Oliver, Dennis Panther. Medium Tank

German Army and Waffen-SS Units. Berlin, 1945

Volume 49 of the Tank Craft series. By the end of 1944, the Wehrmacht had been pushed back to Germany's borders, and the army's defensive efforts increasingly relied on ad hoc units assembled from decimated tank and infantry formations. Despite the bleak strategic situation and the ever-collapsing front, industrial production had actually been expanded, and labour losses had somehow been offset. Shattered regiments were rebuilt and new units created, and the real striking power of the tank battalions now lay with the Pzkpfw. V Panther, perhaps the most effective armoured vehicle Germany had produced during the Second World War. In Dennis Oliver's 49th volume of the Tank Craft series, he uses archive photos and extensively researched colour illustrations to examine the later models of the Pzkpfw. V Panther and the units that used this vehicle during the bitter defensive battles against the Soviet Army in the final weeks of the war. An important part of his book shows available model kits and detailing products, supplemented by a gallery of built and painted models in various scales. Technical details and modifications made during production and in service are also examined, so that model builders will find everything they need to faithfully recreate these historic tanks.