PublishedPen And Sword, June 2025 |
ISBN9781036127664 |
FormatHardcover, 176 pages |
Dimensions23.4cm × 15.6cm |
In a world defined by the brutalities of war, one German general stands apart from the Hollywood stereotype. Before the storm of the Second World War, Fridolin von Senger und Etterlin was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford, fluent in multiple languages, and a devoted Christian - a lifelong Benedictine Oblate.
From the very outset he was anti-Nazi and, on many occasions, defied Hitler's orders. His military skills were good; in France he beat Rommel to Cherbourg and on the Eastern Front he tried to relieve the German 6th Army in Stalingrad. It was in Italy where his reputation grew by safely evacuating German troops from Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica, a delicate matter because the Italians had changed sides. He defeated General Clark's forces at the Rapido battle fiasco, and he caused Cassino to become a serious hold up for the Allied advance north. It was he who willingly signed the surrender documents in Italy on 4 May 1945. His Christian beliefs meant there were no barbarities within his command, and he made lifelong friends with some occupied residents, helping to save lives from the dreaded SS, and the Italian partisans never attacked him because he had helped the helpless. He was a brilliant tactician, always with his troops on the frontline, and his anti-Nazi views were not a post-war justification but were widely known during the war years by friend and foe. Von Senger was never even considered for war crimes, and was granted the rare privilege of being allowed to explore the English countryside from the Bridgend PoW camp. Discover the life of a general who fought not just for victory, but for honour, compassion, and morality under the brutal Nazi regime. AUTHOR: Andrew Sangster has six degrees, in Law, Theology and four in history including his doctorate. An ordained priest, he has trespassed away from the Church to teaching and the study of history. He has taught in grammar schools and at Eton College, was a headmaster for some nine years and has assisted post-graduate students of history. He has more than twenty published history books both in the United Kingdom and overseas with some co-authored with Pier Paolo Battistelli, the well-known Italian historian. When not called for Church duties he studies the lesser-known aspects of modern history and plays chess for relaxation. 26 b/w illustrations
