Waffen-Ss Armour On The Eastern Front 1941 1945

Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union, codename Operation Barbarossa, was arguably the pivotal moment of the Second World War. Initially the onslaught was staggeringly successful with, as the superb contemporary images in this book show, Waffen- SS armored divisions leading the charge. But the Nazis had underestimated the Russians' determination to defend their homeland and the logistical problems compounded by the extreme winter weather conditions.After early victories such as the recapture of Kharkov in early 1943 and the Kursk offensive, commanders and crews of armored vehicles such as [...].I, II, III, IV, Panther, Tiger, King Tiger, assault and self-propelled guns had to adapt their tactics and equipment to what became a desperate defensive withdrawal eventually back across a scarred and devastated Eastern Front. Even during the last months of the war as the Panzers withdrew through Poland and into the Reich, these exhausted elite units, broken down into small battle groups or...