Hitler's Tank Killer

Hitler's Tank Killer PDF Author: Hans Seidler
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1844688860
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 212

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Book Description
Sturmgeschtz III was originally designed as an assault weapon, but as war progressed it was increasingly used in a defensive role and evolved into an assault gun and tank destroyer. By 1943 its main role was providing anti-tank support to the units in its area of operation. This consequently led to many StuGs being destroyed in battle. Nonetheless they were very successful as tank killers and destroyed, among others, many bunkers, pillboxes and other defenses. While not considered to be a true tank because it lacked a turret, the gun was mounded directly in the hull, with a low profile to reduce vehicle heights, and had a limited lateral traverse of a few degrees in either direction. Thus, the entire vehicle had to be turned in order to acquire targets. Omitting the turret made production much simpler and less costly, enabling greater numbers to be built. Most assault guns were mounted on the chassis of a Panzer III or Panzer IV, with the resultant model being called either a StuG III or StuG IV respectively. The StuG was one of the most effective tracked vehicles of World War II, and over 10,000 of them were eventually produced.

Hitler's Tank Killer

Hitler's Tank Killer PDF Author: Hans Seidler
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1844688860
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 212

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Book Description
Sturmgeschtz III was originally designed as an assault weapon, but as war progressed it was increasingly used in a defensive role and evolved into an assault gun and tank destroyer. By 1943 its main role was providing anti-tank support to the units in its area of operation. This consequently led to many StuGs being destroyed in battle. Nonetheless they were very successful as tank killers and destroyed, among others, many bunkers, pillboxes and other defenses. While not considered to be a true tank because it lacked a turret, the gun was mounded directly in the hull, with a low profile to reduce vehicle heights, and had a limited lateral traverse of a few degrees in either direction. Thus, the entire vehicle had to be turned in order to acquire targets. Omitting the turret made production much simpler and less costly, enabling greater numbers to be built. Most assault guns were mounted on the chassis of a Panzer III or Panzer IV, with the resultant model being called either a StuG III or StuG IV respectively. The StuG was one of the most effective tracked vehicles of World War II, and over 10,000 of them were eventually produced.

The Panther Tank

The Panther Tank PDF Author: Anthony Tucker-Jones
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 147388196X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 215

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Book Description
This pictorial history of the Nazi Panther tank offers an in-depth analysis of its innovative design and its role on the Eastern Front of WWII. The German Panther was one of the most important tanks of the Second World War, ranking alongside the American Sherman and the Soviet T-34. In a comprehensive study of this remarkable fighting vehicle, author and military expert Anthony Tucker-Jones presents more than 100 archival photographs, along with a selection of color profiles, illustrating its design, development and operations in battle. On the Eastern Front, the German army needed to counter the Red Army’s robust and utilitarian T-34 tank, which were increasingly deployed by the Russians in decisive numbers. The German military rapidly produced the Panther as its answer to this threat. With its sloping armor and a high-velocity 75mm gun, it proved to be a better medium tank than its predecessor, the Mk IV. More versatile than the heavyweight Tiger, it was superior to most of the Allied tanks it faced and had a significant influence on subsequent tank design.

Hitler's Anti-Tank Weapons 1939–1945

Hitler's Anti-Tank Weapons 1939–1945 PDF Author: Hans Seidler
Publisher: Pen and Sword Military
ISBN: 152674984X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 194

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Book Description
This illustrated WWII history captures the evolution of Nazi Germany’s anti-armor weaponry through rare archival wartime photos. Hitler’s Wehrmacht and SS units will be remembered for their aggressive Blitzkrieg tactics. But, as the war progressed, the Germans developed an impressive range of anti-tank warfare weaponry and munitions. Using many rare unpublished images, this Images of War book covers the full Nazi anti-armor capability. Also featured are the half-tracks and converted Panzers that pulled or mounted these weapons and carried observers and reconnaissance elements forward. Later hand-held anti-tank weapons came into service and were effective against Allied armor. The Panzerfaust, with its shaped charge warhead, became the first disposable anti-tank weapon in history. This comprehensive book shows this formidable range of weapons in action from Poland in 1939, through North Africa and the Eastern Front to the final collapse of the Third Reich in 1945.

