Die Eiserne Faust : Bildband und Chrink der 17. SS - Panzergrenadierdivision Götz Von Berlichingen by Stöber, Hans - 1966

Neckargemünd: Kurt Vowinckel Verlag, 1966. First edition. Hardcover. Very good/good. Octavo (standard size). Slight wear to edges and corners of boards, more so to dust jacket, with a tear at top front right. 108 p. w/ b&w illus., maps, appendices including table of organization. Formed in late 1943 with many Romanian Germans and French volunteers. Still understrength and under-armored, the unit was ordered against the D-Day landings, fighting US pararoopers. It fought in the hedgerow country with the Fallschirmjaegers, during COBRA, Mortain, and the Falaise Pocket. Refitted, the division fought at Metz, rereating slowly toward the German border, only being able to refit again when the Bale of he Bulge forced American units in the south into a defensive posture. After taking part in Operation NORDWIND, the last German offensive in the West, before fighting defensively through Germany. Though not noted in he book, at the end of the war this unit was involved in the infamous Battle for Castle Itter, when the SS attempted to capture and kill high ranking French political prisoners (including 2 former French prime ministers) and various East European maintenance workers. German and American soldiers fought alongside French prisoners until additional American reinforcements ended the battle.