Panzer Warfare Aid

[Hercule Poirot]

My friends and I are doing a project on panzer warfare in World War II. Besides the Achtung Panzer website what other good sources are there-my teacher especially wants primary sources.

[Life In Black]

Originally Posted by Hercule Poirot

My friends and I are doing a project on panzer warfare in World War II. Besides the Achtung Panzer website what other good sources are there-my teacher especially wants primary sources.

Books are your friends.

Heinz Guderian - Achtung - Panzer!
Heinz Guderian - Panzer Leader
F.W. von Mellenthin - Panzer Battles
Erhard Raus - Panzer Operations: The Eastern Front Memoir of General Raus, 1941-1945
Hans von Luck - Panzer Commander: The memoirs of Colonel Hans von Luck
Otto Carius - Tigers In The Mud

[Color-Copycat]

That one book written by de Gaulle shortly after the First World War. Forget what's it's called, but I think it might be "Army of the Future".

[Life In Black]

Originally Posted by Color-Copycat

That one book written by de Gaulle shortly after the First World War. Forget what's it's called, but I think it might be "Army of the Future".

Well, he asked about panzer warfare during WWII, so while something like that might be a good reference with which to compare Panzer tactics with say the Allies, it doesn't really give a first hand account. More appropriate in my opinion would be anything by J. F. C. Fuller and B. H. Liddell Hart. These would go hand-in-hand with Guderian's Achtung-Panzer!

[aktarian]

Originally Posted by Life In Black

Hans von Luck - Panzer Commander: The memoirs of Colonel Hans von Luck

Stay the fuck away from this crap!

A very good book is Christopher W. Wilbeck "Sledgehammers: Strengths and Flaws of Tiger Battalions in World War II". A good analysis of doctrine and practical use of Tiger battalions. Decent list of sources in the end.

David M. Glantz covers several battles in detail (e.g. Kursk). His bibliography is a treasure trove of primary sources so you'll know what to look for.

A book I highly recomend is Valeriy Zamulin "Demolishing the Myth: Tank Battle at Prokhorovka, Kursk, July 1943: an Operational Narrative", covers Prokhorovka kerfuffle (and Kursk in general) from Soviet side. (good companion to Glantz's "The Battle of Kursk")

Then you should check Armor magazine. They often cover WW2 doctrine, battles, people..... Just browse back issues.

[Shaby]

I'd add Dennis Showalter's 'Hitler's Panzers: The Lightning Attacks that Revolutionized Warfare'. Rather nice book.

[Maponus]

If you an real obsessive dig up Fuller - the mad British general whose theorising started it all!

[Grey Wolf]

Arms and Armour do profile softback A4-sized books on all sorts of individual tanks - for example I had one on the Mauss

I've also got somewhere, bought relatively cheaply off Alibris I think, a book that is basically somebody's log - eg a Panzer commander's logbook, which was quite interesting. No idea where it is now tho!

Best Regards
Grey Wolf