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Tank Tactics: From Normandy to Lorraine

Roman Johann Jarymowycz
Tank Tactics: From Normandy to Lorraine
ISBN: 978-1-55587-950-1
$75.00
2001/363 pages/LC: 00-062628
The Art of War

"A book to be read by all those interested in military operations."—Canadian Military History

"This is a great book.... Serious students of war at tactical, operational, and strategic levels, and of armor as the deciding arm, all need Tank Tactics in their saddle bags."—Donn S. Starry, The Journal of Military History

DESCRIPTION

Winner of the 2001 AHF Distinguished Writing Award, Twentieth Century U.S. Army History

An operational critique of the art of war as practiced by U.S. and Canadian tank commanders in France in 1944, Tank Tactics also traces the evolution of North American armored doctrine.

Jarymowycz draws on after-action reports, extensive battlefield reconnaissance (involving both Allied and German veterans), and recently discovered battle performance reviews, as well as on Allied and German interrogation reports, war diaries, and technical evaluations, to compare and evaluate combat success and failure. He provides detailed tactical diagrams and analyses of tank vs. tank engagements—and illustrates the frustrations of commanders attempting maneuver warfare under the exasperating caution of Bradley and the questionable direction of Montgomery.

This penetrating analysis features a review of tank battles in Lorraine, where 3rd Army commanders demonstrated mastery of Mission Command doctrine. Jarymowycz concludes by comparing U.S. and Soviet approaches to operational maneuver, describing creative tactical mixes found in combat commands well before battlegroups became common NATO parlance.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lieutenant Colonel Roman Jarymowycz (1945-2017) was dean of the Canadian Militia Staff College, Kingston.

CONTENTS

  • Cavalry and Mechanization, 1918-1930.
  • North American Tank Forces.
  • Creating a North American Armored Force: The European Influence.
  • Armor's Genesis in North America: The USA and Canada Create an Armored Force.
  • Creating North American Panzer Armies: Lessons From Europe and Africa.
  • Allied Strategic Offensives in Normandy: Operation Goodwood.
  • Operation Spring, 25 July 1944: The Other Cobra.
  • Operation Cobra: Bradley Acquires Operational Maneuver.
  • Breaking Out, Round Three: Operation Totalize 8 Aug 1944.
  • Strategic Breakout: Operation Tractable.
  • Armor in Its "Proper Role": The Pursuit Doctrine.
  • Patton's Lieutenants in Lorraine: A Maturation of Maneuver Warfare.
  • "Who Killed Tiger?": The Great Tank Scandal.
  • Stavka in Normandy.
  • Conclusion: The Allied Operational Art.