A refreshing and new outlook on war torn Germany as experienced and told by a young German boy from Hamburg. The reader is able to re-live his experiences of the highs and lows of life during the blitz. Cry with Dieter as he sees his first dead person, laugh with him as he and his brother Hans together with their friends play often dangerous games on the German soldiers at the local barracks, then on the British soldiers after the surrender of Hamburg. Wonder at the extraordinary experiences as these young boys enter and exit a local POW Camp at will, mixing freely with the French POW who treated the boys with kindness. Feel his fear of the bombs being dropped over his beloved Hamburg and the excitement of the long train journeys to his evacuation village, the horror of the train being attacked and strafed and the terror of spending a night in the pitch dark forest whilst being machine gunned from the attacking planes waiting for help. Go through the great joy of seeing his father home on leave, then the utter sadness at his departures. The family receive the devastating news that his father was missing in action on the Eastern Front and presumed dead, as the reports indicate his panzer unit being destroyed. What did his young mother do? How did she cope? Initially she was devastated then she was kept busy running her parent’s greengrocers after her father was taken ill, then during the occupation by allied forces we can be happy that she was able to befriend a British soldier; this Welshman who worked in the British Army kitchens was able to “supply” the necessary food to keep this family from going hungry, often via difficult and extraordinary means to ensure his own position is not damaged. The sudden death of both his Grandparents and the hardship caused to his mother but her inheritance enables life in Wales to be easier but isolates the young mother even more from her family in Hamburg. Dieter tells all of this in a heart wrenching tale and takes us with him on his journey from the destruction of Hamburg to peace time on the Welsh coast. As with all good stories there is a twist to the tale, which again sees Dieter going through yet more emotional upheaval, but with the ever present guiding hand of his older brother Hans, Dieter is able to face up to all the trials that war had thrown at him and the utter devastation he felt as a young boy in a strange land, when the family moved to Wales – once again he felt isolated, not able to speak the language but he takes the reader through his adventures in this strange country and shows the resilience of the young. Follow Hans and Dieter on their numerous money making ventures and Dieter’s return to Hamburg with the Sea Cadets and the reaction of his family when they see him in the uniform of the allied forces.
Genre: BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Military#7914 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Leaders & Notable People > Military > World War II
#9532 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > History > Military > World War II
#28652 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Biographies & Memoirs > Memoirs
This is a very good time to translate in to German. Only recently a very good permanent exhibition opened in BONN showing what occured and the terrors of WWII.
In English the sales have been steady but have recently increased albeit slowly. Word of mouth has been my main marketing tool, Once translated I will follow up new marketing opportunities that I learnt about during the past week.
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Our father was looking out the window when, suddenly, he pointed up at the sky and said to us, “Look at those planes. They look beautiful up there with the sun reflecting off them.” But he soon started frowning when the planes quickly turned towards the train. He shouted a very loud warning: “Everybody, get down and lie flat on the floor! Quickly! The train is about to be attacked from the air. Pass the word along!” In our section, my brother and I were protected by our parent’s bodies. He and Mother were lying over us. The next moments were terrifying: bullets from the planes shattered the windows of our and many other carriages.
The forest flanking the train’s route was daylight-dark, and to our eyes, it was menacing rather than comforting. It was almost as if the forest resented our disturbance and the calamity that it would soon share with us. After a while, cries that were louder than the tumult of sound reached our ears: “Get down! Stay close to the trees, and whatever you do once there, stay quite still. Keep the trees between you and the approaching airplanes!” We couldn’t be sure that the attacking planes had seen us go into hiding.
There were at least six or eight fighter planes coming back at us again and again, often from different angles or directions. Their pilots realised that the trees were giving the train’s passengers cover, and they seemed determined to finish their work by killing us all. The attacks seemed to go on forever, though it was likely that only minutes separated the attacks from beginning to end.
It was at this point that the screaming of low-flying aircraft drowned out our talking. The air was charged with the sound of explosions. This was followed by more explosions. Amid the deafening and frightening din, the railway engine was hit. It exploded, sending shards of glass and metal flying into the air.
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Spanish
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Already translated.
Translated by Miriam Reinoso Sánchez
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Author review: An absolute delight to have experienced my book translation with Miriam. Communication has been excellent on this journey, as also the professionalism over the short time it has taken for Miriam to produce this work. |
