This is the third volume of Mr. Anderson's work that I have read, and it is an excellent read for those interested in the offbeat side of German WWII armor. Like some of the author's other works, the story starts out strong and well documented in the earlier phases of the war, but it finishes weakly as reflects the availability of German primary source material as defeat became more inevitable by mid-1944.

The title is a bit of a misnomer, for not only does Anderson cover the Ferdinand/Elefant series of heavy tank destroyers, but he also covers two other "special purpose" armored vehicles and formations: the radio control companies using the Borg/Warner B IV series of remote operated vehicles(Panzerfunklenkkompanien) and the assault tank (Sturmpanzer, the Sdkfz. 166 based on the Pzkpw. IV chassis). All three formations were combined into a single heavy tank destroyer regiment that consisted of two battalions of Ferdinands, one battalion of Panzerfunklenk vehicles, and one battalion of Sturmpanzer.

The most complete narrative in the book comes at its beginning as Anderson relates the development of all three vehicle types. All vehicle types had their origins in 1942, with the Ferdinands developing out of Ferdinand Porche's failed attempt to win a contract for a breakthrough tank that was won by the Henschel firm. Despite the loss, Porsche built 100 chassis that were offered as heavy tanks destroyers. War experience dictated the development of the remote control mine clearance/demolition BIV vehicles, while the traumatic urban combat experience of Stalingrad contributed to the development of the Sturmpanzer. These three distinct vehicle types were developed in great haste, which would contribute to their operational problems later.

The reason for the hasty technological development was the deadline driven by the Kursk offensive, which finally broke in July 1943 after several delays. Anderson discusses the deployment of the new units with the 9th Army, which served as the northern pincer of the campaign. The reader is presented with a number of details of the campaign, and the heavy losses these special purpose units suffered over a fairly short period time. The German tactical and strategic failures led to the Germans falling quickly back on the defensive before strong Soviet counterattacks.

None of the special units were really suited for defensive combat, especially given the mechanical deficiences of the Ferdinands and the Sturmpanzers. Before the fall of 1943, the heavy tank destroyer regiment lost one of its two Ferdinand battalions for reorganization and reequipment with a new type tank destroyer, while the other Ferdinand battalion and Sturmpanzers headed back to their factory of origin in Austria. The Allied invasion of Italy led to new strategic imperatives for the Germans, and as the special purpose vehicles emerged from repair and rework, they were parceled out in company-sized units to Italy and to the Eastern Front.

By early 1944 the units that had been nearly destroyed in Russian found themselves back in action, though with little sustained success. Anderson's story telling begins to falter as well, as unit histories and after action reports become more difficult to find in this phase of the war. The strength of this book is its after action reports, providing more details than Tom Jentz's Panzertracts series could provide. Anderson follows the trail as best as he can, although most organized reporting on these special purpose units trails off by the fall of 1944.

The life of the Ferdinand (Elefrant after the spring of 1944) was exceedingly short--the vehicles lasted little more than a year after their combat debut at Kursk. The Panzerfunklenk units and Sturmpanzers lingered until the end of the war--ultimately the Wehrmacht formed four Sturmpanzer battalions with over 300 vehicles built. Anderson's book points out the folly of an underdeveloped logistics system which contributed to much of the losses seen with these special purpose units. Combat strength regularly fell in these units through the lack of spare parts, suitable towing vehicles, and even crane trucks.

This book is well-researched thanks to the surviving materials at the Bundesarchiv in Freiberg. Almost all of the action accounts used in the book came from those records; only one citation came from a veteran soldier after the war. Anderson's use of contempary after action accounts is an exception among many military history writers whose dependence on more recent interviews of veterans made decades after the action weaken the books for which they are intended. The only shortcoming I can mention about this work is the English translation. The editors over at Osprey must outsource this work as the reader can observe the difference in language in the early chapters versus the later ones. Whoever translated the early chapters is not familiar with military terminology (e.g. use of the term "focal point" versus the more appropriate "objective"). ( )

Looking over the reviews at Amazon I can see why some folks were disappointed in this book, as it's less about the mechanical and technical details of the "Ferdinand" and more about the tactical and operational context that this machine functioned in. What this practically means is that this book is as much a history of Panzerjager Regiment 656 as it's a history of the title subject, which is where the coverage of "Sturmpanzer" assault guns and remote controlled vehicles come in, as they were incorporated in the 656's table of organization and equipment in respects to the unit's purpose as the point of the spear of a major offensive. Apart from that much of the interest comes from how this book is a chronicle of Third Reich's increasingly threadbare resources and what that meant towards keeping a baroque weapons system functioning. For all that though it still would have been nice to have some good diagrams of the machine's unique drive train. ( )