Review by Peter Brown

The account starts with the low state of US armoured units at the beginning of WW2, and its expansion, large-scale recruitment and training in the USA.
Alongside descriptions of tank crews at work and the battles of the 37th and its parent Combat Command and Division in the European campaign, we get insights into the high casualty rates, the gruelling pace of campaigning which allowed little time for rest or even washing, and how the 37th equipment evolved from 75mm Shermans through 76mm HVSS tanks including unit-standard modifications from chicken wire camouflage to 50-calibre coaxial machine guns and uparmoured tanks.

This is illustrated using original photos of tanks and men, as well as colour plates showing typical uniforms, tank interiors, unit organisation including the tank types and names of one Company, and Abram's own personal tanks, all named Thunderbolt, which reflected the unit's changes in equipment.

Unless we are lucky enough to meet a wartime veteran who is willing to recount their own clear memories, few of us get the chance to learn more of what they went through. The cover photo shows, in a way words cannot, the often overlooked face of armoured combat and the whole account is shows something those whose interest in armoured warfare is only as a distant, detached spectator will never experience. The United States and its Armored Force remembered Abrams by naming its current main battle tank after him, this account honours both him and those who served with him in a different but no less effective manner.

Page created 28 July 2004