Listen free for 30 days
Listen with offer
-
In Deadly Combat
- A German Soldier's Memoir of the Eastern Front
- Narrated by: Paul Woodson
- Length: 13 hrs and 59 mins
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
£0.00 for first 30 days
In Deadly Combat
Buy Now for £21.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Summary
Wounded five times and awarded numerous decorations for valor, Gottlob Herbert Bidermann saw action in the Crimea and siege of Sebastopol, participated in the vicious battles in the forests south of Leningrad, and ended the war in the Courland Pocket.
In his memoir, he shares his impressions of countless Russian POWs seen at the outset of his service, of peasants struggling to survive the hostilities while caught between two ruthless antagonists, and of corpses littering the landscape. He recalls a Christmas gift of gingerbread from home that overcame the stench of battle, an Easter celebrated with a basket of Russian hand grenades for eggs, and his miraculous survival of machine gun fire at close range. In closing, he relives the humiliation of surrender to an enemy whom the Germans had once derided and offers a sobering glimpse into life in the Soviet gulags. Bidermann's account debunks the myth of a highly mechanized German army that rolled over weaker opponents with impunity.
Despite the vast expanses of territory captured by the Germans during the early months of Operation Barbarossa, the war with Russia remained tenuous and unforgiving. His story commits that living hell to the annals of World War II and broadens our understanding of its most deadly combat zone.
Listeners also enjoyed...
Critic reviews
What listeners say about In Deadly Combat
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kenny Hamilton
- 11-09-19
Bidermann
Great to hear the personal experiences of those who were there and survived the war.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
- Jason Rimmer
- 20-06-19
A very good one!
This is one of the first of many German WW2 memoirs I've read. I decided to listen to the audible version aswell years later.
A highly recommend memoir. Up there with the likes of Soldat by S Knappe and Grenadiers by K Meyer.
Go for it. No real preference to written or audible versions to be honest. Audible I find can really come into its own with fiction. Good fiction and a great narrator can turn an OK book into a must listen can't turn off experience. Though a great book with poor narration ruins it.
Which ever format you choose you will enjoy it. This book started a huge part of my library, both WW2 and WW1 memoirs.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- aristotle
- 17-09-19
an excellent, informative account.
I don't think my UK generation has earnt anything from ww2, it's had It's collective head filled with propaganda war films.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story2 out of 5 stars
- David
- 22-01-24
To and fro on the Eastern Front
An awful war and awful conditions & battles in the Eastern Front which the author lived through and describes very well. The sheer madness of German high command and Hitler in particular comes through.
Of particular interest (and awfulness) was the final chapter which covered the author’s time as a prisoner of the Russians. Mind you, the Russian leadership wasn’t much nicer (if at all) to many of its own citizens.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- qwerty
- 05-12-17
Quantity has a quality all it's own
Well read. Factual as far as is possible to know. Good listen but hard to feel too sorry for German POW's considering the mess they made of the world and its population. Good insight into low level attitudes from junior leaders perspective.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mr. Mark Hayden
- 12-07-23
Grim but powerful account.
Learn your history lest you repeat it. The unvarnished experience of a young man at war.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jack Bentley
- 16-09-23
Better than any film
Incredible story of a German soldier on the eastern front. Shines a light on the atrocities of war and an often untold German experience.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mark
- 16-06-17
simply a superb listen...
I really enjoyed this audiobook. I dont remember a dull section. Its great if you enjoy history.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- R K BROOK
- 31-03-23
excellent
Good to hear the view from the other side. And this guy seems well principled and disliked the Nazi's and Hitler.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- Joe
- 02-09-23
Not quite a memoir
A few snippets of memoir inserted into a book detailing the events of the area of the eastern front where the writer is located. Not on the same level as comparative memoirs like those by Sajer and Koschorrek.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!