The Forgotten Soldier by Guy Sajer

This is the version I currently own of Guy Sajer's account

A number of years ago I picked up a copy of the above and was greatly affected by the contents therein. For those of you that are unfamiliar with this book it is an account of young boy serving on the Russian Front from 1942 until the end of the war, firstly as member of the supply troops and then in the Gross Deutschland. The book covers the Russian winter, brutal battles against the Red Army and Partisans, leave, illness, and the perennial concerns of a front line soldier - food, sleep and shelter. It is by turns chilling, frightful, heroic, comic and always deeply thought provoking. It is one of my most read books and it always serves to remind me that however bad my own situation might be at least I live in a safe environment; well fed and warm and with the prospect of a violent death very far removed.

There has been much debate over the authenticity of the detail in Sajer's book but in my opinion this would probably be expected. Given the sheer continual trauma that most of the book is given over to it is no surprise that some detail is a little awry - a point that the author touches on when he argues that one should read military history under conditions of extreme discomfort and usually sleep deprived in the cold and wet at dawn in order to fully appreciate what he endured.

I cannot comment on the authenticity and detail as I am not an expert on the Russian campaign and so will leave that to the experts but the story reads in a realistic and believable way and is full (perhaps too much so) of period 'feel'.

Within the account are numerous ideas for games and so I fully intend turning some of these into Portable Wargame or MOMBAT scenarios. In fact I plan to dedicate game number 21 to just that so we will be heading out to the Eastern Front for action involving the Red Army and the soldiers of the Gross Deutschland Division. A brief outline of the history of the division can be found  here  although several more detailed histories are available.