The gates of hell were opened and we accepted the invitation to enter" 26/880 Lance Sgt, Edward Dyke. 26th Bn Northumberland Fusiliers , ( 3rd Tyneside Irish )
1st July 1916
Thought shall be the harder , heart the keener,
Courage the greater as our strength faileth.
Here lies our leader ,in the dust of his greatness.
Who leaves him now , be damned forever.
We who are old now shall not leave this Battle,
But lie at his feet , in the dust with our leader
House Carles at the Battle of Hastings
Great find, Martin. It was good that you were able to research the previous owner. That was one heck of a deal!
Luke
Martin: That's a terrific copy to have. Hillary's account of being shot down and bailing out is among the essays that were published in Ernest Hemingway's anthology, Men at War, New York: Crown, 1942. In the anthology, Hillary's piece is titled, "Falling Through Space," which is apparently taken from a book with the same title, published in 1943 by Reynal & Hitchcock. The copy you have is a definite keeper! Dwight
Some real close brushs with history you guys have here! Great work!
Here is a other one, I just got in!
Sorry about the flash!
;-)
Luke: I haven't read this book, but I did read the reviews of the book on Amazon. As I see it, the basic problem with the book is that Helmut Junge supposedly was drafted into the German Army in 1943 when he was 16, which was impossible to have happened.
The basic German draft law in effect throughout WWII was spelled out in the Gesetz für den Aufbau der Wehrmacht, 16 März 1935, and amended for wartime in Das Wehrgesetz vom 21. Mai 1935. The draft age was set at 18 to 45 and remained in effect throughout the war, even through several changes were embodied in Das Gesetz vom 26. Juni 1936 (RGBl. I. S. 518); Erlaß vom 4. Februar 1938 (RGBl. I. S. 111); Verordnung vom 17. August 1938 (RGBl. 1939 I. S. 1455); Verordnung vom 1. September 1939 (RGBl. I. S. 1656); Gesetz vom 20. August 1940 (RGBl. I. 1161); and Gesetz vom 24. September 1944 (RGBl. I. S. 317).
In October 1944, Die Verordnung vom 6. Oktober 1944 ordered all males from 16 to 60 to join the Volksturm under the overall command of Heinrich Himmler. The same order also placed the Hitler Youth in the Volkssturm. This new law was not related to the basic 1935 Wehrgesetz and its several amendments, concerning itself only with the expansion of the Volkssturm. It was this 1944 order that created the situation of having boys as young as 12 in front line units, not the 1935 national draft law.
Thus, Helmut Jung could not have been drafted in 1943, nor at any other time during WWII. The only way he could have entered active service was to have been a Hitler Youth member called up after October 1944, or by entering the Volkssturm under the order directing all males 16-60 to join. But neither of those options would have sent him to the Eastern Front. In order to have fought on the Eastern Front, he would have had to voluntarily enlisted in the Wehrmacht when he turned 17, which appears to have been 1944 in his case. Dwight
Thank you, Dwight. I've had it for a long time and still haven't read it yet. One of the reasons why was because of some of the reviews I had read. Unfortunately after I got the book.
Luke
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