Books - Devil's Guard

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	Books - Devil's Guard

The 1971 publication, Devil's Guard, by George Robert Elford, is the story of a former German Waffen-SS officer's string of near-constant combat that begins on World War II's eastern front and continues into the book's focus--the First Indochina War, as an officer in the French Foreign Legion. There is also a similarly named, but unrelated, book called the Devil's Guard by Talbot Mundy.

Overview

The book's anti-communist overtone is set in the opening chapter and is evident in one of the opening statements referring to the communist Viet Minh, "we met the real subhumans in Indochina." The constant justification of SS atrocities, compared to those perpetrated by the Allied powers--as well as the almost-unbelievable fighting ability of the characters--has led some left-wing critics to denounce Devils Guard as Neo-Nazi propaganda. The story is told in the words of "Hans Josef Wagemueller," who fights as an officer in the Waffen-SS during the Second World War. The story begins with the capitulation of Germany in 1945, while Wagemueller is fighting the Red Army and partisans near Czechoslovakia. Wagemueller escapes the Allied powers in post-war Europe by fighting his way west and using underground connections to reach France, where he joins the Foreign Legion. Wagemueller reunites with two former sergeants from his former German unit, Bernard Eisner and Erich Schulze, and is sent to French Indochina. In Indochina, Wagemueller and his comrades are incorporated into mixed Legion units that included many French territorial troops. However, under the command of French Colonel Simon Houssong, Wagmueller is put in command of an all-German battalion (around 900 troops) comprised of former Nazi troops who, like Wagemueller, fled to the Legion. Their mission is to disrupt the Viet Minh in their rear supply areas, far from cities and French-controlled zones. For more than three years, the battalion runs a highly-successful and brutal guerilla war against the insurgent Viet Minh across northern Indochina, Laos and southern China. In one such case, "the battalion of the Damned" escorts a supply column north through enemy-held territory by forcing Viet Minh prisoners and family members to ride in the column's trucks, tanks and jeeps to insure safe passage. In other situations, poison, torture and natural resources are used.

Fact or Fiction?

It is debatable as to whether or not the book is exaggerated fact, or outright fiction. The book is presented by Elford, as the words of Wagemueller, who lived in east Asia at time of the book's publication. In the preamble, Elford claims to have met the man and arranged for him to dictate the events of his military life into a microphone over 18 days. It is documented that ex-SS soldiers both joined the French Foreign Legion and fought in the French Indochina War, although the book's claim that a unit comprised solely of Germans is unsupported by evidence presented by many Legion historians, records and books (such as Bernard Fall's Hell in a Very Small Place and Street Without Joy) on the French Indochina War. Skeptics have stated that the "Nazi's in Indochina" myth came from communist bloc sources during the war. Elford claims his only contribution to the book is in the capacity of an editor, changing the names of soldiers and military verbiage. Critics however, point to the fact that much of the military power possessed by the characters is anachronistic, the SS seems to have almost superhuman-fighting ability and the heavy anti-communist dialogue (as well as supposed war crimes being committed by whosoever the protagonists kill en masse). The access to military records should also allow for the exact tracing of units in which Wagemueller and his comrades served, but only the name of Wagemueller's unit in eastern Europe, the 21st Special Partisanjaeger Commando, is mentioned in Devil's Guard. Supporters point to the fact that Elford is following Wagemueller's request that his details not be made traceable. Critics also point to the serialization of the book (it spawned two sequels, despite the fact the original ended near the end of the war, at Dien Bien Phu in 1954).

Popularity

In recent years, the demand for the book has far outstripped supply and a used copy would typically fetch EUR/USD100 (around £60) on eBay, Amazon.com or other auctioneer. Hailer Publishing began reprinting Devil's Guard, Devil's Guard II: Recall to Inferno (1988) and Devil's Guard III: Unconditional Warfare (1991), in 2005.

Main characters

Horst Altreiter, Bernard Eisner, Simon Houssong, Rudolf Krebitz, Karl Pfirstenhammer, Helmut Riedl, Victor Schenk, Erich Schulze, Han Josef Wagemueller, Gia Xuey

Devil's Guard series

1971 Devil's Guard
1988 Devil's Guard II: Recall to Inferno
1991 Devil's Guard III: Unconditional Warfare

Links

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