Out of the Rat Trap: Desert Adventures with Rommel

Max Reisch's story of his (spoiler alert) successful escape from Allied encirclement is an essential read for anyone who is a fan of the Desert War. Reisch was an adventurer and pioneering motorist prior to the war and carried his knowledge of vehicles and geography over to his role as a motor-pool technician and scrounger. I particularly enjoyed his description and assessment of some of the captured Allied vehicles that the Afrikakorps used for its own purposes. He especially liked the jeep, which the Germans called the flitzer and wrote that it was every German soldier's dream to get one. There isn't much fighting in this book - it is mostly about the fellowship of soldiers - but there is a very good description of a low level air battle that he witnessed over the sea.

Naturally I was immediately lured towards this book due to the "Rommel connection", after all it is rare to read first hand from one of his "Afrikaner"! Reisch is a natural author when portraying his own transport related escapades, but I feel he has missed a "trick" by not writing more about the unique conditions he and his comrades experienced during the war against the Allies. Still beggar's can't be chooser's, and it is still rewarding to read of his rare feat of escapology during the impending final defeat of the Axis forces in Africa.A word of thanks goes to the translator of his manuscript, and I dearly hope many more similar projects (translating of WW2 German memoirs) come to fruition very soon!

This book could have been so much better. Only one or two enemy engagements are actually mentioned. Most of the book details the gradual encirclement of the German forces, and the building/departure of Max in a small boat as he escapes the area. I don't think Rommel is mentioned once in this story.

We are so used to reading about the Second WW from the Allies perspective it is very refreshing to read about life from the other side especially when it is written in such an easy manner. The author would appear to be a very interesting character in his own right and it would fascinating to read about him.

A1