Clemens, Marcos Tigers in Ucrania. Schwere Panzer-Abteilung 509

Volume 56 of the series "Imágenes de Guerra". Heavy Panzer Division 509 was one of the heavy tank battalions activated by the Third Reich military machine in the last months of 1943. The task of these independent units was to use the remarkable strength of their 45 Panzer VI "Tigers" wherever they were needed, and they could also distribute their three companies to different sections of the front to support other units in specific tasks, providing remarkable firepower both in tank combat and in strafing the enemy as mobile artillery.

The history of the s.Pz.Abt. 509 is very interesting: it fought in important battles on Ukrainian soil, such as the attempted retaking of Kiev by the Germans or breaking through the Soviet encirclement in the so-called "Hube Pocket". Later, equipped with heavy "Tiger II" tanks, it took part in one of the last offensives of the Wehrmacht and managed in a single day to wrest 400 square kilometres south of Budapest from the Red Army. Several tank soldiers of the "509" were awarded the coveted Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for their outstanding performance in battle, and the unit managed to put a total of over 500 enemy armoured vehicles out of action, not counting artillery pieces and other vehicles. This book is also of special interest because it is one of the most comprehensive studies of this particular unit to date, allowing the reader to follow the "Tigers" of the "509" in their operations in the Ukraine and Hungary from the spring of 1943 until the end of the war.