‘
Britain went to war
’, ‘
And how many divisions
’:
ibid.
, pp. 309–10
‘
the flood of Bolshevism
’: quoted Roberts,
Masters and Commanders
, p. 527
‘
You know the Russians
’: quoted Detlef Vogel, ‘Der Deutsche Kriegsalltag im Spiegel von Feldpostbriefen’, in Detlef Vogel and Wolfram Wette (eds),
Andere Helme–Andere Menschen? Heimaterfahrung und Frontalltag im Zweiten Weltkrieg
, Essen, 1995, pp. 48–9
‘
Bismarckian style
’, ‘
It was fought in brilliant
’: GBP, 4.10.44
‘
At that time
’:
ibid.
‘malevolent appearance of a defeated city
’:
ibid.
‘
I don’t get it
’:
ibid.
‘
The American patrol leader
’: GBP, 20.10.44
‘
large blank-faced women
’:
ibid.
‘
Lithuanians hate us
’: Efraim Genkin in Altman (ed.),
Sokhrani moi pisma
, pp. 276–82
‘
The Special Detachment
’: Mikhail Petrovich Chebikin,
http://www.iremember.ru/pekhotintsi/chebikin-mikhail-petrovich/
‘
What will have happened
’: San.O’Gefr. Hans W., 2.Kriegslaz./Kriegslaz. Abt.529(R), 30.7.44, BfZ-SS 24 231
‘
Most of them had no desire
’:
http://iremember.ru/pekhotintsi/avrotinskiyefim-mironovich.html
‘
The Hungarians were actually
’: Efim Mironovich Avrotinskii,
http://iremember.ru/pekhotintsi/avrotinskiy-efim-mironovich.html
For the Nazis’ Budapest coup, see Kershaw,
Hitler, 1936-1945: Nemesis
, pp. 734–7
‘
In the name of Christ–Fire
!’: Krisztián Ungváry,
Battle for Budapest: 100 Days in World War II
, London, 2010, p. 241
Persecution and attempts to save Jews in Budapest
:
ibid.
, pp. 236–52
Revolt in Cologne
: Ian Kershaw,
The End: Hitler’s Germany, 1944–45
, London, 2011, p. 149
60 per cent of all bombs dropped on Germany after July 1944
: ibid., p. 79
‘
only became insurmountable
’: ibid., p. 134
‘
The prayer for our Führer
’: quoted Vogel, ‘Der Deutsche Kriegsalltag im Spiegel von Feldpostbriefen’, in Vogel and Wette (eds),
Andere Helme–Andere Menschen?
, p. 47
‘
At 05.15, the artillery preparation
’: Blumenson (ed.),
The Patton Papers
, vol. ii, p. 571
‘
The whole damn company
’: Bradley,
A Soldier’s Story
, pp. 430–1
‘
an eerie haunting region
’: Russell F. Weigley,
Eisenhower’s Lieutenants
, Bloomington, Ind., 1990, p. 365
allotment of replacements
: Bradley,
A Soldier’s Story
, p. 438
‘
Squads and platoons
’: quoted Paul Fussell,
The Boys’ Crusade
, New York, 2003, p. 87
‘
two thousand-year stare
’: Ellis,
The Sharp End
, p. 252
Casualties in the Hürtgen Forest
: see Fussell,
The Boys’ Crusade
, p. 83
‘
It probably won’t be ours
’: Bradley,
A Soldier’s Story
, p. 433
53rd (Welsh) Division in Reichswald
: Ellis,
The Sharp End
, p. 169
‘
Communist dressed up as a marshal
’: de Gaulle,
Mémoires de guerre
, vol. iii:
Le Salut, 1944–1946
, p. 61
‘
One never ceases to be Polish
’: Hervé Alphand,
L’Étonnement d’être: journal, 1939–1973
, Paris, 1977, p. 180
43: The Ardennes and Athens
‘
GI’s in their zest for
’: Bradley,
A Soldier’s Story
, p. 428
Bormann at Ziegenberg
: Kershaw,
The End
, p. 145
‘
Where in the hell
’: Chester B. Hansen, diary 17.12.44, Hansen Papers, USAMHI
‘Fine, we should open up
’: Butcher,
Three Years with Eisenhower
, p. 613
‘
a diversion for a larger
’, ‘everything depends’: GBP, 17/12/44
‘
We’re packing up
’: conversation with M. R. D. Foot, 2.12.09
‘
manure-filled, waterlogged villages
’: Blumenson (ed.),
The Patton Papers
, vol. ii, 9.12.44, p. 589
‘
When can you attack
?’:
ibid.
