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.

A concisely detailed guide to the Allied tanks that fought from D-Day to the breakout from Normandy, their qualities, numbers, and performance, and how they were used on the battlefield. When Allied tanks began to roll off the landing craft on D-Day, it marked the start of one of the great periods of tank warfare in World War II. Often outgunned by the German Panzers, and fighting in the close confines of bocage country, they nevertheless managed to break out of Normandy and begin the liberation of Europe. It was a battle that was dominated by the Americans' legendary Sherman, but also saw a wide and complex range of armor committed to battle across the many armies involved, from British Churchills and special-purpose 'Funnies' to the Canadians' Ram tank. This book explains the qualities, strengths, and weakness of the major British and US tank types as well as associated Allied units in Normandy including the Canadians, Poles, and French, and how they really fought. It will discuss the organization and equipment of the units, providing thumbnail sketches of organization and doctrine as well as statistical data on the types and categories of AFVs that saw action, providing a handy and concise guide for military historians, wargamers, and military modelers.

A detailed account of the Normandy campaign fought by the British Armoured Divisions and independant Armoured Brigades, from the D-Day landings to Operation Goodwood. The Author, an acknowledged British armor specialist, has divided his work into three parts: the units involved, the AFVs fielded in Normandy, and the doctrine of use of the High Command with its actual effect on the battlefield. Equipped in some cases with obsolescent vehicles, their personnel often under-motivated but often inventive, the British tank formations did not always answer the hopes of the Allied military planners. This book gives a fresh point of view on the whole question.

“One neat book full of markings for British Shermans. It will greatly appeal to both modelers and AFV enthusiasts and historians.”—AMPS Indianapolis With production in excess of 55,000, the Sherman tank was eventually in service with most Allied armies of the Second World War and by the time of the Normandy landings was the mainstay of Britain’s armored battalions. In his second book in the TankCraft series, Dennis Oliver uses wartime photos and extensively researched, exquisitely presented color illustrations to cover the Sherman tanks used by the units of the Royal Armoured Corps and the Royal Marines during the fighting in northern France. As with all the books in the TankCraft series, a large part of this work showcases available model kits and aftermarket products, complemented by a gallery of beautifully constructed and painted models in various scales. Technical details as well as modifications introduced during production and in the field are also explained as is the complex system of markings employed by British armored regiments. This book will give the modeler all the information and knowledge required to recreate an authentic miniature representation of the tanks that fought from the beaches of Normandy, through the battles for Caen and on to killing fields of Falaise. “Provides a clear overview of the Sherman tank in British service during the Normandy Campaign. This will appeal to anyone with an interest in armoured warfare and the period covered. Much Recommended.”—Firetrench “A good-value reference for any Sherman fan, but particularly those new to the subject and who favour ‘Blighty’s’ armour.”—Airfix Model World

This lavishly illustrated volume details the design, development and operational history of the British-made tanks in World War II. Plagued by unreliable vehicles and poorly thought-out doctrine, the early years of World War II were years of struggle for Britain's tank corps. Relying on tanks built in the late 1930s, and those designed and built with limited resources in the opening years of the war, they battled valiantly against an opponent well versed in the arts of armoured warfare. This book is the second of a multi-volume history of British tanks by renowned British armour expert David Fletcher MBE. It covers the development and use of the Matilda, Crusader, and Valentine tanks that pushed back the Axis in North Africa, the much-improved Churchill that fought with distinction from North Africa to Normandy, and the excellent Cromwell tank of 1944–45. It also looks at Britain's super-heavy tank projects, the TOG1 and TOG2, and the Tortoise heavy assault tank, designed to smash through the toughest of battlefield conditions, but never put into production.

A history of the Tank Corps from 1919 up until the time when, as the Royal Tank Regiment, it went to war again in 1939. The book chronicles the events and innovations of the years between the wars.

In the narrative of D-Day the Canadians figure chiefly—if at all—as an ineffective force bungling their part in the early phase of Operation Overlord. The reality is quite another story. As both the Allies and the Germans knew, only Germany’s Panzers could crush Overlord in its tracks. The Canadians’ job was to stop the Panzers—which, as this book finally makes clear, is precisely what they did. Rescuing from obscurity one of the least understood and most important chapters in the history of D-Day, Stopping the Panzers is the first full account of how the Allies planned for and met the Panzer threat to Operation Overlord. As such, this book marks nothing less than a paradigm shift in our understanding of the Normandy campaign. Beginning with the Allied planning for Operation Overlord in 1943, historian Marc Milner tracks changing and expanding assessments of the Panzer threat, and the preparations of the men and units tasked with handling that threat. Featured in this was the 3rd Canadian Division, which, treated so dismissively by history, was actually the most powerful Allied formation to land on D-Day, with a full armored brigade and nearly 300 artillery and antitank guns under command. Milner describes how, over four days of intense and often brutal battle, the Canadians fought to a literal standstill the 1st SS Panzer Corps—which included the Wehrmacht’s 21st Panzer Division; its vaunted elite Panzer Lehr Division; and the rabidly zealous 12th SS Hitler Youth Panzer Division, whose murder of 157 Canadian POWs accounted for nearly a quarter of Canadian fatalities during the fighting. Stopping the Panzers sets this murderous battle within the wider context of the Overlord assault, offering a perspective that challenges the conventional wisdom about Allied and German combat efficiency, and leads to one of the freshest assessments of the D-Day landings and their pre-attack planning in more than a decade.