Review by Martin Koenigsberg
Stephen Zaloga is a legend in the Military history world- and he is back again with this explanation of German Field Artillery in WWII, number325 in Osprey Publishing’s ‘New Vanguard” Series. Field Artillery is the heavy firepower, mostly indirect that makes the way for the Infantry and Tanks on offense and protects them on defense. The Nazi Armies began the war with excellent artillery- albeit mostly horse drawn. Zaloga tells the story of an arm of the Wehrmacht that waned as the war went on- eventually losing its advantages on both the Western and Eastern fronts. Between Zaloga as the author and the Osprey approach with a wealth of photos, colour plates and diagrams/tables, the reader is given a strong presentation and will be well informed on the topic. Zaloga is thorough, addressing all the Artillery available to a Nazi General- not just regimental and divisional guns but the longer range weapons attached to Corps and Army level formations, as well as Nebelwerffen, the rocket artillery the allies called “Screaming Mimis”. As the war went on, the Nazis armed later formed divisions and Corps with more and more captured weapons – with the follow on nightmare of logistics one might infer. In the later battles, where Allied mobility was exploited, the horse drawn German Artillery found itself destroyed or bypassed all too easily. Not too many adult themes and no graphic injury passages make this a good book for the Junior Reader over about 11/12 years. For the Gamer/Modeler/Military Enthusiast this is an uneven find. For the Gamer, this is really more on background- unless you base your scenarios/campaigns on the heavy guns. This is interesting for the Modeler- although I think one would need more for build/diorama development. The Military Enthusiast is the big winner again- getting a Zaloga explanation of a key part of the Nazi war machine. If you want to look into this topic- this is a good place to start.
