Hiestand, William E./Chasemore, Richard (Illustr.) M18 Hellcat vs Panther. Arracourt 1944

In response to the German Blitzkrieg victories of 1939-41, the US Army created a special tank destroyer force to encircle and destroy the attacking armoured divisions. The M18 was fast, relatively well armed but weakly armoured and, unlike the M10 and M36, was designed from the outset as a tank destroyer. In September 1944, the armoured divisions of the German army deployed the Panther tank alongside the PzKpfw IV. In this book, William Hiestand notes that the Panther gained a fearsome reputation for its combination of great firepower, impressive armour and good mobility, but also shows that the M18 was a very capable opponent when the two types met on a foggy September morning during the Battle of Arracourt. Illustrated with specially commissioned diagrams and maps as well as archive photographs, this study examines the origins, development, strengths and limitations of the two armoured vehicles, as well as the training, doctrine and combat effectiveness of their crews. It also provides a detailed account of the momentous battle between the US 704th Tank Destroyer Battalion and the German 113th Tank Brigade at Arracourt, where the two types clashed in a surprising encounter that challenges our perceptions of armoured warfare in the Second World War.