Arnhem Lift
A German Jew in the Glider Pilot Regiment
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- $19.99
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- $19.99
Publisher Description
Of the 10,000 men who landed at Arnhem, over nine days 1,400 were killed and more than 6,000 – about a third of them wounded – were captured. It was a bloody disaster. The remarkable Louis Hagen, an 'enemy alien' who had escaped to England having been imprisoned and tortured in a Nazi concentration camp as a boy just a few years earlier, was one of the minority who made it back. What makes this book so unforgettable is not only the breathtaking drama of the story itself, it is the unmistakable talent of the writer. The narrative was first published anonymously in 1945.45 years later at a dinner party in Germany, Louis Hagen met Major Winrich Behr, Adjutant to Field Marshal Model at Arnhem. Louis added his side of the story to add even more insight to the original work.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Originally published in 1945, just a few months after Britain and the U.S. launched the Allied airborne Operation Market Garden to capture bridges across the Rhine, this brief, compelling narrative relates the travails of a German Jewish glider pilot who joined the British army and who took part in that failed mission. Hagen describes being holed up around Arnhem in the Netherlands with his fellow paratroopers and surrounded by enemies, fighting desperately for a week against hopeless odds. Incredibly, despite volunteering for numerous dangerous patrols, Hagen survived the battle without serious wounds and was later personally decorated by the King of England. This new edition of the book is supplemented by a German perspective of the battle, courtesy of a German officer whom the author befriended after the war, and Hagen adds a short description of his subsequent career in the British army and his fascinating return to the battlefield for a 50-year reunion. The author's background, his direct involvement with many key leaders of the operation, and his lucid descriptions of combat make this a valuable and incredibly entertaining military history.
