This Book was
authored by Douglas Nash and published by The Aberjona Press.
It is Card Cover, 420 pages.

Victory was Beyond their Grasp
With the 272nd Volks-Grenadier Division from the Huertgen Forest to the Heart of the Reich

Content: As the Allies arrived at the frontiers of Germany itself in the last autumn of WWII, the Germans responded with a variety of initiatives designed to regain the strategic initiative. While the Wonder Weapons such as the V-2 missile are widely recognized, the Volks-Grenadier Divisions (VGDs) are practically unknown. Often confused with the Volkssturm, the Home Guard militia, VGDs have suffered the undeserved reputation as second-rate formations, filled with young boys and old men suited to serve only as cannon fodder. This ground-breaking book shows that VGDs were actually conceived as a new, elite corps loyal to the National Socialist Party and equipped with the finest weapons available. Come follow along with the soldiers of the 272nd VGD's Füsilier Company from their first battles in the Huertgen Forest to their final defeat in the Harz Mountains . . . learn the enormous potential of VGDs . . . and feel their soldiers' heartbreak at their failure.
SIGNED COPIES - BY THE AUTHOR

Item Number: 5136

Reviews:“Using a trove of recently discovered materials, Nash has pulled together the remarkable story of one German unit that was almost continuously engaged in a futile effort to stop the Allied advance across western Europe. Here is the war we rarely see close combat from the German side. Nash has done a great service to general readers and future historians.” - Ed Ruggero, author of The First Men In: US Paratroopers; and The Fight to Save D-Day
”This study is unique in that it focuses on a small unit, an infantry company, when most books describe warfare on the divisional level, or an even larger scale.” - George Nipe, author of Decision in the Ukraine, Summer 1943, II. SS and III Panzerkorps; and Last Victory In Russia: The SS-Panzerkorps and Manstein's Kharkov Counteroffensive, February-March 1943
”As told through the eyes of German soldiers, Nash gives the first full accounting and range of experience of a Volks-Grenadier division. In detailing the experience of one such division in the Hürtgen Forest, Nash has opened a new window into the bloody fighting at the end of World War II. He also helps to explain why it was that the western allies failed to exploit their successes of the summer and autumn of 1944 and lost their momentum amid the cold, sodden, dreary forests that ranged along the German border. The Volks-Grenadier Divisions, even at this late stage of the war, could call on skilled commanders, outstanding small-arms weaponry, and a pool of determined soldiers.” - Stephen G. Fritz, author of Frontsoldaten