The Winter Years of World War II
Life in Hitler's Third Reich 1942-1945
by
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He concentrated on his landing spot, the town of Arnhem to his right, the river and bridge to the left. As he closed in on his landing, a broad anti-tank ditch loomed below. The trench seemed strewn with jagged rocks, and as he closed in on the ground, he saw the barb wire, tangled throughout the ditch. An electric shock zapped through his chest and head. A few seconds remaining. He jerked on the shroud lines, reaching for the risers. If he could just steer a few meters past the bank of the ditch. The sarcastic remark from his instructor flashed through his mind. "You won't have time to fool around and steer anywhere." Time to think diminished to a second. He pulled his legs up, the rolls of wire meeting him and the jaws of the barbs reaching for him like a shark with a hundred razor sharp fangs. He clenched his teeth, shut his eyes the last split second, before he was wrenched, torn, and ripped. Barbs scarped and jabbed his body. Eyes still closed, he tried to curl up to minimize the injury, waiting for the parachute to drop and deflate, but the chute yanked him along the barbs like a merciless sadist, until it gave up its life and collapsed. He did not know if he screamed or if he cried to escape the searing pain. He opened his eyes, but looked at the sky to avoid the sight of his torn body. Every breath jabbed and tore open a new wound.
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About the Book
Walk with one German family on the most extraordinary journey through the Third Reich, on battlefields from Africa to Russia, in a Nazi-crazed village and bombed cities. A riveting human drama based on true events and the author's family. Beautiful Alice is a Lightening Girl in the Luftwaffe, in a highly secret bunker near Hitler's bunker. Karl faces death in a notorious Nazi political prison. Thousands die of cruel treatment. For Alfred, every crossing of the Mediterranean to Africa to supply Rommel, might be the last. Hundreds of ships are torpedoed, bombed and blown up. Will Charlotte's two children in Bavaria grow up without a father? Oma and Opa cling to the hope that Chemnitz will be spared the bombings and firestorms of other cities, but Chemnitz too must crash and burn under thousands of bombs. Colonel Baron Uli von Boxberg faces a hopeless last battle in Leipzig and starvation in a brutal POW camp that to this day is not publicized in American historical archives. Joachim has been wounded twice but must return to war. The Russians throw him into a cellar in Berlin where every morning begins with executions. Heinz is certain that his days in Berlin are numbered when the Russians enter the suburbs. If he does not escape he will no doubt be slaughtered in the last hopeless battle along with his entire ragtag army. Oma obstinately believes that someday her family will reunite. The news gives her little hope. With no mail and smashed trains there is harldy a chance to know if any of the family will return. A rare insight into little known historical events and places adds intrigue to a war story of epic proportions as well as a story of love and determination.
About the Author
Freia Hooper-Bradford was a war baby and grew up in occupied Germany. She spent her childhood listening to family recall terrifying as well as triumphant accounts. For this epic war story, the author invested six years in research with journeys back to her country of birth. The author grew up with American soldiers of the occupation, called Amis, who were an exciting part of her childhood and brought tales of America as well as chocolate, chewing gum, and a first impression of 'cowboys'. Later, when she moved to the United States, she married a cowboy and eventually started flying airplanes. She loves her Bavarian homeland, but the American West is her real home. She currently lives with her second husband, a retired Navy pilot, in the Wet Mountains in Colorado.