I got a copy of this book (freebie, thankfully!) earlier this week and flicked through it to find the appalling choice of photos. As mentioned in an earlier comment here, P&S delegate responsibility for accuracy to the author. It'd be interesting to get his take on what on earth happened here.
I did some digging on the photos and as a result did a thread on the book on Twitter (under @rivetsandpins). As part of this, I discovered that photo no. 4 above (Hetzer) isn't even a photo from WW2. It's a re-enactment in Texas in 2009 with the running Hetzer from the Texas Military Forces Museum.
I've supplied feedback to P&S who have said they'll pass it on to the relevant person. Frankly, I don't expect any feedback from them.
If I'd paid £14.99 for the hard copy, I'd be furious. When you spot so many bad photos/captions just flicking through the book, you start to seriously doubt the accuracy of the text before you read it.
Well thanks to everyone here and the people who emailed me direct, including Quentin, Brad, Gary John and Robert. A few more complimentaries yet to be sent out for the most informed comments.
I think I can now summarise as follows:
1. Panzer IV Ausf. F2/G of the 4th Panzer Army passes by infantry near the Stalingrad-Morozosvk railway on the outskirts of Stalingrad, August 1942. So in all probability this is a dusting of concrete or similar from the smashed buildings in the city, not snow.
2. Panzergrenadier-SS Kampfgruppe Hansen in action during clashes in Poteau against Task Force Myers, 18 December 1944. Battle of the Bulge.
NB I have discovered Alamy are charging as much as a £179 to use this image … or you can get the free version from Wikimedia Commons.
3. An American car from the 26th Infantry Division of the US Army is driving past a Hetzer tank destroyer (Jagdpanzer 38(t)) destroyed on the road in the Saarlautern area (now Saarlouis). Number on the image suggests it was originally a US Army image.
4. The Jagdpanzer 38 (Sd.Kfz. 138/2), originally the leichter Panzerjäger 38(t), known mostly post-war as Hetzer, was a German light tank destroyer of the Second World War based on a modified Czechoslovakian Panzer 38(t) chassis. Starting from April 1944, about 2584 were built until the end of the war.
5. Platoon commander 5th company 112 5 Panzer Brigade (Panzer-Brigade 112) 47th Armoured Corps of the Wehrmacht confers with the commanders of the platoon tank Panzerkampfwagen IV (PzKpfw IV), commonly known as the Panzer IV, On the sleeve of the jacket of the platoon commander (Center) is located shield patch Crimea , turret machine gun MG 34/42 . Series of photographs was taken for propaganda purposes in the region of Lorraine France September 1944.
6. German soldiers near a Soviet IS-2 tank that was destroyed during a battle in Jelgava, a city in central Latvia. The IS-2 entered combat in World War II during the first months of 1944.
7. Dieppe, 19.8.1942, destroyed "Churchill" tank of the 14th Canadian Army Tank Regiment (Calgary Tanks),
As usual Pen & Sword get sent copies of my reviews ...
Thanks for your comment TR. As I hope I made clear these images were chosen by Stephen Wynn for his book on Dunkirk and they are his captions …
I was sent this book for review by Pen and Sword and decided just to do a preview rather than write my own commentary. Someone else has suggested I should have waited until April 1st. Not so much to publicise it as to illustrate what is being published these days!
Anyway I'm glad you enjoy WW2Today - usually - and since you are the first to comment I'll be sending you a complimentary subscription for three months.
Churchill tanks weren't at Dunkirk either. The enemy troops looking at the tank would have to the Dieppe landing which of course was in 1942. The first time Churchill tanks were used in combat. There is a American truck in the photo with the dead body. It also looks like a SPG.
None of above pics are from May-June 1940. #6 is a Russian IS-2 (1944-45). #4 is a Hetzer, it wasn't deployed until 1944. #2 is a very well-known picture of the Battle of the Bulge. #5 Panzer-IV were armed with the short-barreled 75mm in 1940 and didn't have 3 tone camouflage you can see in the pic back then, just the panzer grey... Seems to me that the copy of the book you received is still a work in progress with aleatory pics in place of the real ones.
I agree with the previous posts regarding the inaccuracy of some of the photos. Here are some of my observations. If I am mistaken on any of these, please correct me.
