Panzertruppen (Thomas L. Jentz)

review by Jonathon Fitzgerald

---

---

What can I say? These two books are surely the bible when it comes to Panzers! You can not read them like a normal book, though. When I am looking for some info in them I scan through the pages looking. Sometimes, during a quiet evening I will browse through the pages and always find something new that I never noticed before!

The information in these two volumes is staggering, every campaign is covered with orders of battles of the Panzer units involved. Everything down to the number of Panzers and Panzer type! Also included is charts showing day to day strengths of Panzers for some of the divisions.

There are also first hand accounts of Panzertruppen men describing their actions and experiences. There are reports from and to the Inspector-General of the Panzertruppen. I found the reports about the Panthers at Kursk and various reports about the Tiger Abteilungs most interesting. There are also some chapters thet describe tactics and formations. Also in just about every chapter there are charts showing the Kriegsstaerkenachweisungen or K.St.N of the Panzer Kompanie and Panzer Abteilung. These are the authorized wartime equipment tables. When you compare these with the actual strengths of certain Panzer units you can sometimes see a large difference.

At the end of each volume there are several Appendices. These have charts showing Panzer production, losses and inventory. There are technical specifications of British, French, American, Russian and German Tanks. There is also a section that has every Panzer Division, Regiment and Abteilung, Heer, SS and Luftwaffe with a small history like formation date and a few notes about battles.

All in all I am very impressed! There are a lot of good things in these two books! But there are also a few things that I would like to pick on:

• There is lots of info on the Panzer element of the Panzer Divisions but hardly any on the Panzer Grenadiers, Panzer Jaeger, Panzer Pioniere etc.
• The Tank specifications do not include the muzzle velocities or penetrations of the British, American, French or Russian tanks. It has the German but not the others.
• There could have been more info on the Panzer Divisions themselves. The Appendix showing all the Panzer units could have been more detailed showing where each Panzer Division was on what date and what Corps they were in.
• There is no index!!!!! Finding info can sometimes be very annoying unless you can remember what section or what page it is on!!!
• The chart showing the radios in the Panzers only goes up to 1942! It does not state when every German Panzer began to receive the Fu5!
• But, my nitpicks could be the result of being exposed to lots of good info and then wanting more!!!!

But, all in all I like this two volume series and think it is the best of it's kind! For sure worth the money...each volume is about $80 Canadian!!...only $50 in the U.S.!!! I recommend these for all the Panzer freaks, like me, that there are out there!!!

Book data

Volume 1: ISBN: 0887409156
JENTZ, THOMAS L. PANZERTRUPPEN - The Complete Guide to the Creation & Combat Employment of Germany's Tank Force - 1933-1942. Atglen, PA : Schiffer Military History, 1996.
[Buy now at Amazon.co.uk] [Buy now at Amazon.com]

Volume 2: ISBN: 0764300806
JENTZ, THOMAS L. PANZERTRUPPEN - The Complete Guide to the Creation & Combat Employment of Germany's Tank Force - 1943-1945. Atglen, PA : Schiffer Military History, 1996.
[Buy now at Amazon.co.uk] [Buy now at Amazon.com]

---

All contents written by Christian Ankerstjerne unless stated otherwise