William E. Hiestand M18 Hellcat vs Panther

This fully illustrated study examines the bloody battle between the US Army's M18 tank destroyer and Germany's formidable Panther tank at Arracourt in September 1944. In response to Germany’s Blitzkrieg victories of 1939–41, the US Army created a dedicated tank-destroyer force intended to encircle and destroy the massed attacking armored divisions. Fast, relatively well-armed, but weakly armored, the M18 was designed from the start as a tank destroyer, unlike the M10 and M36. By September 1944, the German Army’s armored divisions fielded the Panther tank alongside the PzKpfw IV. In this book, William Hiestand notes that the Panther’s combination of long-range firepower, impressive armour, and good mobility won it a fearsome reputation, but shows how the M18 proved to be a very able opponent when the two types clashed on a foggy September morning during the battle of Arracourt. Fully illustrated with specially commissioned artwork and mapping alongside archive photographs, this lively study examines the origins, development, strengths, and limitations of the two AFVs as well as their crews’ training, doctrine, and combat effectiveness. It also provides a detailed account of the momentous battle between the US 704th Tank Destroyer Battalion and the German Panzer-Brigade 113 at Arracourt, where the two types clashed in a surprising encounter that challenges our preconceptions about armored warfare in World War II.