Military Model Scene

Title: Panzer Crewman
Author: Simon Forty and Richard Charlton-Taylor
Publisher: Casemate
ISBN: 978-1-63624-460-0

A new title in the Casemate Illustrated series, a 128-page soft-cover book.
This one starts with a 4-page timeline of events, starting from the formation of the Karma Tank Training school in the Soviet Union in 1929, and goes through to the final Tiger being knocked out in Berlin in the May of 1945. Then we get into the detail, beginning with a look at Panzer production over the years, the various types over the years and so on. Then we get to the Tank Soldier, their training, their uniforms, their awards and decorations. We move on to The Units, the Panzer organisation, the unit numbering and markings. It includes the establishments of the Panzer divisions and the heavy tank battalions. The Panzers themselves are all covered, from the Pz I, II, III and IV, the 38(t), the Panther and Tigers. This includes a particular look at the Schachtellaufwerk, the interleaved roadwheels seen on both the Panther and Tiger variants. More specialised equipment featured include Funklenkpanzer (radio-controlled tanks), Beutepanzer (captured tanks), bridgelayers, recovery tanks, AA tanks, as well as covering ammunition, stowage, radios, crew duties and positions in the different panzers and even camouflage. It moves on to explain mobility, traffic control, river crossings, tank maintenance in WW2, plus a look at the specialised track links of the Winterketten and Ostketten track links. Additional coverage deals with the tactics employed by the German panzer forces, the use of command tanks and how tanks were used in both attack and withdrawal phases and closing with notes on life in the field for a panzer crewman and all rounded off with a conclusion. The book is heavily illustrated throughout, with some excellent artwork as well as plenty of detail on show in the archive photos that have been selected for the book.
This makes for useful reminder that whatever quality a tank may have, it is still dependent on an equally good crew to get the best from it. Over the years, and with combat experience, German tank crews in WW2 were the vital part of the effectiveness of the panzers throughout the war, in times of both success and even failure. The tanks themselves improved a great deal between the Panzer 1 of 1939 and the large Tiger II of 1945. For the tank enthusiast, and for the armour modeller in particular, this is a very handy reference, with a lot of detail included all within the one book. In addition to the informative text, useful data tables, good artwork and some well chosen archive photos, I think this is definitely one to have on your reference bookshelf, and good value for money as well.
Thanks to Script Military for the review copy.

Robin