It is surprising that atter more that sixty years atter the end of WWII, new information about the vehicles involved in this terrible conflict still arises regularly. For this reason, it is sad that some publications only repeat the same tired photos and information copied from previous books, and that only contribute to perpetuating myths and misconceptions of the past. In contrast, other researchers, who are also enthusiasts, dedicate their efforts to dig up new information in archives or recover photographs and memories from the veterans. By doing diligent research they manage not only to find new interesting images, but also to locate them in their proper context.

The paradigm of this kind of new style of publications is the Panzerwrecks series, edited by Lee Archer and William Auerbach. The latest volume is the fourth and has the same format as the previous issues, with 96 pages in a landscape format, covering images of German vehicles in the very last stages of WWII. Many of these photographs show abandoned and destroyed vehicles, but some are also in an operational state still in the hands of the German army, and frequently in the process of surrendering to the Allies. The sources of the excellent photos included in Panzerwrecks are mostly of two types. Some came from the veterans who took photographs as souvenirs of their dramatic experience in the war, and whose collections are gradually emerging. In other cases the images come from the movies recorded by the military cameramen, from which stills are obtained following the modern digitisation techniques. Given the nature of these sources, sometimes the photographs are not of the best technical quality, but they are always of great interest because of their novelty, the characteristics of the vehicle shown, or the circumstances in which they were taken. Moreover, each photo is accompanied by a very informative and well-researched caption, identifying the vehicle, the location, the unit to which it belonged, and the date, or, when such precision is not possible, at least an educated guess based on the available data.

In this fourth volume of Panzerwrecks the reader will find several images of the elusive SdKfz 234 family, which, no doubt, is an excellent timing considering the release by Dragon of their excellent models of these vehicles. There are photos of Pumas, Pakwagens, and even some rarities such as an SdKfz 234 with a 2cm gun mount usually seen in the SdKfz 251/17, or a real oddity, an SdkFz 234 hull with a Panzer II Luchs turret, as probably used by the 17 PzDiv. Other personal highlights are the images of the Panthers disguised as US M-10 tank destroyers in the Ardennes, the Tiger II factory in Kassel, the surrendering of PzAAFHH with their SdKfz 250, 251, and trucks, or the surprising images of veterans such as a Panzer I Ausf. A and a Renault FTl7 (!) rolling again. If that wasn't enough, there are the "usual" photos of Panthers, Jagdpanthers, Panzer IV's, StuG's, and Jagdpanzer IV's.

In conclusion, this fourth volume of Panzerwrecks follows the superb trend of the first three volumes. This series is becoming a cult classic and is an unmatched reference for both modellers and enthusiasts of German vehicles of WWII.

Highly recommended.

Review by Antonio Martín Tello

Reproduced by kind permission of Xtreme Modelling Magazine (opens in a new window)