Photo 1) It looks to me like there is actually a dusting of snow on the ground. The white paint on the soldier's helmet is most likely snow camouflage and not to indicate he is a medic. The soldier sitting next to him looks to have some white paint on his helmet as well. As others have stated, most likely the Eastern Front.
Photo 2) The soldier in the rear appears to be carrying a different type of rifle. Perhaps a Gewehr 43 or captured M1 Carbine? Both of these rifles were issued post Dunkirk.
Photo 3) The American vehicle on the left looks like a Dodge WC-52 which would not have been in service during Dunkirk.
Photo 5) The soldier with the glasses and iron cross is also wearing a sleeve shield. German soldiers would not have been wearing sleeve shields at Dunkirk as they were not yet instituted. This shield looks perhaps like one for Crimea which would have been 1942.
*** Thanks Martin for continuing the great work on this site. I have been visiting it for years and am happy to support your renewed efforts with the small subscription fee. All the best! ***
I'm struggling with these pictures having been taken in 1940 around Dunkirk. 7 is a Churchill with a maple leaf on the front suggesting a Canadian unit and so is probably from Dieppe in 1942. 6 is a destroyed Russian tank in the rubble. The panzer in 5 looks like a IVh to me with the long barrel 75mm and extra armour around the turret so is probably from 1944. 4 is a Jagdpanzer 38(t) which only appeared in 1943. In 3 the British vehicle is an American (or Canadian) built vehicle from later in the war. In 2 we see an M3 White halftrack so Dunkirk is again an impossibility, and in 1 we see another long barrelled PzIV from later in the war. I really enjoyed the original WW2 today and followed it for a decade but if we are now simply publicising what seem to be inaccurate books then I'm out. Very sad.
Yes, I am struggling with the photographs as well as most are not from Dunkirk. The first photo showing the German soldiers in the trench and the long-barrelled Panzer Mk IV is from the outskirts of Stalingrad, not Dunkirk! Surely the editors at Pen & Sword did not allow such profound mistakes in one of their books? Even someone with a passing interest in WWII history should know most of these images show post-Dunkirk tanks and equipment?
I got a copy of this book (freebie, thankfully!) earlier this week and flicked through it to find the appalling choice of photos. As mentioned in an earlier comment here, P&S delegate responsibility for accuracy to the author. It'd be interesting to get his take on what on earth happened here.
I did some digging on the photos and as a result did a thread on the book on Twitter (under @rivetsandpins). As part of this, I discovered that photo no. 4 above (Hetzer) isn't even a photo from WW2. It's a re-enactment in Texas in 2009 with the running Hetzer from the Texas Military Forces Museum.
I've supplied feedback to P&S who have said they'll pass it on to the relevant person. Frankly, I don't expect any feedback from them.
If I'd paid £14.99 for the hard copy, I'd be furious. When you spot so many bad photos/captions just flicking through the book, you start to seriously doubt the accuracy of the text before you read it.
Well thanks to everyone here and the people who emailed me direct, including Quentin, Brad, Gary John and Robert. A few more complimentaries yet to be sent out for the most informed comments.
I think I can now summarise as follows:
1. Panzer IV Ausf. F2/G of the 4th Panzer Army passes by infantry near the Stalingrad-Morozosvk railway on the outskirts of Stalingrad, August 1942. So in all probability this is a dusting of concrete or similar from the smashed buildings in the city, not snow.
2. Panzergrenadier-SS Kampfgruppe Hansen in action during clashes in Poteau against Task Force Myers, 18 December 1944. Battle of the Bulge.
NB I have discovered Alamy are charging as much as a £179 to use this image … or you can get the free version from Wikimedia Commons.
3. An American car from the 26th Infantry Division of the US Army is driving past a Hetzer tank destroyer (Jagdpanzer 38(t)) destroyed on the road in the Saarlautern area (now Saarlouis). Number on the image suggests it was originally a US Army image.
4. The Jagdpanzer 38 (Sd.Kfz. 138/2), originally the leichter Panzerjäger 38(t), known mostly post-war as Hetzer, was a German light tank destroyer of the Second World War based on a modified Czechoslovakian Panzer 38(t) chassis. Starting from April 1944, about 2584 were built until the end of the war.
