It examines the history and evolving appearance of the "Grossdeutschland" Division, the elite combat unit of the German army during World War II. It includes eight pages of original artwork and carefully selected photographs depicting personalities, uniforms, insignia, and personal equipment. This is the revealing history of the German army's elite "fire brigade" during the period 1939–45. The unit began its life as an elite guard, expanded to battalion size in 1939, and took part in battles in France in 1940 and Yugoslavia in 1941, before participating in the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union. Reinforced with provisions, the "Grossdeutschland" fought on the Eastern Front in 1942–44, mainly in Rzhev in 1942 and Kharkov in 1943. After reconstruction and renaming to Panzergrenadier-Division, the "Grossdeutschland" played a central role in the Battle of Kursk in July 1943, before acting as the Wehrmacht's "fire brigade" in 1943–44. In late 1944, the "Grossdeutschland" expanded to a Panzer Corps, with the Panzergrenadier-Division "Brandenburg" taking action. More units joined the order of battle, with Führerbegleit-Brigade fighting in the Alps in 1944–45, before becoming a division again. All these campaigns are covered in this book, which analyzes the evolving appearance of this elite unit throughout nearly six years of intense war.
Manufacturer
- Publisher
- Osprey Publishing
- Skroutz Book Awards 2025
- -
- Type
- General History
- Theme
- World History
- Time Period
- World War II
- Language
- English
- Subtitle
- -
- Cover
- Soft
- Number of Pages
- 64
- Release Date
- -
- Publication Date
- 2024
- Dimensions
- 18.4x24.8 cm
- ISBN-13
- 9781472855923
Important information
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