Hot Motors, Cold Feet

This book is sub-titled; A Memoir of Service with the Motorcycle Battalion of SS Division "Reich" 1940 - 1941. This is an exciting personal account of front-line service with the motorcycle battalion of SS-Division "Reich" from 1940 until late 1941.The author initially served as a messenger and eventually as a squad leader in the Balkans Campaign and subsequently the invasion of Russia - Operation Barbarossa - until the retreat from Moscow. He was evacuated in late December 1941 with severe frostbite to both feet. Helmut Günther is quite a character and a natural storyteller, who writes in a very compelling style. His story is riveting, and in many cases very amusing, as he and his comrades manhandle their 600cc BMW and NSU motorcycles through some of the roughest terrain and toughest combat imaginable. This is a revealing look at what it was really like to serve in the original SS division. Many of the officers the author served with, such as Klingenberg and Tychsen, later became well-known SS commanders. Includes over 110 black and white photographs - many previously unpublished.