ISBN: 1 84415 019 4 PB 246 pp £7.95 Published by Pen & Sword Books Ltd.
The author served in the First World War as a German citizen , loyal to the German Fatherland and in the Second World War in the British Army ; probably the only man commissioned by the Kaiser and King George VI . His aim in WW2 was to “Help destroy Hitler”. He led an extraordinary life, fully detailed in a memoir at the start of the book. It is a translation of his diaries kept throughout his service in the German Army in the First World War and gives a fascinating insight into the war as seen through soldier’s eyes. He was however no Ernst Junger , intent on eulogizing the virtues of a master race , but a patriot who fervently believed in the German cause . As such he went to war with the same resolve as his British counterpart .
He was born in February 1894 into a wealthy Jewish family in Frankfurt -on- Main and at the outbreak of the war volunteered and joined the 63rd ( Frankfurt ) Field Artillery Regiment . He was soon sent to the Western Front where he was to remain except for one short spell on the Eastern Front and his diaries cover his service in these sectors . He won the Iron Cross 2nd Class on the Somme in 1916 and the Iron Cross 1st Class at Villers-Cotterets in 1918 . His diaries commence on 28th June 1914 , the date of Arch Duke Ferdinands assassination and the last entry is on December 8th 1918 . He details his daily life with the guns , his realisation of the horrors of war as well as news of happenings on other fronts .
He records the great battles of the war in which he participated ; the Somme , Arras , the Chemin des Dames and the great offensive in March 1918 . It was enlightening to read of these battles from the German perspective and to realise that it is sad to lose friends whichever side you are on . The events in November 1918 came as a shock to him and he was left with a sense of sadness and bewilderment not knowing what fate had in store for his country . In December 1918 he went for a walk in his uniform for the last time . He ends with the words , I felt as though I were walking to my own funeral . The words were almost prophetic as he became strong critic of what was happening to his country when Hitler came to power .
Sulzbach was forced to leave Germany in 1937 ; his outspoken opposition to the Nazi regime made living there too dangerous for him . He returned in 1938 at great risk to fetch his wife and her sister and bring them back to Britain . His extraordinary life was to take a new twist , when he enlisted in the British Army , swapping field grey for khaki to help rid the world of Hitler . The book contains interesting photographs of him and his colleagues in the German army and also a few of him and his British colleagues in WW2 .
The book is an important addition to diaries of World War One and I would strongly recommend it to those readers , who like me wish to further their knowledge of life in the Germany Army during the conflict .
Reviewer: Maurice Johnson