5. Platoon commander 5th company 112 5 Panzer Brigade (Panzer-Brigade 112) 47th Armoured Corps of the Wehrmacht confers with the commanders of the platoon tank Panzerkampfwagen IV (PzKpfw IV), commonly known as the Panzer IV, On the sleeve of the jacket of the platoon commander (Center) is located shield patch Crimea , turret machine gun MG 34/42 . Series of photographs was taken for propaganda purposes in the region of Lorraine France September 1944.
6. German soldiers near a Soviet IS-2 tank that was destroyed during a battle in Jelgava, a city in central Latvia. The IS-2 entered combat in World War II during the first months of 1944.
7. Dieppe, 19.8.1942, destroyed "Churchill" tank of the 14th Canadian Army Tank Regiment (Calgary Tanks),
As usual Pen & Sword get sent copies of my reviews ...
Thanks for your comment TR. As I hope I made clear these images were chosen by Stephen Wynn for his book on Dunkirk and they are his captions …
I was sent this book for review by Pen and Sword and decided just to do a preview rather than write my own commentary. Someone else has suggested I should have waited until April 1st. Not so much to publicise it as to illustrate what is being published these days!
Anyway I'm glad you enjoy WW2Today - usually - and since you are the first to comment I'll be sending you a complimentary subscription for three months.
Yes I did check the date! Thank you for all your efforts over the years too - and for the subscription, most generous.
Churchill tanks weren't at Dunkirk either. The enemy troops looking at the tank would have to the Dieppe landing which of course was in 1942. The first time Churchill tanks were used in combat. There is a American truck in the photo with the dead body. It also looks like a SPG.
None of above pics are from May-June 1940. #6 is a Russian IS-2 (1944-45). #4 is a Hetzer, it wasn't deployed until 1944. #2 is a very well-known picture of the Battle of the Bulge. #5 Panzer-IV were armed with the short-barreled 75mm in 1940 and didn't have 3 tone camouflage you can see in the pic back then, just the panzer grey... Seems to me that the copy of the book you received is still a work in progress with aleatory pics in place of the real ones.
I agree with the previous posts regarding the inaccuracy of some of the photos. Here are some of my observations. If I am mistaken on any of these, please correct me.
Photo 1) It looks to me like there is actually a dusting of snow on the ground. The white paint on the soldier's helmet is most likely snow camouflage and not to indicate he is a medic. The soldier sitting next to him looks to have some white paint on his helmet as well. As others have stated, most likely the Eastern Front.
Photo 2) The soldier in the rear appears to be carrying a different type of rifle. Perhaps a Gewehr 43 or captured M1 Carbine? Both of these rifles were issued post Dunkirk.
Photo 3) The American vehicle on the left looks like a Dodge WC-52 which would not have been in service during Dunkirk.
Photo 5) The soldier with the glasses and iron cross is also wearing a sleeve shield. German soldiers would not have been wearing sleeve shields at Dunkirk as they were not yet instituted. This shield looks perhaps like one for Crimea which would have been 1942.
*** Thanks Martin for continuing the great work on this site. I have been visiting it for years and am happy to support your renewed efforts with the small subscription fee. All the best! ***
I'm struggling with these pictures having been taken in 1940 around Dunkirk. 7 is a Churchill with a maple leaf on the front suggesting a Canadian unit and so is probably from Dieppe in 1942. 6 is a destroyed Russian tank in the rubble. The panzer in 5 looks like a IVh to me with the long barrel 75mm and extra armour around the turret so is probably from 1944. 4 is a Jagdpanzer 38(t) which only appeared in 1943. In 3 the British vehicle is an American (or Canadian) built vehicle from later in the war. In 2 we see an M3 White halftrack so Dunkirk is again an impossibility, and in 1 we see another long barrelled PzIV from later in the war. I really enjoyed the original WW2 today and followed it for a decade but if we are now simply publicising what seem to be inaccurate books then I'm out. Very sad.
Yes, I am struggling with the photographs as well as most are not from Dunkirk. The first photo showing the German soldiers in the trench and the long-barrelled Panzer Mk IV is from the outskirts of Stalingrad, not Dunkirk! Surely the editors at Pen & Sword did not allow such profound mistakes in one of their books? Even someone with a passing interest in WWII history should know most of these images show post-Dunkirk tanks and equipment?