Military Model Scene

Title: The German Infantryman on the Eastern Front
Author: Simon Forty and Richard Charlton-Taylor
Publisher: Casemate
ISBN: 978-1-63624-361-0

Another new title in the Casemate Illustrated series, a 128-page soft-cover book, and an obvious companion piece to their other similar book on the Soviet Infantryman.
Starting with a Timeline of key events and an Introduction which sets the scene for the story of the German infantryman in their war against Russia on the Eastern Front in WW2, from the initial successes of Operation Barbarossa, to their final defeat in 1945. There are pieces on the rewards for soldiers with medals and other awards, as well as the punishment that could be expected for those who did things wrong. There are also notes on Partisans, where the brutal treatment of them can be viewed as a mistake. The Solider is the next topic, with recruitment, training and numbers are included, focussing on Wehrmacht units, but also mentioning other units such as the Waffen-SS, foreign volunteers etc. and includes detail of their uniforms (summer and winter), personal equipment, infantry weapons. Then it moves on to tackle Transport & Services, where the sheer size of Russia presented extra challenges to the German army, whose infantry divisions remained largely on foot and heavily reliant on horse-drawn equipment. Communication and Medical services are among other topics in this section. The remaining chapters deal with Strategy & Tactics, describing a wide variety of scenarios, and Life in the Field before a final Conclusion rounds off the book as a whole.
Accompanied by archive photos and some artwork featuring maps and to assist the text in explaining the various tactical scenarios. There is a lot of interesting detail in here, and it does follow the basic structure of their book on Soviet troops which makes the 2 books useful additions to your reference shelf.
Thanks to Casemate for our review copy.

Robin