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Thomas Anderson (1)

Autor(a) de Tiger (General Military)

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25+ Works 399 Membros 10 Críticas

Séries

Obras por Thomas Anderson

Tiger (General Military) (2013) 45 exemplares
Panther (1996) 36 exemplares
Panther (1996) 24 exemplares
Tanks of the Second World War (2017) 18 exemplares
Panzergrenadier (2021) 13 exemplares

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Conhecimento Comum

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male

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Having read six of Anderson's books to date, it's clear that he's at his best the more focused he is on a particular type of tank (say, the Tiger), or general class of vehicle (tank destroyers for example). These books (along with their companion dealing with panzer divisions) are at best so-so, as Anderson has to come to grips with conceptual categories such as doctrine and operations, as opposed to nuts and bolts or the "bean count," and I'm not sure his writing skills are up to the task. Still the pictures are well chosen and there is useful information here, but I wouldn't make the purchase of one of Anderson's books sight unseen again.… (mais)
 
Assinalado
Shrike58 | Feb 7, 2023 |
This is the fourth Thomas Anderson volume about World War II German armor formations and operations I have read, the third one done in collaboration with Osprey Publishing. Like his other books, Anderson in "Panzergrenadier" concentrates on one aspect of the Wehrmacht's (and by extension the Waffen SS) armor formations--the infantry that accompanied the tanks in combined arms organizations.

This 2021 publication contains 452 pages in my Kindle edition, and it covers its subject in ten numbered chapters arranged chronologically. The first chapter dives into the doctrinal underpinnings of the panzergrenadiers that culminated in the formation of the first panzer divisions in 1935. The Germans first looked at these infantry formations as motorized units--they seemed more enthusiastic about the motorcycle rifle battalions that were thought to provide more mobility. The second chapter details the vehicles developed specifically for armored infantry, as it was realized early on that trucks loaded with infantry could not accompany tanks except on well-established roads. Thus the armored Sonderkraftfahrzeuge (Sdkfz) 250 and 251 series came to play a critical role in the development of the panzergrenadiers. Chapters 3-9 provide the narrative for the war years from 1939-1945, providing a combination of combat action reports, organizational and equipment changes and updates. The last chapter specifically addresses the weaponry equipping the panzergrenadier formations, from small arms to the 7.5cm and 15cm infantry guns that were a feature of almost every Wehrmacht and Waffen SS battalion or regiment.

What I found in this book is an uneven coverage of the topic. As in other Anderson titles, the early chapters are usually the best. These pages have a logical flow that provides details. However, once the narrative reaches 1942, there are more panzergrenadier formations and fewer details. While Anderson usefully provides organization and equipment charts for the various versions of panzergrenadier formations, how these changes actually affected the various units and their effectiveness in combat is not recounted. There is no coverage of Waffen SS formations or actions, despite the fact that the SS often had the best equipment and were often thrown into the most critical situations on the battlefield. The cited combat action reports are helpful, but there are few of them--perhaps a reflection on the lack of source material, or, as Anderson points out, a lack of appreciation for non-tank units. This is most apparent in the Eastern Front combat action reports where the writer is usually critical of field commanders misusing their panzergrenadier units.

While the narrative is not as strong as it could be, the book's strong suite is its photographs. Though not necessarily tied to the nearby text, Anderson has provided a fine selection of imagery, some of it from the late war period, a phase of the war not covered well photgraphically in other works. The selection is notable for its clarity, variety, and subject matter--unlike the text, the photographs do cover some Waffen SS subjects. "Panzergrenadier" is a useful source for modelers.

Thomas Anderson has provided us with another useful work. The story of panzergrenadier origins is covered well, but the effort falls short in the war's later years. My rating reflects the fine selection of photographs and the provision of unit organization tables.
… (mais)
½
 
Assinalado
Adakian | May 29, 2022 |
On the whole I remain a fan of these books but, somehow, this feels like a thinner number than some of Anderson's other works. Part of the problem is that I would have expected a little more coverage of the fully-enclosed vehicles that were part of the organic component of the infantry divisions. So I can appreciated why there was no coverage of the Ferdinand (which has its own book), the Jagdpanther, or the Jagdtiger. But I might have expected to see some pages devoted to the Jagdpanzer IV and the so-called "Hetzer." This book also could have been a little better edited. All that said, if you have volume 1 you'll certainly want the second book, which, to a large degree, is about the failure of German industry to deliver more medium and heavy prime movers, the lack of which was the Achilles' Heel of this service branch.… (mais)
½
 
Assinalado
Shrike58 | Feb 2, 2022 |

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Estatísticas

Obras
25
Also by
4
Membros
399
Popularidade
#60,805
Avaliação
3.8
Críticas
10
ISBN
68
Línguas
5

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