Armor in Normandy ─ Allied and German Forces 1944

Tanks were the deciding factor in many Second World War battles. Capable of achieving breakthroughs where infantrymen could not, armored warfare became a crucial factor in the war machines of many nations. Throughout the summer of 1944, both the Allied forces and the Germans readily employed tanks and armored vehicles to gain ground in the bloody campaign of Normandy, where they battled their way through enemy lines. From the US 2nd Armored Division named ‘Hell on Wheels’ and the British tank The Achilles, to the German Tiger and Panther tanks, the encounters they had in battle were explosive, as each side struggled to enact the killer blow.This volume of the Casemate Illustrated series explores the Normandy invasion from the perspective of the armored divisions of both the Allies and the Germans, looking at how armored vehicles played a central role in the many battles that took place. The struggle to gain control of Caen after the allies had landed on the beaches of Normandy was one such battle, resulting in the ferocious German Tiger tanks destroying the 7th Armoured Division, with British losses totaling twenty-seven tanks. With detailed diagrams and many photos illustrating the composition of the forces and the armored brigades in Normandy, this volume gives a glimpse into how events unfolded for both sides after the D-Day landings and the strategies the commanders devised for the tanks in offensives such as Operation Cobra and Operation Goodwood. Also included are over 80 profiles of tanks and other armored vehicles.