Blood & Knight´s Crosses

From the unit war journal of a Waffen-SS assault company

This book presents the original wartime diary entries of the 16th Pioneer Company of SS Panzergrenadier Regiment 3 “Deutschland” from 1943, written by its company commander and Knight’s Cross recipient Heinz Macher. He reports firsthand on the third battle for Kharkov and the Kursk Offensive.
Eastern Front, 1943: With just 35 men under his command, the young leader of the “Sixteenth,” Heinz Macher, breaks through Soviet defenses before Kharkov. He plays a decisive role in the success of Manstein’s famous castling operation, with which the Germans win the third battle of Kharkov. For this action, Macher is awarded the Knight’s Cross. A few months later, the company is thrown into the Battle of Kursk, the largest tank battle of all time; shortly afterward, Macher is wounded.
This book offers unique insights into the everyday life of a combat unit of the Waffen-SS during the two most important German operations of 1943. The reports begin on New Year’s Day 1943 and end with Macher’s wounding after the abandonment of the Kursk offensive. Alongside numerous dispatches directly from the front, the diary also records impressions from training operations and a trip to Berlin, where Heinz Macher and his comrades meet Joseph Goebbels.
Especially valuable are the situation maps created specifically for this book, which trace the course of the fighting on both a tactical and strategic level. In total, the volume contains more than 45 photos from everyday company life, as well as maps and sketches.
Dive into this unique contemporary account of the fighting of a Waffen-SS unit now. Get to know German military history from an unknown point of view—that of the men who risked their lives in the middle of the historical events of WWII.