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Night of the Bayonets - The Texel Uprising and Hitler's Revenge, April-May 1945 (Hardcover)
Loot Price: R532
Discovery Miles 5 320
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Night of the Bayonets - The Texel Uprising and Hitler's Revenge, April-May 1945 (Hardcover)
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Loot Price R532
Discovery Miles 5 320
Expected to ship within 12 - 17 working days
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"A spellbinding tale of those who paid the ultimate price for
freedom. - Damien Lewis, author of _SAS Shadow Raiders: The
Ultra-Secret Mission that Changed the Course of WWII. _ In the
final days of World War II in Europe, Georgians serving in the
Wehrmacht on Texel island off the Dutch coast rose up and
slaughtered their German masters. Hitler ordered the island to be
retaken and fighting continued for weeks, well after the war's end.
The uprising had it origins in the bloody history of Georgia in the
twentieth century, a history that saw the country move from German
occupation, to three short years of independence, to Soviet rule
after it was conquered by the Red Army in 1921\. A bloody rebellion
against the Soviets took place in 1924, but it remained under
Russian Soviet rule. Thousands of Georgians served in the Soviet
forces during World War II and among those who were captured, given
the choice of starve or fight , some took up the German offer to
don Wehrmacht uniforms. The loyalty of the Georgians was always in
doubt, as Hitler himself suspected, and once deployed to the
Netherlands, the Georgian soldiers made contact with the local
Communist resistance. When the opportunity arose, the Georgians
took the decision to rise up and slaughter the Germans, seizing
control of the island. In just a few hours, they massacred some 400
German officers using knives and bayonets to avoid raising the
alarm. An enraged Hitler learned about the mutiny and ordered the
Germans to fight back, showing no mercy to either the Georgians or
the Dutch civilians who hid them. It was not until 20 May, 12 days
after the war had ended, that Canadian forces landed on the island
and finally put an end to the slaughter. Eric Lee explores this
fascinating but little known last battle of the Second World War:
its origins, the incredible details of the battle and its ongoing
legacy.
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