Hitler's Tank Destroyers

Hitler's Tank Destroyers PDF Author: Paul Thomas
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1473896193
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 214

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Book Description
This WWII pictorial history of Nazi anti-tank vehicles illustrates the Germans’ ever-increasing need for defense against Allied armor. During World War II, combatants on both sides developed increasingly effective armored vehicles and tactics. The German military’s answer to American Shermans and British Cruisers was to create dedicated anti-tank vehicles such as the Panzerjger I, Sturmgeschtz, Marders, Nashorn. Hetzer, Jagdpanzer, Elefant, Jagdtiger IV and Jagdpanther. Fully illustrated with rare wartime photographs, Hitler’s Tank Destroyers covers the each of these models, detailing their development and technology throughout the war. As the war progressed, larger and more powerful tank destroyers entered the battlefield. Due the overwhelming enemy opposition, they were compelled to not only attack armor, but also support ground troops. This comprehensive account covers all the Nazis mobile anti-tank vehicles in words and images.

Hetzer - Jagdpanzer 38 Tank Destroyer

Hetzer - Jagdpanzer 38 Tank Destroyer PDF Author: Dennis Oliver
Publisher: Pen and Sword Military
ISBN: 1526791196
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 151

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Book Description
By 1944 the German army was on the defensive on all fronts and Allied bombing was putting increasing pressure on the nation's industrial output. Since the earliest days of the war the Germans had experimented with mounting anti-tank weapons on obsolete chassis and one of the most successful of these would prove to be the Jagdpanzer 38, more often referred to today as the Hetzer. Small and unimposing the Hetzer's appearance belied its effectiveness. Armed with the powerful 7.5cm L/48 gun, the same weapon fitted to the Jadgpanzer IV, the Hetzer featured armour sloped armour plates of up to 60mm thickness and was capable of a top speed of 42 kilometres per hour. Almost 3,000 examples were assembled and its low cost and ease of production meant that it was Germany's most important tank killer of the late war period. In his latest book in the TankCraft series Dennis Oliver uses archive photos and extensively researched color illustrations to examine the Hetzer tank destroyers and the units of the German Army and Waffen-SS that operated them during the last months of the Second World war. A key section of his book displays available model kits and aftermarket products, complemented by a gallery of beautifully constructed and painted models in various scales. Technical details as well as modifications introduced during production and in the field are also examined providing everything the modeller needs to recreate an accurate representation of these historic tanks.

The Tank Killers

The Tank Killers PDF Author: Harry Yeide
Publisher: Casemate
ISBN: 1935149733
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 357

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Book Description
“A fantastic read . . . Whether your interest is armour or history I would highly recommend this book” (Military Modelling). The tank destroyer was a bold—though some would say flawed—answer to the challenge posed by the seemingly unstoppable German Blitzkrieg. The TD was conceived to be light and fast enough to outmaneuver panzer forces and go where tanks could not. At the same time, the TD would wield the firepower needed to kill any German tank on the battlefield. Indeed, American doctrine stipulated that TDs would fight tanks, while American tanks would concentrate on achieving and exploiting breakthroughs of enemy lines. The Tank Killers follows the men who fought in the TDs, from the formation of the force in 1941 through the victory over the Third Reich in 1945. It is a story of American flexibility and pragmatism in military affairs. Tank destroyers were among the very first units to land in North Africa in 1942. Their first vehicles were ad hoc affairs: halftracks and weapons carriers with guns no better than those on tanks, thin armor affording the crews considerably less protection. Almost immediately, the crews began adapting to circumstances, along with their partners in the infantry and armored divisions. By the time North Africa was in Allied hands, the TD had become a valued tank fighter, assault gun, and artillery piece. The reconnaissance teams in TD battalions, meanwhile, had established a record for daring operations that would continue for the rest of the war. The story continues with the invasion of Italy and, finally, that of Fortress Europe on June 6, 1944. By now, the brass had decreed that half the force would convert to towed guns, a decision that dogged the affected crews through the end of the war. The TD men encountered increasingly lethal enemies, ever more dangerous panzers that were often vulnerable only to their guns, while American tank crews watched in frustration as their rounds bounced harmlessly off the thick German armor. They fought under incredibly diverse conditions that demanded constant modification of tactics, and their equipment became ever more deadly. By VE-Day, the tank destroyer battalions had achieved impressive records, generally with kill-loss rates heavily in their favor. Yet the army after the war concluded that the concept of a separate TD arm was so fundamentally flawed that not a single battalion existed after November 1946. The Tank Killers draws heavily on the records of the tank destroyer battalions and the units with which they fought, as well as personal stories from veterans of the force.

