Another of Sven's characters who is reputed to be real. It is mentioned in the books that he becomes a high ranking officer in the East German army after the war. "It was quite true. The man may have been a louse and a bastard and a Nazi into the bargan, but call him what you like there was no denying his skill as a soldier.(Despite his fanatical belief in the Party, he was to end up, twenty years after the end of the war, as a lieutenant-colonel in the Russian Army. Not bad for a child of the Berlin slums!)"
Heide tells his life-story in March Battalion Chapter 3. His old man was a drunk. He has 2 sisters and two brothers. His mother died when he was nine and a half years old. He is approximately 27 years old at the time of March Battalion. He started his service career as a corporal in the parachute corps.
Heide is a total fanatic of course. He won't hear a word against Hitler and his friends. He is the perfect soldier and always takes time after a battle to clean and repair his uniform and shave and smarten up. He is desperate to become an officer (Blitzfreeze Chapter 10 'The Partisan Girl') though the rest of the section regularly tell him he'll never make it.
In The Commissar Chapter 4 'The Burial Of Gregor's General' Heide is awarded "The Black Eagle" by his local Gauleiter back home for long and outstanding service to the Nazi party!
In Comrades Of War it says that Heide "breathes heavily - like asthma - when he's afraid". This is before his character develops into the fearless supersoldier of the later books I guess. He's also described as "big, brawny Julius Heide" (this is like making notes for a film casting scout or something... nice idea).
Heide is a regimental boxer and his marathon fights with Tiny - where he is hopelessly outclassed in weight and size but always puts up a great fight - are high points of several books. Heide seems to speak English (see Monte Cassino Chapter 11 where he helps Tiny write his letter of complaint to General Clarke).
According to Porta's little black book where he records all gambling debts, Heide's birthday is 12 April. Heide is the only memeber of the section who has no battle scars or disfigurements (according to the list in Assignment Gestapo). In O.G.P.U. Prison, Porta says that Heide's birthday is 20 April, as in Hitler's birthday - but this is during a wind-up Julius session. Also in O.G.P.U. Prison, he is described: "Julius Heide is a fine-looking soldier, straight-backed, well-trained, fair-haired and with ice-cold, dangerous, blue eyes". (In Monte Cassino he's described as having glossy black hair.) He is always 'irritatingly well-informed'. | 