reasons that I think you should reconsider dismissing an entire army of its right to have its stories told simply because you don't like the thought of them having killed allies in past conflicts.

u/dhpye · 5 pointsr/history

Hans von Luck was Rommel's favorite junior officer. While he was no Nazi, he was from a strong Prussian military background, and he fought from the invasion of Poland through to 1945. His autobiographical book offers a somewhat rare perspective on good soldiering on the Axis side.





u/Feuersturm-CA · 3 pointsr/history

Most of my knowledge regarding the matter is European, so I'm going to give a list of my favorites regarding the European / African front.

To get the German perspective of the war, I'd recommend:

  • Panzer Commander - Hans von Luck - One of my favorites

  • Panzer Leader - Heinz Guderian - He developed Blitzkrieg tactics

  • The Rommel Papers - Erwin Rommel - Written by my favorite German Field Marshal up until his forced suicide by Hitler. Good read of the Western and African theaters of war. Also a good book to read if you're interested in what German command was doing on the lead up to D-Day.

    I have a few battle-specific books I enjoy too:

  • Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege 1942-1943 - You really don't know the brutality of Stalingrad till you've read this book. You'll see it in a whole new light I think.

  • Berlin: Downfall 1945 - Battle of Berlin at the end of the war, another good book.

    Now if you want to play games, Hearts of Iron series is great (someone recommended the Darkest Hour release of the game. Allows you to play historical missions based on historical troop layouts, or play the entire war as a nation. Historical events are incorporated into the game. While you'll rarely get a 100% accurate game as it is abstracted, it is an excellent way to see what challenges faced the nations of the time. You could play as Russia from 1936 and prepare yourself for the eventual German invasion. Or maybe you decide to play as Germany, and not invade Russia. But will Russia invade you when they are stronger? Will warn you: It does not have a learning curve. As with almost all Paradox Interactive games, it is a learning cliff.
u/greenleader84 · 3 pointsr/Steel_Division

A stunning look at World War II from the other side...

From the turret of a German tank, Colonel Hans von Luck commanded Rommel's 7th and then 21st Panzer Division. El Alamein, Kasserine Pass, Poland, Belgium, Normandy on D-Day, the disastrous Russian front--von Luck fought there with some of the best soldiers in the world. German soldiers.

Awarded the German Cross in Gold and the Knight's Cross, von Luck writes as an officer and a gentleman. Told with the vivid detail of an impassioned eyewitness, his rare and moving memoir has become a classic in the literature of World War II, a first-person chronicle of the glory--and the inevitable tragedy--of a superb soldier fighting Hitler's war.

https://www.amazon.com/Panzer-Commander-Memoirs-Colonel-Library/dp/0440208025

u/spuri0us · 2 pointsr/HistoryPorn

Hans Von Luck wrote Panzer Commander not Panzer Leader

see here

And his wiki article

Its a great book, from someone who leaded from the ground.

He was at El Alamein, Kasserine Pass, Poland, Belgium, Normandy on D-Day, and the Ost Front.

EDIT: He was with the 3rd panzer army during operation barbarossa and at the personal request of Rommel, with the afrika korps in North Africa.

u/LostMaterial0 · 2 pointsr/badhistory

So I've been reading https://www.amazon.com/Panzer-Commander-Memoirs-Colonel-Library/dp/0440208025 and found that this author (A colonel that knew Rommel personally quite well) claimed that the July 20, 1944 plot to kill hitler, and after that germany would seek to befriend the western allies to defeat Russia and agree to de-nazify to an extent.

Idk if "lesser known" but that was certainly interesting to me. at a glance I dont see any kind of mention of that motive on wikipedia

u/Dongo666 · 2 pointsr/tanks

I read half of Panzer Commander by Colonel Hans Van Luck.

You might like it more than I did.

https://www.amazon.com/Panzer-Commander-Memoirs-Colonel-Library/dp/0440208025

u/LordCurlyFry · 1 pointr/WorldofTanks

For a more tactical point of view you have Heinz Guderian's treatise on armored warfare; Achtung - Panzer! In it, he crafts the very tactics that were employed in the war.

Panzer Commander: The Memoirs of Colonel Hans von Luck is also quite good and may be more what you're looking for. Hans von Luck was a commander in Rommel's Panzer divisions at many points in the war including El Alamein, during D-Day, and on the eastern front.

u/Praetor80 · 1 pointr/HistoryPorn

Had they known about the holocaust those same generals would have ended the war very quickly.

I'd suggest you give this a read: http://www.amazon.ca/Panzer-Commander-Memoirs-Colonel-Hans/dp/0440208025

u/Chempolo · 0 pointsr/WWII

Yep. Hans Von Luck talks about this idea in good detail in Panzer Commander.