This is a Bibliography of World War II memoirs and autobiographies. This list aims to include
memoirs written by participants of World War II about their wartime experience, as well as larger
autobiographies of participants of World War II that are at least partially concerned with the author's wartime experience. Works on this list should be all those primary accounts of World War II wartime experience intended for publication. The list does not aim to include diaries, private letter collections or transcripts of private conversations. It also should not include any prewar writings, setting the earliest dates of publication available for this list at 1937 (
Second Sino-Japanese War), 1939 (
European theater of World War II) and 1941 (
Pacific War), depending on geographic context.
Entries are listed primarily by the professional background, then secondarily by national background. The professional background is shown in the context of World War II and does not pay attention to prior or later assignment; for instance,
Dwight D. Eisenhower is listed as a general, not as a political leader.
Meadows, Maureen C. (1948). I loved those Yanks. Sydney: Dash. — Australian woman's recollection about the presence of U.S. troops in Australia during the war
France
Beauvoir, Simone de (1963). La Force des Choses [The Force of Things] (in French). Paris: Gallimard.
Germany
Hillers, Marta (2005). A Woman in Berlin. London: Virago.
de Gaulle, Charles (1968). The Complete War Memoirs of Charles de Gaulle. Vol. 1–3. Translated by Griffin, Jonathan; Howard, Richard. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Germany
Balck, Hermann (1981). Order in Chaos: The Memoirs of General of Panzer Troops Hermann Balck. The University Press of Kentucky.
ISBN9780813161266.
Bayerlein, Fritz H. (1952). German Experiences in Desert Warfare during World War II. US Army Military History Institute.
Below, Nicolaus v. (1980). Als Hitler's Adjutant, 1937–1945 [At Hitler's Side: The Memoirs of Hitler's Luftwaffe Adjutant, 1937–1945] (in German). Mainz: Hase & Koehler.
Dönitz, Karl (1958). Zehn Jahre und zwanzig Tage: Erinnerungen 1935–1945 (in German). Pegasus Digital Publishing.
ISBN9783763751860.
Heusinger, Adolf (1950). Befehl im Widerstreit: Schicksalsstunden der deutschen Armee [Conflicts over Orders: Hours of fate of the German Army] (in German). Rainer Wunderlich Verlag.
Keitel, Wilhelm (2000) [1965]. Gorlitz, Walter (ed.). The Memoirs of Field-Marshal Wilhelm Keitel: Chief of the German High Command 1938–1945. Cooper Square Press.
ISBN9781461661153.
Kesselring, Albert (1953). Soldat bis zum letzten Tag [Soldier until the Last Day] (in German). Athenäum.
Schmidt, Heinz Werner (1951). With Rommel in the Desert. George G. Harrap & Co.
Senger und Etterlin, Fridolin v. (1963). Neither Fear nor Hope: The Wartime Career of General Frido von Senger und Etterlin, Defender of Cassino. Translated by Malcolm, George. London: Macdonald.
Stahlberg, Alexander (1987). Die Verdammte Pflicht: Erinnerungen 1932 bis 1945 [Damned Duty: Memories 1932–1945] (in German). Ullstein.
ISBN3548331297.
Sosabowski, Stanislaw (2014) [1960]. Freely I Served: The Memoir of the Commander, 1st Polish Independent Parachute Brigade 1941–1944. Pen & Sword Books.
ISBN9781783462612.
Soviet Union
Chukov, Vasili (1964). The Battle for Stalingrad: The Story of World War II's Greatest Battle as told by the Russian Commander at Stalingrad. Ballantine Books.
Auchinleck, Claude (1946). Despatch on Operations in the Middle East From 5th July, 1941 to 31st October 1941. London: War Office. (
"No. 37695". The London Gazette (Supplement). 20 August 1946. pp. 4215–4230.)
Harris, Arthur (1947). Bomber Offensive. London: Collins.
Wavell, Archibald (1946). Despatch on Operations in the Middle East From 7th February, 1941 to 15th July 1941. London: War Office. (
"No. 37638". The London Gazette (Supplement). 3 July 1946. pp. 3423–3444.)
——— (1946). Despatch on Operations in Iraq, East Syria and Iran from 10th April, 1941 to 12th January, 1942. London: War Office. (
"No. 37685". The London Gazette (Supplement). 13 August 1946. pp. 4093–4102.)
Bradley, Omar N. (1983). Blair, Clay (ed.). A General's Life: An Autobiography by General of the Army Omar N. Bradley. Simon & Schuster.
ISBN0671410237.
Robinett, Paul M. (1958). Armor Command: The Personal Story of a Commander of the 13th Armored Regiment of CCB, 1st Armored Division and of the Armored School during World War II. Washington DC.{{
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link)
Wainwright, Jonathan M. (1970). General Wainwright's story: the account of four years of humiliating defeat, surrender, and captivity. Westport (Conn./USA): Greenwood.
