Back in January the Panzer Tracts series was taken over by Panzerwrecks and so far they have revamped three titles. The Bergpanther Ausf. D, A & G is reviewed here.
Bergepanther Ausf. D, A & G
…No. 51 in the Panzer Tracts series, from Panzerwrecks
Title: Bergepanther Ausf. D, A & G
Author: Thomas L. Jentz, Hilary Louis Doyle and Lukas Friedli
Publisher: Panzer Tracts
ISBN: 978-1-915969-02-6
Panzer Tracts No 16-1, or Volume 51 in the series details the various models of the big Bergepanther recovery vehicle. A 76-page soft-cover book which has been reprinted, and improvements to both photos and layout after the series has been taken on by publishers Panzerwrecks.
This is a great mix of informative text, well captioned archive images that are reproduced nice and clear in a large size making the detail easy to pick out, plus 21-pages filled with a series of high quality scale plans in 1/35 scale, drawn by Hilary Louis Doyle. The introduction from Lukas Friedli explains how the book has involved years of research among original documents to identify the different variants of the Bergepanther that were made, not only on the Ausf. A & G chassis, but less well known ones on the Ausf D, including damaged Panther hulls that were returned and rebuilt as Bergepanther. Following the introduction the book is divided across another 6 sections. These cover Development of the Bergepanther, then the Final Assembly, which was spread across a number of manufacturers, each of which is detailed. These include M.A.N., Henschel, M.N.H., Demag and more. Next a section detailing the various changes which were implemented over the course of production, while Organisation also includes a table listing what Bergepanthers were issued to which units and when. Experience Reports features a translation of a user report from a driver detailing his experience operating the vehicle and then right at the end of the book, inside the back cover, is a table listing the chronology of the Bergepanther Production and Development.
The news of Panzerwrecks taking over the Panzer Tracts series of publications had escaped me from back in January this year, and now this is one of 3 of their books which had been out of stock which have been subject to a number of improvements and now re-published thanks to their new owners. The content is very much geared towards modellers, with detail in both text and photos plus a collection of first class 1/35 scale plans. Every bit of the book is first class in my view.
Thanks to Panzerwrecks for the review copy.
Robin