Throughout the Second World War, a shift occurred in the composition of
the large armored units of armies which lead to an increase in the power
of their tanks in particular. The Germans were no exception. Many of its
recently formed Panzer divisions, from the 12th SS-Panzerdivision
Hitlerjugend to the 2nd SS-Panzerdivision Das Reich, were thrust into
the effort to repel the Allies from June to August 1944 in Normandy.
Within just ten weeks they would be defeated.
This volume of Casemate Illustrated starts by exploring the initial
struggle to gain control of Caen after the Allies had landed on the
beaches of Normandy which resulted in the ferocious German Tiger tanks
destroying the 7th Armored Division, with British losses totaling
twenty-seven tanks. The subsequent strategies the commanders devised for
the Panzer tanks during Operations Goodwood and Cobra were not so
successful, ultimately ending in disaster for the Germans as the Allies
broke through the German line by the end of July.
With over 100 photos, diagrams showing the composition of German armored
divisions, and color profiles of tanks and other armored vehicles, this
is a detailed examination of the German armored forces in Normandy in
1944, focusing on the organization of the 10 Panzer divisions that took
part, the vehicles they relied on and the battles they fought in and why
ultimately their combined strength was not enough.