Military, other
Australia
Bennet Bremner, E. (1944). Front-Line Airway: The War Story of Qantas Empire Airways Ltd. Sydney: Angus & Robertson.
Chapman, Ivan (1958). Details Enclosed. Sydney: Angus & Robertson. — Australian prisoner-of-war in German camps.
Clark, Russell S. (1946). An End to Tears. Sydney: Huston. — Australian prisoner-of-war in Japanese camps.
Goodhart, David (1947). We of the Turning Tide. London: Preece. —
9th Australian Division soldier in North Africa.
Selby, David (1957). Hell and High Fever. London: Angus & Robertson. — Australian anti-aircraft battery commander during the 1942
Battle of Rabaul of the
2/22nd Battalion.
Canada
Heaps, Leo (1945). Escape from Arnhem: A Canadian among the lost Paratroops. London: Macmillan.
Mowat, Farley (1973). The Regiment. Toronto: McClelland. — first-hand account by a Canadian veteran of the
Hastings and Prince Edward Regiment
France
Calmel, Jean (1955). Night Pilot. London: Kimber. — French airman who later served in the Royal Air Force.
Germany
Altner, Helmut (2002). Berlin: Dance of Death. Translated by Le Tissier, Tony. Havertown, Penn.: Casemate.
Dibold, Hans (2001). Doctor at Stalingrad. Littleton, Colorado: Aberdeen Publishing.
Einsiedel, Heinrich Graf von; Wieder, Joachim (1998). Stalingrad: Memories and Reassessments. New York: Sterling Publishing.
Hagen, Louis (1945). Arnhem Lift: The Diary of a Glider Pilot. London: Pilot.
Karaka, Dosoo F. (1945). With the 14th Army. London: Crisp.
Leslie, Anita (1948). A Train to Nowhere: An Ambulance Driver's Adventures on Four Fronts. London: Hutchinson.
MacDonald, John Forrest (1957). Abyssinian Adventure. Cassell.
Myers, Bessy (1941). Captured: My Experiences as an Ambulance Driver and as a Prisoner of the Nazis. London: Harrap.
Pereira, Jocelyn (1948). A Distant Drum: War Memories of the Intelligence Officer of the 5th Battalion Coldstream Guards, 1944–45. Aldershot: Gale & Polden.
Rainier, Peter W. (1944). Pipeline to battle: an engineer's adventures with the Eighth Army. London: Heinemann.
Tucker, Francis I. S. (1963). Approach to battle: a commentary; Eighth Army, November 1941 to May 1943. London: Cassell.
United States
Abraham, Abie (1971). Ghost of Bataan speaks. New York: Vantage.
Andrews, Ernest A.; Hurt, David B. (2022). A Machine Gunner's War: From Normandy to Victory with the 1st Infantry Division in World War II. Philadelphia & Oxford: Casemate.
ISBN978-1636241043.
Bond, Harold L. (1964). Return to Cassino: A Memoir of the Fight for Rome. London: Dent.
Burgett, Donald (1967). Currahee! 'We Stand Alone!': A Paratrooper's Account of the Normandy Invasion. London: Hutchinson.
Carter, Ross S. (1951). Those Devils in Baggy Pants. New York: Appleton.
Cartwright, Reginald (1941). Mercy and Murder: An American Ambulance Driver's Experiences in Finland, Norway and France. London: Iliffe.
Dyess, William E. (1944). Dyess Story: The Eye-Witness Account of the Death March from Bataan [UK title: "Death March from Bataan"]. New York: Putnam.
Fussell, Paul (1989). Wartime: Understanding and Behavior in the Second World War. New York: Oxford University Press.
Geer, Andrew (1943). Mercy in Hell: An American Ambulance Driver with the Eighth Army. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Redmond Hipps, Juanita (1943). I served on Bataan. Philadelphia: Lippincott.
Levering, Robert W. (1948). Horror Trek: A True Story of Bataan, the Death March and three years in Japanese Prison Camps. Mount Vernon (Ohio, USA): Levering.
Miller, Ernest B. (1949). Bataan Uncensored. Long Prairie (Minn./USA): Hart.
Thomas, Evan W. (1943). An Ambulance in Africa. New York: Appleton.
Political leaders; politicians; heads of state; diplomats
France
Bidault, Georges (1965). D'une résistance a l'autre [Resistance: The Political Autobiography of Georges Bidault] (in French). Paris: Les Presses du Siécle.
de Gaulle, Charles (1968). The Complete War Memoirs of Charles de Gaulle. Vol. 1–3. Translated by Griffin, Jonathan; Howard, Richard. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Berezkhov, Valentin (1994). At Stalin's Side: His Interpreter's Memoirs From the October Revolution to the Fall of the Dictator's Empire. Seacaucus, N.J.: Carol Pub. Group.
Berezkhov, Valentin (1983). History in the Making: Memoirs of World War II Diplomacy. Moscow: Progress Publishers.