The images and the entire text used on this and all other USMBOOKS web pages are the copyrighted property of USM Inc.  Those images and the text may be used by others ONLY AFTER completion of a formal international licensing agreement and payment of a licensing fee! It is therefore, illegal for anyone to take any of the material found on USMBOOKS.com and use it for their own purposes without our written permission, irrespective of any excuse they may feel they have for doing so.

NAZI UNIT HISTORY PHOTO BOOK OF A MOTORIZED MACHINE GUN COMPANY THAT PARTICIPATED THE INVASION OF FRANCE IN MAY-JUNE 1940

Text and images copyright © 2024 by USM, Inc.

Above, the author of this book Obergefreiter Rudolf Zaltenbach.

This rare 1940 War Chronicle was produced as a Christmas gift by and for men of the small 3rd Machine Gun Battalion, a motorized company (3. (M.G. Schtz.) M.G. Batl. 5 (mot.) highlighting their significant part in the German invasion of France in 1940.

In his November 1940 foreword, author Obergefreiter Rudolf Zaltenbach (shown left) explains this War Chronicle is not only about military victory but more about comradeship and experiences of a small machine gun outfit in the larger scheme of things. Nameless soldiers who did more than simply fulfill their duty but who were fighters for German destiny during the first war year.

The book shines a light on experiences of men who marched “next to you and me”, who faced dangerous enemy artillery during the invasion of France. Battle experiences, but also experiences such as arriving in Paris as one of the first German outfits, attacking stubborn resistance near Louis XIV’s grandiose castle at Amboise on the Loire river, fighting from ancient stone farm to farm amidst beautiful scenery while hearing screaming cattle.

Above, Unteroffizier Osberghaus who is referred to as Unser Knipser or Our Photographer.

Above, pictures of the MG 42 Nazi machine gun, "our feared weapon"..

The pre-war photos in this Illustrierte Kriegschronik include military training situations but also personal pictures of the first baby of the Kompaniechef, bunker life at the Westwall, Organisation Todt trucks on the Reichsautobahn, helping out with the wine harvest while stationed on the Mosel river, War Christmas 1939, reveille on New Years Day 1940, etc.

The complete OKW announcement about the battle of France and armistice at Compiègne of 3 July 1940 is in this book as well as overall casualty numbers and statistics for the 3rd Machine Gun Battalion. A map of France shows war advances from 10 May through 24 June 1940 and the occupied area of France.

There is a list of men of the 3. M.G., Batl. 5 who received the Iron Cross and War Merit Cross, another page lists the outfit’s dead by name and date, and yet another those who were wounded. The last few pages of the book show the men enjoying R & R near the city of Poitiers after the fighting had ended.

Illustrierte Kriegschronik der 3. (M.G. Schtz.) M.G. Batl. 5 (mot.) im ersten Kriegsjahr 1939-40 is dedicated to Kompaniechef Hauptmann Walter Gruber who also wrote the preface. The rare 7 x 10 inch grey linen hardcover book has 128 heavily illustrated pages and starts with the mobilization of the 3. M.G., Batl. 5 at Offenburg in August of 1939 and training of the troops, followed by movement towards the French border after “France and England declared war”. The outfit was stationed at the Westwall just across the border with Strasbourg. They lived in RAD barracks and helped fortify the border.

In the fall of 1939 the machine gun outfit was transferred to the Mosel area near Trier where war training and preparations got serious until fighting began in May 1940.

Illustrierte Kriegschronik der 3. (M.G. Schtz.) M.G. Batl. 5 (mot.) im ersten Kriegsjahr 1939-40 was published by Verlag Franz Burda of Offenburg in 1940 in a very small edition for a small unit. It is a rare Third Reich book!

This nearly 85 year old example is complete and while the linen cover is somewhat stained and shows wear, the content is in very good condition. The book has no odor.

The 3. M.G., Batl. 5 were part of advanced Wehrmacht troops entering Paris and there are pictures of the Arc de Triomphe, soldiers resting near the Place Vendome, barricaded streets, the Eiffel Tower and even a Fieseler Storch that landed on the Place de la Concorde, and soldiers shaving in the street but also visiting the palace at Versailles.

The images in this book taken during the fighting in May and June 1940 are not found in other World War II German books about the Westfeldzug. Machine gun emplacements (“our feared weapon”), OT troops at Longwy, Wehrmacht motorcycle troops taking a catnap, soldiers mending their uniforms, refugees, troops on the move at Sedan on the Maas river, Luftwaffe planes in action during the Battle of Sedan, deserted Maginot Line bunkers, French PAK guns, Nazi soldiers milking cows and killing a pig, Poilu prisoners, destroyed French tanks, soldier field burials and graves, temporary field headquarters, the famous gothic cathedral at Amiens, heavy battle damage (“the impact of German weapons”), even a war correspondent photo of General der Panzertruppen Guderian in the field.