Germany's Elite Panzer Force: Grossdeutschland

Grossdeutschland's historic rise from an Infantry Regiments to a Panzer Corps in six years with its consequent accretion in strength brought with it new military responsibilities. The Regiment started life Changing the Guard in pre-war Berlin, was later engaged in hard and testing battles in the central and southern sectors of the Eastern Front and eventually became 'Fuhrer's fire brigade' - put in wherever the need was greatest: whether for rock-like and unyielding defence or berserker courage in attack.

Progenitor of military units of outstanding and unusual abilities, Grossdeutschland and its successors never failed, even though death or wounding was the almost inevitable fate of the grenadiers, fusiliers, panzer men or SP gunners who wore the cuff band which pronounced their allegiance.

The Fuhrer's Escort detachment was formed out of the Grossdeutschland Infantry Regiment as was the Kurmark Panzer Grenadier Division and the Panzer Grenadier Division Brandenburg - Germany's cloak and dagger unit. In its own way this later was a crack unit and was selected to join with Panzer Grenadier Division Grossdeutschland to form the Panzer Corps of that name.

Grossdeutschland and its descendants fought almost exclusively on the Eastern Front and it was in the chaos of the final days that they died - not in death or glory battles but dispersed and scattered into little groups trying to escape from the omnipresent Soviet tanks.

The history of the Grossdeutschland formations is illustrated with photographs depicting the men, their weapons, the actions in which they fought and the enemy against whom they were pitted. Interviews, dairies, letters and unit histories have been used to try and bring to the reader the feel and bitter flavour of the intensity of war as it was fought on the Eastern Front, both in exhilaration of victory in the first years of campaigning and in the humiliation of successive defeats from 1943 to the end of the war in Europe.

James Lucas served with 1st Battalion, the Queens Own Royal West Kent Regiment, during the north African campaign and with the Queen's Royal West Surrey Regiment in Italy.

James Lucas
Hardcover with d/w 152pp Macdonald & Jane's 1978 1st Ed

Vg/Vg

Germany's Elite Panzer Force: Grossdeutschland