The second book from Sergeant Rob Lofthouse, author of the Amazon smash hit Falklands biopic 'A Cold Night in June'.

After colleagues fall during the ferocious 1945 American advance through Germany, young German soldier Erik Baum joins the Himmler-inspired guerrilla Werewolf movement.

But as horrendous war crimes against enemy and collaborators become prevalent, Erik wishes he had seen out the war with regular forces....

Told in a real soldier's voice, the 1945 battle for Kirchborchen forms the basis of this very real, powerful and brutal yarn. In this book, Rob Lofthouse proves he is the new Leo Kessler, and there are plenty more German wartime tales to come.

EXTRACT FROM FOREWORD BY MAJOR JUSTIN FEATHERSTONE MC

The narrative of war places a stark and often disquieting lens on the tensions between social identity and humanity. In 'Bazooka Town', Robert Lofthouse again uses his deep personal insight as a former infantry Sergeant and combat veteran to create the carefully-crafted characters at the heart of this irregular band of guerrilla fighters operating in the deepening shadows of the final stages of the war in Europe.

The original Operation Werewolf led to the training of a commando force by Obergruppenfuhrer Prutzmann, which by early 1945 comprised of probably no more than two hundred soldiers, largely drawn from the Hitler Jugend. This largely ineffectual organisation was more of a propaganda tool, and proved of no subsequent military significance, but... would have drawn inspiration from Joseph Goebbels' 'Werewolf Speech' of 23rd March 1945, in which he called for all native Germans to fight to the death, in a demonstration of resistance to the advancing Allied armies.

Erik's experiences of fighting resonate deeply... and reflect the confusion, horror, desperation and intimacy of close combat... the reader is propelled in to the maelstrom, and it is possible to feel that you are genuinely at the side of this young soldier.

The escalation of partisan activity from ambushes and close-quarter assassinations, to the murder of civilians and the abhorrent treatment of prisoners, is both shocking and rapid. The question of why essentially good men can become so morally degenerate is at the core of this book.

'Bazooka Town' is multi-layered, relentless, relevant and powerful. As a detailed and rigorously related narrative of a broken irregular unit fighting a desperate and futile insurgent action, it is both dramatic and engrossing. As a study of the insidious impact on moral agency by social identity and social structure, it is even more deeply affecting. Dehumanisation... transition from regular soldiers to brigands capable of acts of barbarism provokes moral outrage. This erosion of humanity is even more marked as witnessed by Erik, who although traumatised, resists the corrupting effect of what the others view as an existential fight. For the other Werewolves, national survival and dignity are causes that supercede the accepted conventions of both war and morality; the attrition caused by the years of fighting within a Total War environment have led to them losing the touchstones of perceived decency and sense of self... clash of a sacrosanct, incorrigible moral core, and the resolute adherence to an ideology and desire for survival that eclipses all governed and rational behaviours, both on and away from the field of battle. It is this very idea that remains the foundation of professional military ethos and discipline; as much to protect the mental wellbeing of individual soldiers, as to prevent acts of inhumanity in an environment where humanity itself remains so fragile.

This nuanced and arresting portrait of the tensions between a soldier's sense of self, agency, identity and morality, is framed with integrity, and a genuine understanding that can only come from a soldier's heart. These ideas remain as conflicted and tested today in modern milit

The complete Falklands experience of a young 3 Para machinegun crew, based on accounts given during veterans' organised battlefield tours of Mount Longdon and other sites. Sergeant Rob Lofthouse has served in Iraq, and formed part of the Falklands defence force in the 1990's. The prologue details a gunner's very first experience of combat. A real soldier's voice, combining dry gallows-style humour with a very real and brutal account of the conflict.

Review from Warrant Officer Dan Mills, author of 'Sniper One';

In the past, I have had the honour of fighting alongside Rob Lofthouse. Not only has he managed to eerily portray accurately the events of that cold, long hard night on Mount Longdon in June 1982, but he has also effectively transported the reader there, as though they landed at San Carlos alongside 3 Para. The description and portrayal is uncanny, and having spoken to many soldiers who were on that artillery-swept summit and the hard fought over approaches to it, Rob is spot on. The build-up and tension leading up to the action is intense, and once the battle was over, I wanted to read more, the realism is remarkable. The Falklands War turned out like so many once casualties bite the ranks, it is the remarkable Tommy and Non-Commissioned Officers who step up to the plate, grasp control then inspire, and reorganise and lead a small band of men into battle. Throughout that war, these small groups were embroiled in their own battles, and full credit to those men because they won the day.

Extract from foreword by Major Justin Featherstone MC;

The Falklands Conflict was remarkable in many ways. It was the last British conflict over an issue of national sovereignty; the last significant British maritime military deployment; the last time that British troops marched for the duration of a campaign; the last time a substantial British task force met a regular enemy without any meaningful air manoeuvrability. This was primarily a dismounted infantry campaign, its battles fought in close combat, in a manner that has changed little since World War II. One thing that has not altered lies at the very heart of British military capability, the British private soldier. As we accompany Archie and B Company of 3rd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment across the desolate and arduous terrain of the Falklands, Rob's treatment of the workings of such a force is both affecting and unerringly accurate. From preparation, to the orders given over a topological model constructed from earth, each episode drew me back to when I was giving orders for battle. When Archie enters the maelstrom of close combat, the ordered chaos, sensory overload and sense of unyielding commitment are both overwhelming and compelling. The author conveys the horror and sense of movement without flinching, but it is the extraordinary actions of each individual which have the greatest impact. As the battle progresses, and the cost mounts, the strength of initiative given to the ranks is apparent. It is this thoroughly British concept of Mission Command that allows 3 Para the flexibility and momentum to push home the attack, despite devastating losses. As each of the individuals constantly consider what they should do next in the absence of regular orders, having lost many of their commanders, they act with authority and a savage pride that ultimately leads to the defeat of the Argentine position on that remote 600-foot hill, despite the enemy's strength and the need to attack up the slope. Rob has created a compassionate, emotive and compelling story, clearly born from the author's experiences as a combat infantryman his authentic voice has remained with me, that of 5 Platoon, B Company, 3 Para, and its desperate advance up the rock-strewn slopes of Mount Longdon.

'It was that realistic.' MAJOR MANNY MANFRED, 'A' COMPANY, MOUNT LONGDON 1982

'A thought-provoking account of our last low-tech conventional conflict.' SOLDIER M