7045
The Battle of the Bulge by Steven Zaloga
ISBN 962-361-689-9 72 pages, 175 b/w photos, 16 color plates

The Battle of the Bulge was the last major offensive by the German Army on the western front in WWII. For Hitler, it was a last desperate gamble to reverse the inevitable tide of Allied victory. The operation was codenamed "Wacht am Rhein" and aimed to strike at a weakly defended stretch of the Ardennes forest, then seize the port of Antwerp and cut off the British 21st Army Group from the US 12th Army Group.

The attack was launched by three German armies, and utilized Hitler's best new equipment, including new production tanks and armored vehicles of the panzer forces. The December 1944 operation took the US forces by surprise. Though outnumbered, the US forces fought bravely and held on until relief came. Armored vehicles losses on both sides were heavy, and the operation ended in mid January when the German forces were pushed back all the way to their starting positions.

Steven Zaloga gathered the photos for this book from various sources, including the US Army Signal Corps and the Patton Museum. Armored vehicles from both sides were covered, with a good study on the Panther, King Tiger, Hetzer, Wirbelwind and other exotic AFVs. The excellent quality of the photos is an enormous asset to the modelers that are interested in the Battle of the Bulge.