COMBAT HISTORY OF SCHWERE PANZERJAGER-ABTEILUNG 654

The Combat History of schwere Panzerjager-Abteilung 654: In Action in the East and West with the Ferdinand and the Jagdpanther". An awesome production featuring 750 period photographs (including three in colour), 32 pages of full-colour vehicle profiles, scale drawings by Hilary L Doyle, and fourteen pages of organisational charts. Schwere Panzer-Abteilung 654 was one of the two heavy tank destroyer formations of the German Army to be equipped with the heavy Ferdinand tank destroyer. It earned a further distinction as one of the few formations to have also fielded the Jagdpanther, one of the most famous tank destroyers of World War II. Karl-Heinz Munch, using primary sources and largely unpublished photographs from and about this battalion, has written what must be considered the definitive history of this little-known aspect of World War II. Munch is assisted in his yeoman efforts by the superb colour artwork (Kolacha), masterful unit organisational charts (Waldemar Trojca) and highly accurate scale drawings (H L Doyle). In addition to hundreds of previously unpublished period photographs - including what must be every picture ever taken of the Jagdpanther with this battalion - is a text that combines original history, first-hand accounts and the complete war diaries of the battalion from late 1943 onward. Starting the war as Panzerjager-Abteilung 654, the battalion fielded the standard towed anti-tank guns of the period. Fighting in the French Campaign, it went on to the war in Russia, where it was badly mauled in the winter of 1942-1943 and withdrawn from front-line service for refitting. The battalion was hurriedly outfitted with the new Ferdinand tank destroyer, made a part of schwere Panzerjager-Regiment 656 - the largest anti-tank formation in the German Army - and participated in the fighting at Kursk and Orel in the summer of 1943. The battalion was ordered to turn in its remaining serviceable Ferdinands to its sister battalion (schwere Panzerjager-Abteilung 653) and was returned to occupied Europe for refitting with the newest tank destroyer, the Jagdpanther. Not completely outfitted with the new vehicle, portions of the battalion were committed against the Allied landings in Normandy in 1944. The battalion then fought against Allied forces in south-west Germany and along the Rhine from late 1944 on. A quality Fedorowicz publication.