Devil's Adjutant

Hitler's last great thrust to the west, the Ardennes offensive, was spearheaded by an elite panzer force under Colonel Jochen Peiper, one of Germany's most daring and charismatic field commanders. Reynolds traces Peiper's doomed campaign throughout the Battle of the Bulge to the moment when his tanks ran dry in Belgium on Christmas Eve, 1944. Included is a fresh review of the Malmedy massacre, perpetrated by Peiper's men against American POWs, presenting the incident from the German viewpoint. This ``good-looking darling of the Third Reich'' served for three years as First Military Adjutant to SS chief Heinrich Himmler before his appointment to field command (thus the book's title). Here, for the first time, is an account of Peiper's duties in that post and its influence on his style of command. The book concludes with an account of his 1946 war-crimes trial (his death sentence was later commuted) and the circumstances of his death in 1976 at the hands of unknown assassins. Major General Reynolds retired from the British Army in 1986. Illustrations. (July)