Book Review: Images of War - Hitler's Anti-Tank Weapons 1939-1945, Hans Siedler

This is a very handy little book. Following a brief scene-setting introduction, over five chapters - Early Years (1939–41), Operations in Russia, Stop-Gap Solutions, 1943, The End - Hans Siedler gives us a brief history of German WWII anti-tank guns. 

Copiously illustrated, as befits any title in this ever growing series, with contemporary black and white photos, and with three useful appendixes, the titles of which hint at the scope of the coverage - Towed Anti-Tank Guns, Converted Anti-Tank Guns, Hand-Held Anti-Tank Weapons - whether you're a wargamer, modeller, or just a WWII history nut, this is a great resource. 

The text is very basic, but sound enough, as far as it goes. Text and images take us from the early war 3.7 Pak 36 to the late-war Pak 43; alongside this there's the development from lightly armoured/gunned Marder variants up to the Elefant and Jagdtiger (the latter the heaviest AFV of WWII); and there are also the handheld weapons, from the Panzerbusche to the Panzerschreck, with disposable Panzerfaust figuring large as the war draws to its inexorable end.

Also duly noted are the many instances of hybrid vehicles, some related to types already mentioned - the evolution of the Panzerjagers can only be briefly covered in such a slim and wide-ranging book - and others such as when guns of various types were mounted to half-tracks, or on vehicles such as the RSO. A nice little touch, after the appendices, are the two contemporary German images showing how to use and the structure of the popular mass-produced Panzerfaust. 

Hardly the definitive work on such a potentially huge subject, nevertheless this is an easy to read, well illustrated and highly enjoyable addition to the very useful Images of War series. I love it!

Book Reviews: The U-Boat Commanders, Jeremy Dixon & Knights of the Battle of Britain, Chris Goss

Two quite similar books under review in this post, one on the avionics plane and the other on a maritime tack. The books most obvious similarities are that they focus on German medal-winners of WWII. The former gaining their laurels fighting in the Luftwaffe, the latter proving hardy in the Kriegsmarine. [1] I'll look at them t'other way round, seas then skies.

In just over 300 pages, with about 200 illustrations, Jeremy Dixon gives us 123 short biog's of German Kriegsmarine personnel who won the various grades of Knight's Cross serving in the U-Boat arm. He starts with the highest grades and works downwards, each class getting bigger as we get lower down the grades. This is quite good, as it front-loads the book with the high-scorers, amongst whom are some of the more familiar names, like Kretschmer, Prien and Topp.

The nature of this book, and others like it (see below!) is great in that it lends itself to dipping into, as opposed to the more normal front to back and all of the way through of normal narrative history. I love the latter as well, don't get me wrong. But when you read as much as I do, then a change in format and feel can be quite refreshing!

You could, of course, read this cover to cover. And if this is your foremost area of interest, you might well choose to do so. I'm only recently getting more into the maritime stuff, having traditionally favoured land-based warfare over either aerial or naval combat. But books like this are helping feed a growing interest in the perilous combats on the briny seas. Possibly a bit specialist for the general WWII reader. Nevertheless, a solid, readable and informative resource.

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This book has a more concentrated focus, in that it only covers Ritterkreuz awards made during the Battle of Britain. 121 airmen are profiled, over roughly 200 pages, 118 of them appearing once, for being awarded the Ritterkreuz, with three - Werner Molders, Adolf Galland and Helmut Wick - being featured a second time [2], for achieving the next grade, mit Eichenlaub (with Oak-leaves).

In most respects this is very like the similarly themed U-Boat book, differing only in how it's organised - chronologically, as opposed to in descending order of grade - and the shorter time-span it covers, April to December, 1940, as opposed to the whole war. Each entry succinctly synopsises the life and career of the recipient, whilst also giving a brief account of their part in the Battle of Britain.

Copiously illustrated in black and white throughout, with a short additional photo section towards the end, this is ideal for dipping into. Again, if this is your primary area of interest a cover to cover read might be in order. But for me it's a case of occasionally having a glance through, and cherry picking a few entries. This makes it eminently suited to workplace reading, if one's job allows occasional time-outs, as mine occasionally does.

A fascinating and informative resource.

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NOTES:

[1] Sorry, couldn't resist the pun!

[2] In these cases the first entry is the fuller account, the second being very cursory.

Book Review: Kent at War, 1939-1945, Mark Khan

According to the back-cover blurb, the photos in this particular Images of War title were rescued from a rubbish tip! Apparently 4,000 images were rescued, and have been digitised, from which 150 were selected for inclusion here. [1]

General Sir Brian Horrocks is quoted as follows: 'Invasion or not, it [Kent/South-East England] was certainly the most exciting part of England at that time. We had a grandstand view not only of the Battle of Britain, with its dog-fights over our heads, but also of the nightly naval war that went on in the Channel.'

Training Exercise. Unarmed combat. The Barracks Maidstone c1939-45. [2]

Chapter titles give you the basic shape of the book and its content: The Early Years, The Kent Home Guard, Life During Wartime, Soldiers in Kent, Military Vehicles (etc), VIP Visitors, The War at Sea, Women at War, D-Day, The End of the War. Within each chapter Khan provides a brief outline of appropriate information, and then the photos and their captions illustrate the themes further.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and perusing the photographs, and would highly recommend it. Indeed, it makes me want to find out more about my own relatives who were or might have been involved. For example, my Canadian grandfather, Albert 'Bert' Palmer, who lived and worked in Kent during some of this period.

An enormous PLUTO 'conundrum', beached at Greatstone. [3]

The range and selection of pictures is excellent, making for a fascinating account of life in this, the garden county of England, and also home to Hell's Corner, being as it was on the flightpath of the German bombing runs into England/London. Highly recommended.

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NOTES:

[1] The entire collection can be viewed for free online, here.

[2] This pic is from the web archive, not the book. But similar pictures can be found in the book.

[3] PLUTO, or the Pipe Line Under The Ocean was for sending fuel across the channel, under the sea, to supply the D-Day invasion forces with as little disruption to the ordinary sea and land traffic as possible.

The Medway Queen, which became HMS Medway Queen during WWII.

This steam powered roller crushed pots and pans in the salvage drives of WWII.