Panzer Aces

PANZER TANK CREWS–the most feared fighting men on earth

On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland and ignited World War II with a revolutionary fighting force that would forever change the face of war. The key to blitzkrieg–“lightning war”–was large scale deployment of Panzers, German armored tanks. Aided by the tremendous air power of deadly screaming Stukas, Panzer battalions attacked swiftly, violently, smashing through enemy lines, destroying supplies and artillery positions, and shattering the enemy’s will to resist. The sheer scale of rapid-fire victories amazed the world and elevated the tank soldiers to an almost mythical status.

Panzer Aces chronicles the battles of six decorated officers who helped create the legend. Based on extensive research, these gripping narratives of D day at Normandy, the bloody campaigns in Italy, the ferocious combat at Kursk–the greatest armored battle in the history of war–and many others offer resounding evidence of how the armored tank, in German hands, became the twentieth century’s single most important development in land fighting.

From the Paperback edition.