Operation Crusader: Tank Warfare in the Desert, Tobruk 1941 (Die Wehrmacht im Kampf)

This valuable study is a competent German perspective that covers the armor operations during Operation Crusader launched by the British on 18 November 1941, which broke the Axis siege of Tobruk and relieved the beleaguered city.As with many other books from the Casemate, also this one was originally published in 1966. The volume is still a respectable and recommended book that deserves wider attention, written by a highly successful staff officer in post-war Bundeswehr.The volume starts in Chapter I with the “Background” of the operations and the general situation of the German forces, while Chapter II described “The Situation to 18 November 1941”.The next chapter - “The Situation in Context” - provides useful information on terrain, weather, the balance of forces, weapons comparison, etc.Chapter IV - “The Course of the Battle” is probably the most interesting (48 pages), concentrating on armored battles, decisive engagements and operational movements of both sides. Overall, a good, detailed and balanced account of the battles during Crusader.In Chapter V - “Conclusion” - the author also brings up interesting points here about tactical and historical considerations. Finally, Chapters VI - “Sources” and VII - “Annotations and abbreviations” (includes the organization charts of 15, 21 Panzer Divisions, plus British 7 armored division) are ending the main text. No photos are provided and an index closes out the book.There are 20 (sketchy) tactical maps, maybe too small - requiring a magnifying glass (and a desk lamp, in my case), poorly located at the beginning of the book, as I seen in all Casemate’s books so far, that are helpful and added to the narrative. I consider that these maps should have been placed only in the chapters that actually discuss the battle. As it is, when you are reading about a battle you have to flip back several pages to find the relevant map.Overall a good study that offers more than just an analysis of Operation Crusader. Recommended!

If you are looking for a reference that ACCURATELY describes the history of Operation Crusader (orders of battle, course of the fighting, geography of the battlefield, etc.), look elsewhere. This book has a number of glaring flaws that make it a worthwhile read only for someone who is already intimately familiar with all aspects of this battle , the men and armies that fought it, and the arena in which it was fought.The problems with this book are numerous, and I mention only a few here:1 - The author makes a number of mistakes in the order of battle that are both factual and chronological. By chronological I mean, for example: he lists Hans Seidemann as Fliegerfuhrer Afrika at the time of the Crusader battle -- this is totally inaccurate as Seidemann did not assume command as Fliegerfuhrer Afrika until August 1942; Fliegerfuhrer Afrika at the time of Crusader was Stefan Frohlich. Author also lists General Leslie Morshead of the 9th Australian Division as commander of the Tobruk fortress at the time of Crusader. Incorrect again, as the 9th Australian Division was replaced by the 70th British Division before Crusader, at which time the commander of the 70th -- General Ronald Scobie -- had assumed command of the Tobruk Fortress.2 - Factual (as opposed to chronological) errors in the order of battle are also numerous. Author at first (correctly) refers to the 29th Indian Infantry Brigade as part of Oasis Force, but then every other time he refers to this unit he calls it the 29th Indian Infantry Regiment. Many German units are a mess, with the author seemingly unable to decide whether a unit is a Battalion or an Abteilung, etc. Admittedly some of this may be due to the use of a translator who is not well versed in German military terminology, which brings me to the next point....3 - The translator makes a lot of mistakes with German military terms. The best example, and one that grated on me the most, can be found in the chart on page 50 which shows the tank inventory of the 8th Panzer Regiment (15th Panzer Division) on the evening of November 23. Below the German term "Bef." the translator puts a note in bolded brackets that reads "[drivable?]" -- clearly the author doesn't know that Bef. here refers to Panzerbefehlswagen, or command tanks. He was able to translate the German terms for light and heavy (referring to the command tanks built on the Panzer I and III chassis, respectively), but by posing the question "drivable?" in both instances it totally confuses the data and could lead someone to assume that these small numbers (there were only a few Panzerbefehlswagen in each Panzer Regiment to begin with) represent only a few "drivable" tanks left in the entire Regiment at that time. Not good.4 - The maps are awful. Among many others, the maps in Volume III of the Official British History on the war in the Mediterranean and Middle East are WAY BETTER. The maps therein are in color, are much larger, and contain more much detail regarding localities, physical features (ridges, "points," etc.), and unit movements. The maps in this book, by comparison, are small, black & white, and are woefully lacking in detail.I could go on with the problems. There were so many, in fact, that I found myself correcting either the author's or the translator's mistakes on MANY pages, which made it difficult for me to actually read the book. In the end I got through it by having to re-read some sections after first correcting the mistakes in my head, which would have been impossible had I not already been thoroughly familiar with the orders of battle, the geography of the battle, and its basic framework. So much so, in fact, that I didn't even need to use the lousy black & white maps in this book -- which is a good thing. Trust me.In sum, I would only recommend this book to someone who already knows:1 - Order to battle of both sides2 - Relevant German military terminology3 - The basic framework of the Crusader battle (i.e., the different phases of the battle, what happened when and where, etc.)4 - Movement of the various units throughout this fluid and wide-ranging battle5 - The geography of the battlefieldWith all of that information already in one's head, the book offers a few useful insights and evaluations from the author on a couple of topics, namely decisions and actions taken by the various senior commanders (weighted toward the German side and Rommel, not surprisingly), the significance and handling of supplies during a modern mechanized battle, the importance of good communication between the commander and his staff, the importance of reconnaissance, the effect of air power, and the like. On the other hand, however, all of this has been delved into by many other World War II historians and authors, in more accurate, informative and readable works, and not necessarily confined to just Operation Crusader.In the end, I can only recommend this book for the few tiny nuggets of the author's analysis that could supplement the knowledge that a well-read World War II military historian/hobbyist already possesses about Operation Crusader specifically, and the war in North Africa in general.

Translation of thoughts from German to English is difficult to capture the true feelings of the author.Fine analysis of what happened during Operation Crusader, but difficult to follow due to maps being placed at front of book. For the geographical challenges, maps appearing within the days of the battle would have made explanations easier.Author doesn't criticise Rommel for his method of command. Romney was often away from his staff and out of communication with his Hq.British commanders suffered from too little information, captured nicely by the author.Overall, a good read.

This book was published in German by a WII German Staff Officer. 30 years after WII , the secret of Ultra was released. This gave the British most of all the information and plans of the German Army. This book was written before that information was released. You can see the decisions that the British made based on this information. The most interesting book would be if someone wrote a history that included what the other side knew when they decided to make a tactical move.This book give you all the basic information about the two sides, and the German make up. The tactical symbols are German and not the US Tactical symbols that you usually see.