Military Model Scene

Title: German Armor in Normandy
Author: Yves Buffetaut
Publisher: Casemate
ISBN: 978-1-61200-643-7

A recent release in the Casemate Illustrated series, a 128-page soft-cover book. This is a new English edition of a book originally published in French, by Histoire & Collections, back in 2004.
This one starts off with a Timeline of events, from invasion on 6th June, through to the end of the Battle of the Falaise Pocket in August. A 10 week period from start to finish. The rest of the story is spread across 4 main sections, beginning with an explanation of the make up of a 1944-Type Panzer Division. The Panzer Regiments, Reconnaissance Battalion, Artillery Regiment and the various other component parts of the division. Having seen the theoretical organisation of a 1944 era Panzer Division, the next section takes us through each of the various armoured units involved in the Normandy campaign. The divisions are tackled in the order they became involved in the fighting, and give us the details of their creation, evolution and equipment as it actually was, not so much their combat story. It is the next section, on the Panzers in the battles of June and July where we see how the various units fared during the earlier parts of the campaign. This leaves the final parts of the story for the final section, covering Goodwood and Cobra, and including the failure of the Mortain counter offensive and the losses of the Falaise Pocket. It leaves just a page for an Afterword to summarise the situation at the end of the Battle for Normandy.
In addition to the text , the book is well illustrated thoughout with some great detail in the archive photos which are featured. I particularly liked the number of photos which showcased the use of natural foliage to help camouflage the panzers, both on the move and in static positions. To add to it all, there are plenty of more specific Profiles sprinkled throughout the book. These cover some of the German commanders, along with a fine selection of colour artwork showing various German AFVs in use.
This one obviously focuses on the German side of the story, and I felt is does a good job if it. Once again a good value book with plenty of useful references for the modeller and wargamer as well as the history enthusiast.
Thanks to Script Books for the review copy.

Robin