Oliver, Dennis Panther Medium Tank

German Army, Waffen-SS and Luftwaffe Units. Eastern Front, 1944

Volume 46 of the Tank Craft series. In the spring and summer of 1944, a series of Soviet offensives, culminating in Operation Bagration on 22 June, threatened to destroy the entire German army on the Eastern Front. While infantry units desperately tried to hold provisional defensive positions, mobile tank battalions were the only units capable of closing the ever-widening gaps in the front. One of the most important weapons in the Wehrmacht's arsenal at that time was the Panther tank, which had first seen action in July 1943. Equipped with a powerful 7.5 cm gun, these tanks could penetrate the armour of the strongest Soviet designs, and it was planned that each tank regiment would eventually include a battalion of these impressive vehicles. In the 46th volume of the Tank Craft series, Dennis Oliver continues the story of these vehicles and, using archive photos and extensively researched colour illustrations, examines the Panther battalions that pushed back the Red Army's advance to the borders of Germany in 1944. An important part of his book shows available model kits and aftermarket 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.