The Devil's Adjutant: Jochen Peiper, Panzer Leader - Hardcover

Reynolds, Michael Frank

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1873376413 ISBN 13: 9781873376416

Publisher: Sarpedon Pub, 1995

Synopsis

Standartenfuhrer Jochen Peiper, 'Siegfried' of the Waffen-SS, and onetime Adjutant to Heinrich Himmler, died in a fire-bomb attack on his home in France in 1976. Many in Europe and America saw this as poetic justice on a man they believed had cheated the hangman's noose.
Peiper's brilliant reputation as panzer leader of the Fuhrer's Bodyguard Regiment, Die Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler, was tarnished by his previous close association with Himmler and his alleged involvement with the infamous Malmedy Massacre, when unarmed American POWs were shot during the Battle of the Bulge. After a highly controversial war crimes trial, Peiper was sentenced to death but was eventually released from Landsberg prison in 1956.
This is the first thoroughly objective account of Peiper's role in the greatest land battle ever fought by the United States of America. Michael Reynolds has spent over twenty years making contact with veterans, including survivors of the Malmedy Massacre, and has accompanied former members of Die Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler, as well as American soldiers, retracing their footsteps in the Ardennes. Through these contacts, and after painstaking research into Peiper's life, he is able to demolish many of the myths surrounding this part of the Battle of the Bulge and to throw new light on the character and career of one of Nazi Germany's most charismatic, if blemished, soldiers.

About this title

About the Author:

Since retiring from a successful military career in 1986, during which he saw active service and was severely wounded, Major General Mike Reynolds has become a highly respected military historian. Married with three daughters and six grandchildren, Michael Reynolds lives in Sussex, England.

Review:

"One of Germany's most daring and charismatic field commanders." -- Publishers Weekly

"One of WWII's most interesting combat leaders . . . a fascinating story of inspired courage, battlefield flexibility and combat leadership." -- Armor

The Devil's Adjutant: Jochen Peiper, Panzer Leader is the story of the ex-aide to Himmler who epitomized the Nazi approach to war, and describes in minute detail the combats fought by the German spearhead in the Battle of the Bulge. As the Americans advanced on the Third Reich in the fall of 1944, they encountered many enemy united of mixed quality. But when the Germans counterattacked, bursting through the U. S. front in December 1944, their offensive was led by Jochen Peiper and the 1st SS Panzer Division - an elite unit hardened in the crucibles of Russia. The Americans faced their greatest challenge in the largest battle of their history. After being sentenced at Dachau for war crimes, Peiper was assassinated by persons unknown, long after the war had ended. The Devil's Adjutant is a fascinating account of modern combat between technologically equivalent adversaries. Michael Reynolds not only depicts the unvarnished reality of battle, but in the process demolishes many myths about Jochen Peiper - one of Nazi Germany's most charismatic, if blemished, commanders. -- Midwest Book Review

About this edition

• Publisher: Sarpedon Pub
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 1873376413
• ISBN 13: 9781873376416
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 320