The Panzer Killers

The Panzer Killers PDF Author: Daniel P. Bolger
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0593183738
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 449

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Book Description
A general-turned-historian reveals the remarkable battlefield heroics of Major General Maurice Rose, the World War II tank commander whose 3rd Armored Division struck fear into the hearts of Hitler's panzer crews. “The Panzer Killers is a great book, vividly written and shrewdly observed.”—The Wall Street Journal Two months after D-Day, the Allies found themselves in a stalemate in Normandy, having suffered enormous casualties attempting to push through hedgerow country. Troops were spent, and American tankers, lacking the tactics and leadership to deal with the terrain, were losing their spirit. General George Patton and the other top U.S. commanders needed an officer who knew how to break the impasse and roll over the Germans—they needed one man with the grit and the vision to take the war all the way to the Rhine. Patton and his peers selected Maurice Rose. The son of a rabbi, Rose never discussed his Jewish heritage. But his ferocity on the battlefield reflected an inner flame. He led his 3rd Armored Division not from a command post but from the first vehicle in formation, charging headfirst into a fight. He devised innovative tactics, made the most of American weapons, and personally chose the cadre of young officers who drove his division forward. From Normandy to the West Wall, from the Battle of the Bulge to the final charge across Germany, Maurice Rose's deadly division of tanks blasted through enemy lines and pursued the enemy with a remarkable intensity. In The Panzer Killers, Daniel P. Bolger, a retired lieutenant general and Iraq War veteran, offers up a lively, dramatic tale of Rose's heroism. Along the way, Bolger infuses the narrative with fascinating insights that could only come from an author who has commanded tank forces in combat. The result is a unique and masterful story of battlefield leadership, destined to become a classic.

Hitler's Anti-Tank Weapons 1939-1945

Hitler's Anti-Tank Weapons 1939-1945 PDF Author: Hans Seidler
Publisher: Images of War
ISBN: 9781526749833
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
Hitler's Wehrmacht and SS units will be remembered for their aggressive 'Blitzkrieg' tactics. But, as the war progressed, the Germans, recognising the offensive capability of armoured warfare, developed an impressive range of anti-tank warfare weaponry and munitions.Using many rare unpublished images this Images of War book covers the full Nazi anti-armour capability from the 3.7cm Pak 35, 5cm Pak 38 and 7.5cm Pak 40 to the versatile 8.8cm Flak feared by the Allies. Also featured are the half-tracks and converted Panzers that pulled or mounted these weapons and carried forward observers and reconnaissance elements.Later hand-held anti-tank weapons came into service and were effective and economic against Allied armour. The Panzer faust, with its shaped charge warhead, became the first disposable anti-tank weapon in history.This comprehensive book shows this formidable range of weapons in action from Poland in 1939, through North Africa and the Eastern Front to the final collapse in 1945.

Smashing Hitler's Panzers

Smashing Hitler's Panzers PDF Author: Steven Zaloga
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 0811767620
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 384

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Book Description
In his riveting new book, Steven Zaloga describes how American foot soldiers faced down Hitler’s elite armored spearhead—the Hitler Youth Panzer Division—in the snowy Ardennes forest during one of World War II’s biggest battles, the Battle of the Bulge. The Hitler Youth division was assigned the mission of the Führer’s Ardennes offensive: capture the main highway to the primary objective, Antwerp, whose seizure Hitler believed would end the war. Had the Germans taken the Belgian port, it would have cut off the Americans from the British and perhaps led to a second, more devastating Dunkirk. In Zaloga’s careful reconstruction, a succession of American infantry units—the 99th Division, the 2nd Division, and the 1st Division (the famous Big Red One)—fought a series of series of battles that denied Hitler the best roads to Antwerp and doomed his offensive. American G.I.s—some of them seeing combat for the very first time—had stymied Hitler’s panzers and grand plans.

Building Guderian’s Duck: Germany’s Response To The Eastern Front Antitank Crisis, 1941 To 1945

Building Guderian’s Duck: Germany’s Response To The Eastern Front Antitank Crisis, 1941 To 1945 PDF Author: L-Cmdr Scott M. Chafian
Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing
ISBN: 1782894365
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 76

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Book Description
The appearance of the T-34 in 1941 caused a crisis for German antitank forces. Existing antitank guns were nearly impotent against the new Russian tank, while antiaircraft and artillery pieces, though successful when pressed into action, were insufficiently mobile to accompany mechanized forces. The German Army Ordnance Office, the Heereswaffenamt, was responsible for development of new weapons and would be responsible for countering the threat of Russian armor. The Heereswaffenamt would need to not only counter the T-34, but also do so in an environment of shifting political relationships and with an increasingly stressed industrial system. Utilizing lessons from the bitterly contested battlefields of western Russia, the Heereswaffenamt developed a tank-destroyer, the Jagdpazer IV, using the existing chassis of the Panzer IV tank, and the guns of both the Panzer IV and Panther tanks. The Jagdpanzer IV, known by its crews as Guderian’s Duck, proved to be a capable tank killer against both the T-34 threat of 1941 and 1942, as well as the improved versions of 1943 and 1944.