Allied Image of the Wehrmacht

[Auceps]

Greetings!

I would like to ask, if anybody knows the literature and/or sources that deal with the image of the Wehrmacht among the Allies during the war, especially combatwise. So like, the analyze of how the combat qualities and achievements of the Wehrmacht were depicted in the contemporary Allied sources, were they acting 'good' or 'bad' on the battlefield in the eyes of the Anlgo-American troops, what were their 'weak points' etc.

Sorry, if the question has already been asked in another topic or forum.

Thanks in advance!

Regards,
Auceps

[stg 44]

A good start would be the Lone Sentry website, which reproduces US wartime intelligence reports on Axis forces:
http://www.lonesentry.com/articles/ttt0 ... llery.html

[steevh]

I think you'll find the different Allies had very different views of what they thought of the Wehrmacht.

In the West, I think they generally had a very healthy respect for their fighting abilities and general adherence to the 'Rules of War'. Which was why certain actions, such as the massacre at Malmedy, or Goering's order to shoot allied pilots, caused such a stink.
Also why troops would be willing to surrender to the Germans. They were regarded as being essentially 'civilized', unlike the Japanese. Also, this was before knowledge of the Holocaust was general.

On the Ost Front the Soviet attitude was entirely different -- after 1941, surrender to the Germans was only undertaken with the greatest trepidation as prisoners could expect to be either massacred or given barbarous treatment. So a mix of respect, fear and hatred.