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World Hotels - US Tank and Tank Destroyer Battalions in the ETO 1944-45 (Battle Orders)
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List Price: $25.95
Our Price: $18.94
Your Save: $ 7.01 ( 27% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Osprey Publishing
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 358.18097309044
EAN: 9781841767987
ISBN: 1841767980
Label: Osprey Publishing
Manufacturer: Osprey Publishing
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 96
Publication Date: 2005-01-01
Publisher: Osprey Publishing
Release Date: 2005-01-01
Studio: Osprey Publishing
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Editorial Reviews:
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Overshadowed by the United States Army's armored divisions, the separate tank and tank destroyer battalions had the difficult mission of providing armored support for US infantry divisions in the 1944â€"45 campaigns. This book details the organizational structures and deployment of these units: the standard tank battalions, tank battalions (light), tank battalions (mine exploder) and tank battalions (special), self-propelled and towed tank destroyer battalions. It also covers the tactics used by these units in their attempts to assist the infantry, as well as providing a listing of all the battalions that took part in the Northwest Europe campaign.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Italy NOT in the ETO
Comment: If you're interested in anti-tank battalions in Italy, DON'T buy this book. I wanted to read about my uncle's 349th anti-tank battalion, 88th Division in Italy, and it is not discussed in this book, nor is any other division which fought in Italy. I was more than upset.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Another Great Volume From Zaloga
Comment: Steven J. Zaloga's volume on US Tank Battalions and Tank Destroyer Battalions in the ETO in 1944-45 in Osprey's Battle Order series is filled to the brim with useful data and incisive comment. Zaloga's previous volume in this series covered US armored divisions and this volume covers the remaining spectrum of separate tank battalions and tank destroyer (TD) battalions. Despite the wealth of information already available on this subject, Zaloga still manages to unearth rare and interesting details, presenting them in highly lucid fashion.
Zaloga begins the volume with an extensive discussion of the combat missions of the separate tank battalions and the TD battalions. Essentially, both units were plagued by doctrinal problems and faulty command decisions from the start. The separate tank battalions were formed to provide direct support to infantry units but the US Army decided not to invest in a heavy infantry tank (like the British Churchill) that could stand up to anti-tank fire. Zaloga notes that the US Army did successfully debut a heavy-armor assault tank version of the Sherman late in the war, but that few were produced. The TD battalions were plagued by a faulty doctrine that just never worked, and the units were usually used for supporting infantry units. Zaloga also pulls no punches in pointing the finger at Major General Leslie McNair, Army Ground Forces commander, as responsible for a string of costly mistakes. McNair opposed attaching separate tank battalions on a permanent basis to infantry divisions, favored retaining light tanks after it was clear that they couldn't compete on the battlefield and championed towed over self-propelled TD units.
Zaloga's incisive narrative is supported by six excellent maps that depict armor in various missions: tanks in the first wave on Omaha Beach; tanks landing in Operation Dragoon; bocage-busting in Operation Cobra; attack on a fortified area - Fort Driant; armor in defense in the Ardennes; armor in river-crossing - Roer River. The author also provides four full-page organization charts for the tank battalion, light tank battalion, towed and SP TD battalions. In an appendix, Zaloga provides a capsule summary of each tank and TD battalion that served in the ETO.
The author also touches on a number of obscure but interesting topics, such as the searchlight-equipped "Leaflet tanks" - although six battalions were deployed in Europe, the weapon was so secret that even army-level commanders were unaware of their existence. However, the Leaflet tanks were used to protect the Meuse River crossings during the Battle of the Bulge. Zaloga also mentions the M22 airborne tank and the 28th Tank Battalion - the only US armored airborne battalion in the Second World War. Additionally, Zaloga discusses how tank and TD units were used in the indirect fire role. As usual, Zaloga highlights technical issues that are often ignored by other authors and he also does a fine job analyzing the impact of doctrinal decisions in combat. An excellent volume.
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