, pp. 599–600
‘
Well, Brad, those are
’: quoted Crosswell,
Beetle
, p. 816
‘
like Christ come to
’: quoted Hamilton,
Montgomery: Master of the Battle-field
, p. 213
‘
chestnut pulling expedition
’, ‘
Destiny sent for me
’: letter 21.12.44, Blumenson (ed.),
The Patton Papers
, vol. ii, p. 603
782 German corpses
: Harold R. Winton,
Corps Commanders of the Bulge
, Lawrence, Kan., 2007, p. 135
‘
a clear cold Christmas
’: Blumenson (ed.),
The Patton Papers
, vol. ii, 25.12.44, p. 606
‘
the American Luftwaffe
’: Ellis,
The Sharp End
, p. 72
Bodenplatte
: Winton,
Corps Commanders of the Bulge
, pp. 213–15
‘
It looks to me as if
’: Alanbrooke,
War Diaries
, 23–30.12.44, p. 638
‘
suggested that de Gaulle
’: DCD, 4.1.45
‘
discussed all the evils of Monty’s press interview
’: Alanbrooke,
War Diaries
, 8.1.45, p. 644
‘
to face geopolitical realities
’: Mazower,
Inside Hitler’s Greece
, p. 268; events in Greece described here are mainly based on Mazower’s excellent account
‘
resembled a besieged outpost
’: Hastings,
Finest Years
, p. 536
‘
three shabby desperados
’:
ibid.
, p. 537
here
For the suffering of Belgium in the late autumn and winter of 1944, see Hitchcock,
Liberation
, pp. 64–9
Belgian civilians in the Ardennes
: see
ibid.
, pp. 81–90
Conditions in Holland
:
ibid.
, pp. 98–122; Collingham,
The Taste of War
, pp. 175–9
‘
For the attacking Canadians
’: quoted Ellis,
The Sharp End
, p. 363
‘
psychological dependence upon
’: Max Hastings,
Armageddon: The Battle for Germany, 1944–45
, London, 2007, p. 171
44: From the Vistula to the Oder
‘
Thank God that
’: BA-MA MSg 2/5275 v. 1.6.40
‘
The young soldier
’: György Thuróczy,
Kropotov nem tréfál
, Debrecen, 1993, p. 103
‘
destroyed ten times
’: quoted Ungváry,
Battle for Budapest
, London, 2010, p. 32. Ungváry’s account of the siege is the best and most reliable
‘
The bridges remained constantly
’: Hans Bayer,
Kavelleriedivisionen der Waffen-SS
, Heidelberg, 1980, p. 347
‘
It was a girl
’: Dénes Vass, quoted Ungváry,
Battle for Budapest
, p. 141
‘
Some streets must be guessed at
’: Sándor Márai, ‘Budai séta’, in
Budapest
, Dec. 1945, p. 96, quoted
ibid.
, p. 234
here
Wallenberg and Katy
: Ungváry,
Battle for Budapest
, p. 281; arrest by SMERSh and execution: Beria,
Beria, my Father
, pp. 111, 336
‘In many places they are raping women
’: László Deseodiary, quoted Ungváry,
Battle for Budapest
, p. 234; see also Rees,
World War II behind Closed Doors
, pp. 322–9
‘
70 percent of women
’: quoted Ungváry,
Battle for Budapest
, p. 285
‘
rampant, demented hatred
’: quoted
ibid.
