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Extremely rare (possibly the only) book-length account of a Soviet penal unit in World War II Gritty, intense style conveys the brutality of war on the Eastern Front
Composed of convicts—soldiers who conducted "unauthorized retreats," former Soviet POWs deemed untrustworthy, and Gulag prisoners—the Red Army's penal units received the most difficult, dangerous assignments, such as breaking through the enemy's defenses. So punishing was life in these units that officers in regular formations threatened to send recalcitrant troops to penal battalions. Alexander Pyl'cyn led his penal unit through the Soviets' massive offensive in the summer of 1944, the Vistula-Oder operation into eastern Germany, and the bitter assault on Berlin in 1945. He survived the war, but 80 percent of his men did not.
| Price | Condition | Delivery | Seller | Action |
| $99.99 | Digital |
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Jimmy Donnel
reviewed Penalty Strike: The Memoirs of a Red Army Penal Company Commander, 1943-45 on April 08, 2013
Penalty Strike: The Memoirs of a Red Army Penal Company Commander, 1943-45
During World War II, there were special units in the Red Army made up criminals and others who had violated some law(s) of the Soviet state. These were known as Penal Battalions and members were usually sentenced to serve a certain amount of time, unless they shed blood for Mother Russia (fatally or otherwise), or proved themselves in combat with the Germans. The author was a commander in one of these battalions and saw a fair amount of action, being wounded three times and receiving several decorations for combat.
The book is fairly light on action, but still provides an interesting look into a relatively unknown type of unit, at least by Western standards. The Penal Battalions were often given dangerous assignments and sometimes treated as cannon fodder (there's an example of this in the book), and when it came time for glory or recognition they were not given any. Military decorations were extremely important to the members of the battalions as they were one of the ways they could be released from penal duty and returned to their original unit. Bone up on your Russian military awards as you'll read about quite a few in this book.
A good addition to any library of the war on the Eastern Front in World War II.
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Add Penalty Strike: The Memoirs of a Red Army Penal Company Commander, 1943-45, Extremely rare (possibly the only) book-length account of a Soviet penal unit in World War II Gritty, intense style conveys the brutality of war on the Eastern Front Composed of convicts—soldiers who conducted unauthorized retreats, former Soviet PO, Penalty Strike: The Memoirs of a Red Army Penal Company Commander, 1943-45 to the inventory that you are selling on WonderClubX
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Add Penalty Strike: The Memoirs of a Red Army Penal Company Commander, 1943-45, Extremely rare (possibly the only) book-length account of a Soviet penal unit in World War II Gritty, intense style conveys the brutality of war on the Eastern Front Composed of convicts—soldiers who conducted unauthorized retreats, former Soviet PO, Penalty Strike: The Memoirs of a Red Army Penal Company Commander, 1943-45 to your collection on WonderClub |