This fully illustrated WWII history offers a vivid look at the armored vehicles used by Allied and Nazi forces during D-Day and the Normandy Campaign. The remarkable photographs collected here illustrate in graphic detail the role armor played in the Allied D-Day landings and the liberation of occupied France—as well as the skill and tenacity of the German panzer units that confronted them. The struggle gave rise to a sequence of battles that were among the most intense, and critical, of any fought in the Second World War. Anthony Tucker-Jones traces the course of the armored campaign through these striking wartime photographs: the D-Day landings, the first clashes of the opposing tanks and anti-tank guns, then the Allied operations that culminated in the Allied breakthrough and the destruction of the German 5th Panzer Army at Falaise. The images offer a fascinating inside view of the fighting itself and of the widespread destruction it caused. But they also record the routines of tank warfare, and give a vivid impression of the experience of the tank crews of the day and of the tanks they operated, including the German Mk IVs, Panthers, and Tigers, and the Allied Shermans, Churchills and specialized tanks, such as Hobart’s Funnies, that confronted each other in France.

The popular perception of the performance of British armour in the Normandy campaign of 1944 is one of failure and frustration. Despite overwhelming superiority in numbers, Montgomery's repeated efforts to employ his armour in an offensive manner ended in a disappointing stalemate.

This book is an innovative study of the Normandy campaign and the perceived failure of British forces there. It is essential reading for all students of military history and general readers with an interest in the subject.

Explores the doctrinal, strategic, and tactical ideas behind World War II tank combat Contains detailed maps and diagrams Critiques the performances of commanders like George Patton, Bernard Montgomery, and others Focusing on five Allied tank operations from July to September 1944--Operations Goodwood, Cobra, Totalize, and Tractable and Patton's tank battles around Arracourt--armor expert Roman Jarymowycz draws on after-action reports, extensive battlefield reconnaissance, recently discovered battle performance reviews, and war diaries to evaluate the successes and failures of the art of armored warfare as practiced by Allied tank commanders in France in 1944.

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.

While the Allied armies were deadlocked with the Germans in Normandy after D-Day and even as they broke out and began their long advance, another campaign was being fought against the Germans in southern France and it is this campaign, which is often neglected in accounts of the liberation of Europe, that is the subject of Anthony Tucker-Joness latest photographic history. In a sequence of over 150 wartime photographs he tells the story, from the amphibious invasion of the French Riviera Operation Dragoon to the battle at Montelimar, the forcing of the Belfort gap, the destruction of German resistance in the Colmar pocket and the entry of Allied forces into southern Germany. His concise narrative gives a graphic overview of each phase of the operations, and the selection of photographs shows the American, French and German forces in action. The mechanized and armoured units and their equipment are a particular feature of the book. The photographs are a valuable visual record of the tanks, guns, jeeps and trucks the most up-to-date military vehicles and weaponry of the time as they moved along the roads and through the towns and countryside of southern France.