Bruno Bork, tells the tale with words and pictures of the mobile artillery unit StuG III of the 191st Brigade in action in the Eastern Theatre. The tragic invasion of foreign lands by the aggressive yet imminently capable unit is a microcosm of the German military during World War Two.

Author Bruno Bork published the book “StuG III Brigade 191, 1940–1945: The Buffalo Brigade in Action in the Balkans, Greece and from Moscow to Kursk and Sevastopol” at the end of November.

I received an ARC of this book through https://www.netgalley.com in return for a fair and honest review. I categorize this book as ‘R’ because of scenes of violence.

This book tells the story of Brigade 191, the ‘Buffalo Brigade’. This was an independent unit of the Wehrmacht assigned where they were most needed. The 191 manned the Sturmgeschütz III (StuG III) assault gun. While the StuG was based upon the Panzer III chassis, the StuGs were part of the Artillery and not the Panzers.

The unit participated in the invasion of Russia in 1941, then later that year saw action in Greece. They were part of the advance through Ukraine to the outskirts of Moscow. In 1942 they saw heavy action across Voronezh, Kursk, the Caucasus, and Kuban. As the Russians advanced towards the West beginning in 1943, the 191 saw action on the Kertsch Peninsula and the Crimea. They retreated through the Balkans and finally surrendered to US forces in Austria in May of 1945.

The book is authored by members of the unit and relies heavily on their unit war diary. It covers five years of combat, mostly against Russian troops. The story is told at a high level without a lot of details of battles fought.

I enjoyed the 11+ hours I spent reading this 368-page WWII history. I found this telling from a German perspective very interesting. Several photos taken during the deployment of the 191st are included in the book. I like the cover art. I rate this book as a 3.8 out of 5.

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An outstanding look at the soldiers and hardships faced by the German army during the Second World War. The first hand accounts make for an riveting story and the action will keep you interested. A great read.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.