Panzerwrecks
7Ostfront
Lee Archer and William Auerbach
Published by Panzerwrecks
ISBN 978-095559404-5
http://www.panzerwrecks.com
96 pages soft cover
Review by Terry Ashley
This seventh volume in the Panzerwrecks series differs slightly from the previous volumes in concentrating on a single campaign, that being the war on the Ostfront (Eastern Front) but still follows the same theme with images of destroyed or disabled German armour.
The format of the soft cover book has mostly large images, many being just one to a page with the text confined to image captions to maximise the space for the images and this results in images large enough to show details that would be hard to see in smaller as well as a few pages with 3 or 4 images per page with close-up shots.
Some of the images are not the best quality due to the age but the full page size compensates for this in a number of the shots while others still offer plenty of interest and give an excellent insight into the final years of the war and the fate of the majority of German kit around that time.
The first five pages are a series of shots showing various Panzer IV, StuG III and Panther wrecks after the battles in Uman, Ukraine with most in the usual state of disrepair and this is followed by 13 pages with unrelated images of various wrecked panzers.
These included shots of Panthers of SS-Pz.Rgt.3, 3.SS Panzer Division in a series of 3 photos of the same vehicles from various angles for a good overall coverage as well as single shots of Pz.Sfl.1 für 7.62cm Pak36, Panzerjäger II 7.5cm Pak40/2, Wespe, a munitions Wespe, a couple of Panzer III Ls, Bergpanther, Munitionspanzer IV which is quite an unusual type and 2 shots of a disembowelled Hummel which is often the fate of these vehicles.
Next is a series of shots over 7 pages showing the remains of various Panzer IVs and StuG IIIs cut off and systematically destroyed by the Russians in the area of Chernivtsi, Ukraine and offer some interesting details of the vehicles and the damage sustained for some good diorama potential for those who like to build disabled type models.
The next 26 pages have various unrelated photos that include shots of Panthers including an interesting shot of a Panther G with combination of standard exhaust pipe and Flammenvernichter muffler and some shots with the abandoned Panther covered in layers of snow and ice for anyone wanting a real challenging diorama scene.
There are also further shots of Panzer IVs, StuG IIIs, Tiger I, Tiger II, Panzer IV/70(A), a couple of interesting shots of a destroyed Möbelwagen and more shots of disembowelled Hummels for a good variety of vehicles with different paint and zimmerit finishes.
The following pages have shots of Turán I and IIs caught while still loaded on train flatcars that show some excellent details of these vehicles as not all are totally destroyed although most have some form of damage there is still plenty of detail on show. The captions are a bit more extensive with these shots to explain more on the type of vehicle shown and the circumstances of their fate.
Next is another shot of a disembowelled Hummel, do they end up any other way? And more shots of disabled Tiger IIs (3 pages), Panzer IV/70(V)s, and a couple of interesting shots of intact and running Jagdpanzer IV, Panzer IV/H and jagdpanzer 38(t) being operated by Bulgarian forces sporting large red with white outline stars on the front and side armour for anyone wanting a different finish for their model.
More shots of disabled Panzer IVs, Panzer IV/70(V), Tiger I & II follow as well as a shot of a destroyed T-26 that was being used by the Germans and some distant shots of a destroyed ADGZ armoured car, an extensively shot up RSO/01 and Pak40, a single shot of a Ford V3000 Maultier and more shots of abandoned StuG IIIs.
The final 8 pages have some rather grainy shots of surrendered vehicles in Kurland in May 1945 and while the quality is not the best the sheer number of vehicle sparked in rows is quite impressive. Many different vehicle types are included in the shots with Panzer IV's, Hummels, Wespes, Jagdpanzers, a side on shot of an Sd.Kfz.9 with 6t Bilstern crane and various Sd.Kfz.234s, 250 and 251 half tracks and Jagdpanzer 38(t)s. There are also a few obscure shots of captured T-34, SU85 and M4A2 Sherman with German markings.
While the quality of some shots is a little lacking the size of the photos still allows reasonable details to be shown not only of the vehicles but of the cam schemes including where not obliterated by fire and the informative captions also add to the value of the photos and this series continues to be an invaluable reference for the modeller of late war German equipment.
Highly recommended.
Thanks to Panzerwrecks for the review book.