, p. 287
‘
no women and no booty
’: Zolotov,
Zapiski minomyotchika
, pp. 187–8
‘
didn’t think that was quite
’: Alexander,
The Alexander Memoirs
, pp. 132–3
‘
This mission
’: Guderian,
Panzer Leader
, p. 420
‘
heavy rain and wet snow
’: RGVA 38680/1/3, p. 40
‘
All the roads were filled with old people
: Rabichev,
Voina vsyo spishet, vospominaniya ofitsera-svyazista
, pp. 193–5
‘
Russian soldiers were raping
’: Natalya Gesse in Richard Lourie (ed.),
Russia Speaks: An Oral History from the Revolution to the Present
, New York, 1991, pp. 254–5
‘
barracks eroticism
’: Yuri Polakov quoted in Igor Kon,
Sex and Russian Society
, Bloomington, Ind., 1993, p. 26
‘
A criminal is always a criminal
’: Nikolai Abramovich Vinokur,
http://www.iremember.ru/mediki/vinokur-nikolay-abramovich
‘
The entire contents
’: Rabichev,
Voina vsyo spishet, vospominaniya ofitserasvyazista
, p. 143
‘
tumultuous market
’: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn,
Prussian Nights
, New York, 1983, p. 67
‘
Germans abandoned everything
’: letters from Efraim Genkin to his family, 22.1.45, in Altman (ed.),
Sokhrani moi pisma
, p. 321
Departure from Auschwitz
: Hilberg,
The Destruction of the European Jews
, p. 254
here
Kuri
owicz in Auschwitz report by Shikin: 9.2.45, RGASPI 17/125/323, pp. 1–4
‘
around four million people
’: BA-B R55/616, p. 158
‘
They were cowards
’: Tkachenko of SMERSh to Beria, GARF 9401/2/93, p. 324
‘
Our tanks have ironed
’: VCD, 23.1.45
‘
Everything is on fire
’: Grossman papers, RGALI 1710/3/51, p. 231
‘
All this provides
’: RGASPI 17/125/314, pp. 40–5
‘
We drove closer to Berlin
’: VCD, 31.1.45
45: Philippines, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, Tokyo Raids
The race for Manila
: Spector,
Eagle against the Sun
, pp. 520–3
‘
Conscription comes
’: Charles F. Romanus and Riley Sunderland,
The United States Army in World War II: The China –Burma–India Theater
, vol. iii, Washington, DC, 1959, p. 369
Arrival of 37th Division in Indochina
: Kawano,
here
‘Japanese Combat Morale’, in Peattie, Drea and van de Ven,
The Battle for China
, p. 328
For Indochina in 1944 and 1945
, see Gary R. Hess, ‘Franklin Roosevelt and Indochina’,
Journal of American History
, vol. 59, no. 2, Sept. 1972; Ralph B. Smith, ‘The Japanese Period in Indochina and the Coup of 9 March, 1945’,
Journal of Southeast Asian Studies
, vol. 9, no. 2, Sept. 1978; Collingham,
The Taste of War
, pp. 240–2
Navy fighter pilots playing bridge
: Toshio Hijikata, quoted Hastings,
Nemesis
, pp. xxiii–xxiv
‘precision’ bombing
: Biddle,
Rhetoric and Reality in Air Warfare
, p. 268
‘
Stay Alive in ’45
’: Swift,
Bomber County
, p. 99
‘
Rock slides were tumbled
’: Ellis,
The Sharp End
, p. 82
‘
The raising of that flag
’: quoted George W. Garand and Truman R. Stro-bridge,
History of US Marine Corps Operations in World War II
, vol. iv:
Western Pacific Operations
, Washington, DC, 1971, p. 542