Tank Wrecks of the Western Front 1940-1945

Early in the Second World War in Western Europe the German victors regularly photographed and posed with destroyed or abandoned Allied armour. During their invasion of France the Germans left 4,500 smashed French tanks in their wake, and these were a popular subject for their photographs. Then, when the tide of the war turned against them in 1944-5, their wrecked and burnt-out panzers were photographed by the victorious Allies during the key battles for Normandy and the Ardennes.

These wartime photographers created an extraordinary record of the many thousands of tank wrecks that littered the battlefields, and Anthony Tucker-Jones has selected a fascinating visual guide to the fate of the numerous types of tank employed by the American, British, French and German armies throughout the conflict. All the principal tanks are represented - Renaults, Matildas, Churchills, Shermans, Panzer IVs, Panthers and Tigers along with many others - so the book gives an insight into the rapid development of tank design during the war.

It also shows how vulnerable these armoured vehicles were - and how lethal they could be for their crews - when they were hit by anti-tank guns and air attacks. Tanks Wrecks of the Western Front will be absorbing reading and reference for anyone who is interested in the history of armoured warfare, and it will be a useful visual guide for modellers.

160 b/w illustrations

About the Author

Anthony Tucker-Jones is a former defence intelligence officer and a widely published expert on regional conflicts, counter-terrorism and armoured and aerial warfare. He is the author of numerous books including Falaise: The Flawed Victory, Operation Dragoon: The Liberation of Southern France 1944, Armoured Warfare on the Eastern Front, Tiger I & Tiger II, T-34: The Red Army's Legendary Medium Tank, The Panther Tank: Hitler's T-34 Killer, The Battle for Budapest 1944-1945, The Panzer IV: Hitler's Rock, Armoured Warfare and the Waffen-SS 1944-1945, T-54/55: The Soviet Army's Cold War Main Battle Tank, The Battle for the Caucasus 1942-1943 and Tank Wrecks of the Eastern Front 1941-1945.