Opening Moves

All map work is original, save for the Château outline which derives from a public domain handout.

If I have missed anyone or any agency I apologise and promise to rectify the omission at the earliest opportunity.

Author’s note

The correlation between the Allied and Soviet forces is difficult to assess for a number of reasons.

Neither side could claim that their units were all at full strength, and information on the relevant strengths over the period this book is set in is limited as far as the Allies are concerned and relatively non-existent for the Soviet forces.

I have had to use some licence regarding force strengths and I hope that the critics will not be too harsh with me if I get things wrong in that regard. A Soviet Rifle Division could vary in strength from the size of two thousand men to be as high as nine thousand men, and in some special cases could be even more.

Indeed, the very names used do not help the reader to understand unless they are already knowledgeable.

A prime example is the Corps. For the British and US forces, a Corps was a collection of Divisions and Brigades directly subservient to an Army. A Soviet Corps, such as the 2nd Guards Tank Corps, bore no relation to a unit such as British XXX Corps. The 2nd G.T.C. was a Tank Division by another name and this difference in ‘naming’ continues to the Soviet Army, which was more akin to the Allied Corps.

The Army Group was mirrored by the Soviet Front.

Going down from the Corps, the differences continue, where a Russian rifle division should probably be more looked at as the equivalent of a US Infantry regiment or British Infantry Brigade, although this was not always the case. The decision to leave the correct nomenclature in place was made early on. In that, I felt that those who already possess knowledge would not become disillusioned, and that those who were new to the concept could acquire knowledge that would stand them in good stead when reading factual accounts of WW2.

There are also some difficulties encountered with ranks. Some readers may feel that a certain battle would have been left in the command of a more senior rank, and the reverse case where Seniors seem to have few forces under their authority. Casualties will have played their part but, particularly in the Soviet Army, seniority and rank was a complicated affair, sometimes with Colonels in charge of Divisions larger than those commanded by a General.

It is easier for me to attach a chart to give the reader a rough guide of how the ranks equate.

^Fig#1

Book Dedication

‘Opening Moves’ is dedicated to a man who exhibited the very highest level of courage and bravery under fire in one of the truly exceptional stories of World War Two.

I cannot begin to comprehend the metal of a man who exposes himself to enemy fire holding nothing more than a set of bagpipes. So to you, Piper Bill Millin, my humble admiration and thanks for your service. May you rest as peacefully as your love of the Pipes will permit.

Although I never served in the Armed forces, I wore a uniform with pride and carry my own long term injuries from the demands of my service. My admiration for our young servicemen and women serving in all our names in dangerous areas throughout the world is limitless.

As a result, ‘Help for Heroes’ is a charity that is extremely close to my heart. My fictitious characters carry no real-life heartache with them, whereas every news bulletin from the military stations abroad brings a terrible reality with its own impact, angst and personal challenges for those who wear our country’s uniform.

Therefore, I make regular donations to ‘Help for Heroes’ and would encourage you to do so too.

The Foreword

This is a work about men and their capacity to endure. I hope it is balanced and even, just telling how it was for the soldiers of both sides that fought and died in those troubled times. The references, evidences, and memories that I have been able to consult have been strangely both starkly detailed and sketchy in equal measure, possibly because the mind can be very selective when it wishes to be.

So I have tried as best I can to tie in personal contributions with the general military and political facts we all now accept. I admit that I have tried to tell little of the politics, save those details that I have considered essential and concentrated upon using the personal details and evidence to weave the story of those awful times in a way that best shows the reader what incredible men all our grandfathers were.

It is a fact that bravery knows no national boundaries and that the other side always have their honourable and courageous men too. I hope that I have reflected that and done due honour to all those about whom I have written here.