Cover Image: Task Force Baum

Task Force Baum

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Member Reviews

Captain Jim Curtis was captured by the German army the day he landed in the Ardennes forest, and in March 1945, he’s in a prisoner of war camp near Hammelburg, in Bavaria. Coming from different directions, the Russian and American armies are advancing into German held territory, and will they arrive in time to liberate the desperate POW’s?

Fifty miles away a task force has been quickly formed for a special mission, Captain Abe Baum is in charge, and the battle hardened veteran always follows orders. Supported by ten Sherman tanks and five light tanks, he sets off with three hundred poorly armed soldiers, and it doesn’t take long for things to start going wrong.

After seeing action in Russia and being in the German army for six years, and Hauptmann Richard Koehl is putting his entire and depleted force in danger. He wants to avenge the death of his sister Gerta, he’s disobeying orders by continuing to pursue to the American task force and he desperately wants to find them!

Task Force Baum is based on a true story, and real reason for the mission being kept secret for twenty years, was because Commander George S. Patton wanted his son-in-law Colonel John Waters rescued from the prisoner of war and it was hushed up. I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and Kensington Books in exchange for an honest review, it’s a fast paced story, full of military action, brutal battles, and tactical movements. I’m looking forward to reading James D. Shipman’s next book, Beyond the Wire, and I gave Task Force Baum four stars.

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Author James D. Shipman (https://www.james-shipman.com) published the novel “Task Force Baum” in 2019. Mr. Shipman has published six novels.

I categorize this novel as ‘R’ because it contains scenes of Violence. The story is set in March 1945 in Germany. The primary characters are a mix of Americans and Germans. While this is a novel of fiction, the event is part of history. Most of the characters in the novel are real people.

In the closing weeks of WWII General Patton sent a small force behind enemy lines to free prisoners held in a POW camp. This novel is a dramatization of that raid.

Task Force Baum had many things working against it. The force sent was too small, a reinforced company. Baum is leading merely 300 men on the mission. The intelligence on the POW camp was faulty. Though the end of the war was near the German troops resisted the American thrust.

I enjoyed the 8.5 hours I spent reading this 338-page historical fiction novel. This was a well-written novel that I think gives a good feel for the military on both sides. The majority of the events described are factual. While the cover art is a little dull, I do think it represents the plot of the novel. I give this novel a 4.5 (Rounded up to a 5) out of 5.

You can access more of my book reviews on my Blog ( https://johnpurvis.wordpress.com/blog/).

My book reviews are also published on Goodreads (https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/31181778-john-purvis).

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James D Shipman is among my list of must read authors. I have enjoyed his previous books and have been looking forward to reading this one. It is different than the others and I had a little hard time getting into it. I finally got hooked about the last half of it.
I give it three and a half stars.

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The novel is a war story, and a very good one. It has all the action, movement and planning of other great war novels. One big exception is the fact that it is a true incident occurring in the month prior to the cessation of hostilities with Germany. General George Patton commanding the troops in the area described makes a determination that his army is within striking distance of a POW internment camp. For reasons known only to him Patton sends a small armored force to take the camp, free the prisoners and bring them back to the American side. The general is under the impression that the camp is a relatively small one holding about 300 prisoners and they can be liberated by sending a force of about 500 men with several tanks to work there way about 50 miles into German held territory and accomplish the mission.
The captain commanding the force, Abraham Baum, tries to argue that it would be easier and faster to send a division size force with accompanying tanks to make the raid. General Patton disagrees stating that he has intelligence that the camp is held by only a few troops and sends off the raiding party as originally planned. Baum's group immediately runs into trouble when the German force turns out to be much larger and better equipped than thought.
Mr Shipman paints a well thought out and researched story of the actual fighting around the expedition and the German troops both stationed in the area as well as those guarding the camp. There is bravery and willingness to sacrifice on both sides. Soldiers are killed and wounded. There is a maniacal sargent involved in guarding the prisoners. The anguish felt by men that cannot leave the front to return home to face an emergency there is well described. And,of course, the constant fear of death or devastating wounds is always with the soldiers on both sides.
The question of what Patton had in mind when he ordered an undersized force into a situation that becomes almost impossible is brought out as well as the reactions of the Americans when they realize that they are in over their heads, but cannot give up and turn back. There are no heroes but certainly many people just willing to do their duty. Task Force is a novel that you cannot leave until finished and certainly the work of an author whose books should be sought out as he writes them.

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