The very popular Images Of War Series is expanded by this well researched and presented review of the German light tanks which were the basis of the Panzers sent into Poland and continued to serve through to the end of WWII. The Germans expected more time to complete the re-equipment of the Panzers and had to make the most of what they had when they invaded Poland. – Most Highly Recommended.
NAME: Images of War, Hitler's Light Tanks, Rare Photographs From Wartime Archives FILE: R3037 AUTHOR: Paul Thomas PUBLISHER: Pen & Sword BINDING: soft back PRICE: £14.99 GENRE: Non Fiction SUBJECT: WWII, World War II, World War 2, Second World War, light tanks, armoured reconnaissance, armaments, performance, Blitz Krieg, Panzers, Pkw I, Pkw II, Pkw 39t, tank killers, assault tanks, self-propelled artillery, Europe, North Africa, Eastern Front
ISBN: 1-52674-166-0
IMAGE: B3037.jpg BUYNOW: tinyurl.com/s6lwblv PAGES: 126 LINKS: DESCRIPTION: The very popular Images Of War Series is expanded by this well researched and presented review of the German light tanks which were the basis of the Panzers sent into Poland and continued to serve through to the end of WWII. The Germans expected more time to complete the re-equipment of the Panzers and had to make the most of what they had when they invaded Poland. – Most Highly Recommended. The German Army was being equipped on the basis of a major war starting in 1944. When the British and French surprised Hitler by honouring their commitment to Poland, he was caught on the hop. He had expected to be able to continue nibbling away at his neighbours until 1944 when he thought Britain and France would no longer present a serious force against him. The German Army had managed very well in re-occupying the Rhineland, and absorbing Austria and Czechoslovakia. They did not expect Poland to present any serious challenge as the Red Army rolled in from the East to take roughly half of Poland under the agreement with Hitler. When German troops attacked the Low Countries and France they performed to expectations even with less than adequate armour, training and command compensating in what was a stunning victory. Had they been able to invade Britain they would have been well ahead of the Nazi plan and able to direct almost all of their forces against the Soviet Union, which might well have succumbed. As history records, the good times ended at the Channel. Unable to invade Britain, and required to help the Italians out in North Africa and the Balkans, Hitler decided to ignore all military wisdom and open yet another front by invading Russia. The result was that the Panther and Tiger tanks arrived late in the battles in inadequate numbers and suffered a variety of reliability problems, with the Pkw III and Pkw IV battle tanks already passed their technical best. That required the light tanks to soldier on, to be adapted to mount heavier guns and fight in assault and artillery roles. This new books provides a clear picture of the deployment of the light tanks with the star proving to be the Czech designed and built 38t rather than the German Pkw I and Pkw II light tanks that were intended as training and light reconnaissance vehicles but were also thrown into new roles because there was no alternative.