Forty, Simon/Taylor, Charlton Panzer Crewman

A volume from the "Casemate Illustrated" series. The German armoured weapon tore up the rules of war established by the gruelling carnage in the trenches of the First World War. Armoured vehicles, close air support and bold command and control based on order tactics cut a deadly swathe through the armies of Eastern and Western Europe. The tanks contributed significantly to the successes of the German Wehrmacht; they remained steadfast in defence as the conquests slipped away from them from the climax at Stalingrad and El Alamein in late 1942 through the long years of retreat to final defeat. Attrition and overwhelming superiority destroyed the chances of an advance, but with ever more powerful weapons, the Panzerwaffe was able to consolidate the German defence to the end. One reason for these successes was undoubtedly the tanks themselves, but it wasn't just the weapons that led to the tanks' successes - it was the way they were handled. A weapon is only as good as the person using it, and the armoured troops - from higher command to individual crew members - proved to be very good at handling their weapons. This was true not only of the men who fought in the tanks, but also of those who maintained and kept them in action, who salvaged and rebuilt damaged vehicles and who coped with the over-complex design and enormous variety of types of armour, weapons and ammunition. The standards of selection and training - so good in the early years of the war - may have diminished with the demands of war, but from 1939 to 1945 German tank crews were second to none. This Casemate Illustrated publication provides a comprehensive introduction to the role and experience of the armoured crewman.