Some of you may have heard about our new series Duel, which is coming in September. It looks at the machines of war pitted against each other; in particular the classic confrontations like the Spitfire vs the Bf 109. Each book looks at the design and development of the particular weapons, the crews that operated them and how they performed in real combat situations.
Today I’ve been looking at the proofs for one of the new titles, Panther vs T-34, which will cover their epic battles in the Ukraine in 1943. I’ve just finished reading some fantastic yet terrifying first-hand accounts of action which I thought I would share with you all. Here is Oberleutenant Gabriel from Panther 801 describing being hit during Operation Zitadelle:
I?tore off the smoldering headset and microphone with my severely burnt hands, which already had the fingernails popped off. By then the gunner was pushing out from below, but I?had to push his head so as to get out of the turret myself. This all happened very fast . . . After me, the gunner was still able to rescue himself. He had suffered burns, mainly on his face.
Of course it was no easier for the Russian crews. One lucky survivor, Lieutenant Vasiliy Bryukhov, later described the confusion of being caught up in a tank duel:
I’d get a target in the gun sight – a short stop, one shot, another one. I’d traverse the gun from left to right and shout: “Armor-piercing! Fragmentation!” The engine would be roaring so one couldn’t hear the explosions outside, and when I opened fire myself I didn’t hear anything that was happening outside the tank. Only when the tank was hit by an armor-piercing round . . . would I realize that there were also some guys firing at me.
These accounts really brought home to me the true horrors of tank warfare. The series also includes some great new kinds of Osprey artwork, so that you can really put yourself in the shoes of the combatants. We’ve got “through the gunsight views” for the tanks and amazing cockpit illustrations for the aviation duels (see below). Have a look at the Duel website if you're interested in seeing more.
Also, as commissioning editor for this series, I am always thinking about ideas for new titles so I thought I would ask you. What do you think are the classic machine-on-machine confrontations, of any war? Let me know and who knows, we may even do a book on it!
