Lake Ilmen 1942 - The Wehrmacht Front to the Red Army

In January 1942, south of Lake Ilmen, the 16th German Army clashed with the Morozov's 11th Soviet Army for possession of the strategic Russian city of Stelaia. In this battle, which has gone almost unnoticed in studies of the Eastern Front, the Blue Division (Spanish volunteers) intervened with the 250th Skier Company. The Spaniards, along with their German and Latvian comrades, endured hard fighting in extreme winter conditions. In addition to providing a strategic framework of the battle itself, including the Soviet perspective, this book also looks at the human aspect of the battle, by analysing a selection of the volunteers who fought in it.

This is an interesting book, although the subject area is not that clear from the title chosen, but the authors have created an insightful and comprehensive narrative about one specific action that the Spanish Blue Division participated in. One key point of the book are the biographies of men who were involved in this battle, and these sit well with extracts from personal accounts. The biographies include officers, and also ordinary soldiers. While the singular focus of the book is very precise, there are few English language accounts of the Blue Division's participation on the Eastern Front, so this book is worth obtaining if you want to read more about this aspect of World War Two.

Available from:
Pen & Sword