A new study and analysis of the final months of tank warfare in World
War II, as the Allied armies rolled into Germany and fought the
Wehrmacht's tanks on home soil.
The crossing of the river Rhine marked the beginning of the end of the
Third Reich, but the Wehrmacht would fight ferociously on its home soil
until the fall of Berlin. The Battle of Germany saw the most advanced
tanks of the Allies pitted against the remnants of the once-formidable
Panzerwaffe, now exhausted and lacking many of the essentials of armored
warfare, but equipped with the biggest and most powerful tanks they
would ever field.
In these last months the Allies were now equipped with the most advanced
Shermans such as the M4A3E8, as well as some of the types that would go
on to have successful postwar careers such as the Pershing, Comet, and
Chaffee. In contrast the Panzer forces had pinned their hopes on small
numbers of monstrous types such as the Jagdtiger and Tiger II, as well
as the workhorse Sturmgeschütz and Panzer IVs and Vs. But with German
forces crumbling, the Panzerwaffe lacked trained crews, replacement
vehicles and fuel, while the Allies' well-supported tank forces advanced
through Germany in spectacular combined-arms fashion.
Packed with information on tank numbers, types, and comparative
performance, this book sheds new light on the two sides' tanks,
organization, and doctrine, and explains how the ultimate tank battles
of World War II were really fought.
