HISTORY:
** From their introduction in 1940, the German army's Sturmgeschütz assault guns played a vital role in the campaigns of the Blitzkrieg era, the gargantuan struggles in Russia and the final defensive battles. Evolving from a mobile bunker-buster, armed with a short-barrelled howitzer, the Sturmgeschütz III was up-armoured and up-gunned and by 1943 its tank killing abilities were widely recognised. Although not as well known as the Tiger or Panther tanks, they were among the most frequently encountered German armoured vehicles and as the Wehrmacht’s resources continued to decline, the assault guns were thrown into every operation and increasingly substituted for gun tanks in official unit establishments. In the second volume in the TankCraft series to examine the Sturmgeschütz, Dennis Oliver employs official documentation and unit histories to investigate the formations that operated these vehicles and uses archive photos and extensively researched colour illustrations to examine the markings, camouflage and technical aspects of the Sturmgeschütz III assault guns that served on the Eastern Fronts during what was almost certainly the pivotal year of the campaign. A key section of his book displays available model kits and aftermarket products, complemented by a gallery of beautifully constructed and painted models in various scales. Technical details as well as modifications introduced during production and in the field are also examined, providing everything the modeller needs to recreate an accurate representation of these historic vehicles.**
** Quoted from the back cover of the book.
THE BOOK:
Pen and Sword Books has released StuG III Assault Gun, German Army, Waffen-SS and Luftwaffe Units Eastern Front, 1944 as Number 44 in their Tank Craft series. It is a 64-page soft cover book, 11.7 x 8.3 inches in size. Included with the text are black and white photographs, color photographs, color illustrations, information charts and more. It has a 2025 copyright, a publication date of March 21, 2025, and the ISBN is 978-1-3990-3388-6.
CONTENTS:
- Introduction
- The Eastern Front, 1945
- The StuG III Units
- Camouflage & Markings
- Model Showcase
- Modelling Products
- Technical Details and Modifications
- The Kreigsstärkenweissungen
- Product Contact Details
THE TEXT:
Author Dennis Oliver provides a well written and informative text detailing the German Sturmgeschütz III (StuG III) assault gun used during World War II as well as detailed text for the scale modeling section of the book. The text goes into great detail in all areas of the book as outlined on the contents page, please refer to the contents listing for the areas that are covered through the book. Dennis Oliver also provides detailed text on numbers of Sturmgeschütz III (StuG III) assault guns produced, improvements and modifications requested and made along with the number of conversions completed, the addition of additional armor and different types of additional armor such as Schürzen and concrete, types of gun mantlets, the addition of Zimmerit, specific types of paint colors requested and used as well as the type of camouflage patterns that were to be applied, and many other such subjects all providing excellent information down to the smallest detail. There are several pages that contain the history of the specific military units to which the StuG III were assigned. Each military unit has an individually titled section which provides information such numbers of StuG III assigned to each unit, locations where they were deployed, dates, etc., which military units had severe losses or were completely destroyed and what became of the survivors and other such specific information. For the scale modeling section, the text goes into very specific detail as to the manufacturer and scale of the model used and the steps the modeler took in construction, addition of after-market detail sets, brands of paint used and detailed information on added details, weathering and other such specific information. There are individually titled sections provided for specific manufacture’s scale models shown such as Dragon, Tamiya, Trumpeter/Hobby Boss, Takom, Border Model and others. There are also individually titled sections provided for aftermarket accessory items such as photo-etched brass detailing sets and resin detailing items from manufactures such as Hauler, Griffin Model, Black Dog, Voyager Model, Aber, and others. The text in the book is nicely written and well detailed. As I read through the text, I didn’t notice any spelling or grammatical errors. Grammar and spelling might not be an important factor to everyone however it is something that I take notice of and pass on my findings. Anyone wanting to add an excellent reference, history and modeling how-to book on the Sturmgeschütz III (StuG III) assault gun used during World War II to their personal library will be pleased with this informative and interesting book.
