The heavy tanks and other armored vehicles of WWII Germany come vividly to life in this informative volume of detailed wartime photos. With rare, often unpublished photographs and enlightening captions, Hitler’s Heavy Tiger Tank Battalions provides a superb record of the Wehrmacht’s Schwere Panzerableilung. In addition to the Tiger I and II heavy tanks, these battalions were equipped with Panzer III medium tanks; Flakpanzer IV self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, halftrack special purpose vehicles, Kettenkrad gun tractors, and Berge Panther armored recovery vehicles. Between 1942 and 1945, heavy tank battalions saw action on the Eastern Front, Italy and North West Europe before being pushed back to Berlin for the final defensive battles. This volume features graphic photographs and descriptions of vehicles on operations in all these theatres. Modelers and equipment buffs in particular will find this Images of War book extremely useful and fascinating.

This book tells—with firsthand accounts as well as numerous, never-before-seen photographs—the combat history of German Tiger Tank Battalion 503, the senior Tiger battalion of the German Army, equipped with both the Tiger I and the King Tiger. The unit saw action in the attempted relief of Stalingrad, the tremendous tank engagements at Kursk, and the bitter fighting to relieve German units encircled at the Tscherkassy Pocket. It then defended against the Allies in Normandy in 1944, and ended the war with desperate fighting in Hungary and Austria.

"Although much is available about Tiger tanks' technical details and some of the most famous soldiers and units that employed them, until now, there has been little concerning the organization and tactical use of heavy tank battalions across the theaters in which they were employed. [Wilbeck] provides an in-depth look at heavy tank battalions' organizations and tactics, including the tactical doctrine by which these elite units were supposed to fight and case studies to illustrate how they were actually employed on the battlefield"--Page 4 of cover.

This fully illustrated WWII history presents an in-depth look at the Nazi war machine’s most fearsome armored vehicles. From July 1943 to the Nazis’ final defeat in May 1945, the Panther battle tank and its variants were the mainstay of Germany’s armored forces. This superbly engineered fighting vehicle offered a lethal combination of firepower, mobility, and protection. As this classic Images of War series title reveals, the Panther saw nonstop fighting on the Eastern, Western, and Italian fronts. Using 250 rare and often unpublished wartime photographs with full captions and authoritative text, it provides a comprehensive coverage of elite Panther battalions in action. This volume traces the development of the Panther Tank and also covers supporting vehicles within the Panther battalions. These included armored recovery, Bergepanther, halftracks, Sd.kfz.2 Kettenrad, gun tractors and communications vehicles.

A fully illustrated guide to the German Tiger I tank and its operations in the field by the renowned expert on WWII armored vehicles. At Hitler’s insistence, the first Tiger I tanks drove into action in Tunisia in December 1942. Despite their lack of reliability and the small number deployed, they quickly gained a fierce reputation. With its heavy armor and 88mm gun, the Tiger I outclassed all the Allied tanks then in service. Beyond their deployment in North Africa, they also operated in Sicily and Italy between 1943 and 1945. In his second volume in the TankCraft series on the Tiger, Dennis Oliver uses archive photos and extensively researched color illustrations to examine the Tiger tank and the German army units that first took them into combat. Perfect for model enthusiasts, Tiger I showcases available model kits and aftermarket products. It also includes 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 examined providing everything the modeler needs to recreate an accurate representation of the tanks.

This thesis is a historical analysis of the combat effectiveness of the German schwere Panzer-Abteilung or Heavy Tank Battalions during World War II. During the course of World War II, the German Army developed heavy tank battalions to fulfill the concept of breaking through enemy defenses so faster, lighter mechanized forces could exploit the rupture. These heavy tank battalions had several different tables of organization, but were always centered around either the Tiger or the Tiger II tank. They fought in virtually every theater of Europe against every enemy of Germany. Ultimately, the German military created eleven Army and three Waffen-SS heavy tank battalions. Of the Army battalions, the German command fielded ten as independent battalions, which were allocated to Army Groups as needed. The German Army assigned the last heavy tank battalion as an organic unit of the elite Panzer Grenadier Division Grossdeutschland. The Waffen-SS allocated all of their battalions to a different Waffen-SS Corps. Because these units were not fielded until late in 1942, they did not participate in Germany’s major offensive operations that dominated the early part of World War II. Germany’s strategic situation after mid-1943 forced their military onto the defensive. Consequently, there are very few instances when heavy tank battalions attacked as a breakthrough force. During the latter part of the war, they were used in many different ways to provide defensive assistance along very wide frontages. This study assesses the German heavy tank battalions as generally effective, primarily because of the high kill ratio they achieved. However, based upon observations from a wide variety of examples, this study also outlines several areas where changes may have increased their effectiveness.

WWII began with a metallic roar as the German Blitzkrieg raced across Europe, spearheaded by the most dreaded weapon of the 20th century: the Panzer. No German tank better represents that thundering power than the infamous Tiger, and Otto Carius was one of the most successful commanders to ever take a Tiger into battle, destroying well over 150 enemy tanks during his incredible career.