The Tank Killers, Harry Yeide
The Tank Killers, Harry Yeide
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The Tank Killers
A History of America's World War II Tank Destroyer Force

Author: Harry Yeide

Narrator: Bob Souer

Unabridged: 9 hr 24 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 05/08/2018


Synopsis

The Tank Killers is the story of the American Tank Destroyer Force in North Africa, Italy, and the European Theater during World War II. The tank destroyer (TD) was a bold—if some would say flawed—answer to the challenge posed by the seemingly unstoppable German blitzkrieg. The TD was conceived to be light and fast enough to outmaneuver panzer forces and go where tanks could not. At the same time, the TD would wield the firepower needed to kill any German tank on the battlefield. Indeed, American doctrine stipulated that TDs would fight tanks, while American tanks would concentrate on achieving and exploiting breakthroughs of enemy lines.

The Tank Killers follows the men who fought in the TDs from the formation of the force in 1941 through the victory over the Third Reich in 1945. It is a story of American flexibility and pragmatism in military affairs. Tankdestroyers were among the very first units to land in North Africa in 1942. Their first vehicles were ad hoc affairs: Halftracks and weapons carriers with guns no better than those on tanks and thin armor affording the crews considerably less protection. Almost immediately, the crews realized that their doctrine was incomplete. They began adapting to circumstances, along with their partners in the infantry and armored divisions.

About Harry Yeide

Harry Yeide has been a national security affairs analyst for the federal government for twenty-seven years. He received a BA in political science and German from Muhlenberg College in 1982 and an MA in international affairs from the George Washington University in 1984. In his position with the federal government he has worked as a political, terrorism, and economic analyst on the Soviet Bloc, the Balkans, the Aegean, East Asia, South Asia, Africa, and Latin America, and he has served in numerous assignments overseas. He is the author of a number of works of military history, including The Longest Battle and First to the Rhine.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Wai on July 10, 2020

This could be a good book. But sadly it fells short. Author try to cram all tank destroyer units that had ever fought in WWII into this book. The result is incoherent narrative which jump from one place to another. Never fully telling the story. It was like reading the compilation of the scraps from t......more

Goodreads review by Jimy on July 24, 2018

I loved every minute, the detail of the conflict from unit to unit, theatre to theatre drew me to those very places and put me on the ground with the men. I am a keen military vehicle enthusiast and the information provided about the evolution of the equipment they had on hand from the start of the......more

Goodreads review by Brian on April 23, 2013

Solid backing research, but I wish this had dealt more with the evolution of doctrine as the war progressed and just worked at a larger level instead of repeatedly dipping down to a small scale and quoting from unit-level AARs about what this one crew did this one time. It's too fragmented, there's......more

Goodreads review by Al on May 16, 2013

I picked this up a while ago, but did not really start it.. After just completing a couple of books on the battle of the bulge I had to get a better understanding of what they were and how they were used.... Great book with serious insight, I have coupled reading this with a book on the M10's of WWI......more

Goodreads review by Daniel on December 12, 2017

Tank Killers - The Unsung Heroes Tank Killers: A History of America's World War II Tank Destroyer Force, by Harry Yeide, actually deserves six stars in my mind for the sheer volume of research within its pages. Since I am currently addicted to the online game, World of Tanks (I know there are people......more