THE PHOTOGRAPHS:
A total of 44 black and white photographs and 108 color photographs are included in this volume. The photographs range from wide angle photographs to close-up detailed photographs of specific parts on the StuG III such as Schürzen triangular hangers and also of scale models showing things such as photo-etched brass detailing items. They contain a combination of in-action photographs, photographs removed from motion pictures to photographs that have been staged for the photographer. The majority of the photographs are clear and easily viewable; however, a few of the historical photographs have an out-of-focus look to them and some appear to be too dark, and others appear too light. This is typical for the discussed period of history and the quality of the photographs is of no fault of the author and do not take anything away from the book. The photographs of the modeling related subjects are nice and clear and provide close-up detailed images. Author Dennis Oliver stuck to the title of the book and chose subject specific photographs and did not include photographs that strayed from the main subject of the book. The majority, if not all, of the photographs will prove to be a wealth of information to the scale modeler as well as anyone interested in the German Sturmgeschütz III (StuG III) assault gun due to the details they contain.
THE ILLUSTRATIONS:
There are 5 black and white illustrations and 48 color illustrations included in the volume. The illustrations are very well done and nicely detailed. The illustrations are mostly side view illustrations showing various colors and camouflage techniques used as well as unit markings. All of the illustrations will prove to be a valuable reference for the scale modeler as well as the German assault gun and military historian and enthusiast. Each of the illustrations are accompanied by a detailed caption describing the vehicle shown, the military unit to which it was assigned, details of the unit markings, field modifications that were made dates, locations and other such information.
THE CAPTIONS:
The captions are well written and explain the accompanying photographs and illustrations in great detail. For the period photographs the captions go into very specific detail as to whether it is a StuG or a StuH, if it is an ausf. F, ausf. F/8, ausf. G, etc., specific parts shown on the StuG, field modifications made, camouflage and unit markings, the military units to which the armored car is assigned, dates, locations and other such pertinent information. For the scale modeling photographs the captions go into very specific detail as to the manufacturer and scale of the model shown, manufacturer of after-market detailing sets used, brand of paint used and other such specific information. As I read through the captions, I didn’t notice any grammatical errors, but I did find a spelling error in one of the captions on page 18 where insignia is spelled insifgnia. I was impressed by Dennis Oliver’s captions as they are very helpful to the reader due to their detailed content as opposed to other captions that I have seen that are very brief and lacking in detail.
INFORMATIONAL CHARTS:
There are 4 informational charts included in this volume and they provide information on the following:
- StuG III and StuH 42 Production, December 1942 – December 1944 (One page of information)
- Sturmgeschütz-Abteilung, June 1944 (One page of information)
- Heeres-Sturmartillerie-Brigade, 1944 (One page of information)
- Panzer-Abteilung (Funklenk) 302, Summer 1944 (One page of information)
The charts are extremely detailed and take a full 4 pages to list all of the information that they contain including flow-charts and silhouette images of various armored vehicles.
MAPS:
There is one black and white map included in this volume and it provides information on the following:
Easter Europe, 1944
- Shows the locations of the large German battle groups involved in the Russian Campaign.
CONCLUSION:
As with the other volumes in the Tank Craft series, from Pen & Sword Books, I was impressed with this book. This is a very nice reference book that contains well written informative text, many subject specific photographs, several photographs of scale models with detailed captions and more, all detailing the StuG III Assault Gun in use on the Eastern Front in 1944. As with the other Pen & Sword Books titles, I would have no hesitation in recommending this book to others as it will be a welcome addition to one’s personal military history, and scale modeling reference, library.
Pen and Sword Books also offers StuG III Assault Gun, German Army, Waffen-SS and Luftwaffe Units Eastern Front, 1944 as:
ePub (10.7 MB) ISBN: 978-1-3990-3389-3
PRICE
UK £18.99 / US $29.95
https://www.casematepublishers.com/
This book, from Pen & Sword Books, was provided to me by Casemate Publishers. Please mention that you saw the book reviewed here on the KitMaker Network when making your purchase. Thank you.