Dennis Oliver
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The Allied invasions of Sicily and the Italian mainland had been met with tenacious resistance by the Germans but the defense consisted for the most part of armored units that were little different to those the British had faced in North Africa. But in early 1944, with the landings at Anzio and Nettuno and the attempt to bypass the German defensive line, the Wehrmacht's high command began shipping heavier and more powerful tanks to the Southern Front...
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By the first weeks of 1945, the Eastern Front had been pushed back to the Carpathian mountain passes in the south and Warsaw on the Vistula River in the center, while in the north, the German army was fighting in East Prussia. The Wehrmacht's armored and mobile formations were now employed exclusively as fire brigades, rushed from one crisis to the next as the Red Army pushed inexorably westward. Critical to the German defense were the army's heavy...
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Designed as a heavily armored tank which could accompany infantry formations, the Churchill's ability to cross rough ground and climb seemingly unassailable hills became legendary. The tank first saw action in 1942 and the basic design was constantly reworked and upgunned, culminating in the Mark VII version which was capable of taking on the heaviest German tanks. In his fourth book in the TankCraft series, Dennis Oliver uses archive photographs...
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When at Hitler’s insistence the first Tiger I tanks went into action in Tunisia in December 1942 they rapidly gained a formidable fighting reputation despite their lack of reliability and the small number deployed. With its heavy armor and 88mm gun, it outclassed all the Allied tanks then in service and forced the Allies to accelerate the introduction of improved anti-tank guns and tanks that could match the Tiger in terms of firepower and protection....
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In late 1944 and 1945 the Panther tank played an important role in Germany's desperate efforts to stem the Allied advance on the Western Front. The Panther, perhaps the best armored vehicle produced by Germany during the Second World War, was a key element in the Wehrmacht's defensive tactics, in rearguard actions and counterattacks, and it took a prominent part in the last German offensive of the war, in the Ardennes during the Battle of the Bulge....
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In the last years of the Second World War the Sturmgeschütz III (StuG III) and Sturmgeschütz IV (StuG IV) played a vital role as assault guns during the German army's struggle to block the Allied advance on the Western Front. As the Wehrmacht's tank forces declined, these armored vehicles were thrown into every defensive operation. They are not as well known as the Tigers and Panthers, but German resistance would have been much weaker without them....
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The Pzkpfw III tank was the mainstay of the Panzer divisions during the Blitzkrieg era, which could fairly be said to have ended with the Germans' failure to take Moscow in the winter of 1941. Although less heavily armored than many of its opponents and somewhat outgunned by the latest Soviet types, the Pzkpfw III was at the forefront of the advances made over almost impossible distances during the summer and autumn and provided the core of the armored...
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In this heavily illustrated volume in the TankCraft series Dennis Oliver focuses on the Achilles — the British variant of the American M10 — which was one of the most important Allied tank destroyers of the Second World War. It played a key role in the armored battles fought on the Western Front, in particular in France, the Low Countries, Germany and Italy. Built on an adapted Sherman chassis, with sloped armor, an open-topped turret and powerful...
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Tiger tanks were among the most-feared fighting vehicles of the Second World War and they gained almost legendary status, yet they never fulfilled their potential because they were not produced in sufficient numbers and the tide the war had turned against the German army by the time they were introduced. Often they were deployed in difficult circumstances and in defensive battles, struggling against the odds. Nowhere was this more true than in western...
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"...squeezes a lot of useful information into a modest 64 pages and is a useful addition to any library of German armored cars." - War Wheels
Experience in the Polish and French campaigns had convinced the German high command of the value of fast-moving, armed reconnaissance vehicles. But it was realised that many of the early designs were too lightly-armed and development of a heavy eight-wheeled prototype resulted in the Sdkfz 234 series of armored...
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In July 1943 the German army launched what was to be its last major offensive on Soviet soil. Codenamed “Operation Citadel”, the attack had initially been scheduled to commence in May but was postponed by Hitler on a number of occasions to allow the divisions in the East to be reinforced and to ensure that the new Panther tanks could be deployed. In the fifth book on the Panther in this series Dennis Oliver examines the first vehicles that left...
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When the Allied armies landed on the Normandy beaches on 6 June 1944 the backbone of the armored reaction force awaiting them was made up of 758 Pzkpfw IV tanks, a number which represents almost half the fully-tracked vehicles available for the defense of the West. The first models of these tanks had entered service in November 1937 and although replacements had been considered, the original design was continually up-gunned and up-armored. Perhaps...
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Combining the destructive firepower of the 88mm gun with the outstanding mobility of the Panther series, the Jagdpanther is quite probably the best-known tank destroyer of the Second World War. In the vehicle's first action on 30 July 1944, three Jagdpanthers managed to destroy eleven British tanks in a vicious two minute fire fight near the village of Les Loges in Normandy, cementing the Jagdpanther's reputation as a potent tank killer. In his fifth...
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With production in excess of 55,000 the Sherman tank was eventually in service with most Allied armies of the Second World War and by the time of the Normandy landings was the mainstay of Britain'sarmored battalions. In his second book in the TankCraft series, Dennis Oliver useswartime photos and extensively researched, exquisitely presentedcolor illustrations to cover theSherman tanks used by the units of the Royal Armoured Corps and the Royal Marines...
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This illustrated guide examines the famous WWII German tank and its operations in the Eastern Front, with extensive resources for modeling enthusiasts.
The Tiger I tank might have been a break-through-and even war-winning-weapon if Germany had produced it in sufficient numbers and introduced it earlier on the Eastern Front. Instead, the Tiger played a mainly defensive role as the Wehrmacht struggled to withstand the advances of the Red Army. In his...
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This fully illustrated modeling guide offers in-depth information on the German Panther tanks battalions that fought Russia in 1944.
In the summer of 1944, overwhelming Soviet offensives threatened to destroy the entire German army on the Eastern Front. As the Wehrmacht scrambled to hold its ground, the newly raised IV SS-Panzerkorps-with its battalions of Pzkpfw V Panther tanks-was critical to the defense. The Panthers were perhaps the most effective...
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The Pzkpfw Ill was the most effective tank available to the German army in North Africa during the battles of 1941. It outnumbered all the other types in service with the Afrikakorps at that time and when compared to the Pzkpfw I and Pzkpfw II designs it was a potent, modern weapons system. Although less heavily armored than its British opponents it was sturdy and reliable and its main armament was the equal of any enemy anti-tank gun it was called...
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Central to the German strategy of dealing with an Allied landing in France was the availability of a strong, mobile armored reserve. In June 1944, as part of this force, the Army in the West was able to deploy over 300 Panther tanks, perhaps the best armored fighting vehicle produced by Germany during the Second World War. British and American tank crews found to their horror that the Panthers could often survive numerous hits while a single round...
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Designed with the hard lessons of the North African campaign in mind, including the adoption of a dual-purpose gun capable of firing high-explosive and anti-tank rounds, the Cromwell was one of the most successful of the British cruiser tanks produced during the Second World War.
The lack of heavy armor was made up for by the tank's high speed provided by a Rolls-Royce Meteor engine. The Centaur was externally almost identical to the Cromwell,...