Tanks in the Caucasus 1942-43

Review 40 photos, 13 color plates. five data tables. 

William Hiestand is a US DOD analyst. In this latest Osprey title, he describes the fighting in the Caucasus region from the summer of 1942 to fall 1943. As the author rightly points out,  the fighting in this region is often overlooked because it is overshadowed by the Stalingrad fighting. That's understandable in terms of the scale of the fighting, which was massive at Stalingrad compared to the Caucasus, but of course the strategic objective of both campaigns was the oilfields of the Caucasus - not the city of Stalingrad. Thus any new scholarship on the Caucasus fighting is a bit of a 'correction' to the popular conception of the campaign. 

This is a typical Osprey softcover of 45 pages, with 40 photos, 13 color plates and five data tables. The data tables are especially useful because they show the specific equipment fielded by the units engaged. Too often, we assume every Soviet tank was a T-34 and every German tank in this era was a Panzer III or IV. In fact, as the author points out, a high proportion of the tank strength on both sides was composed of lighter, much less capable vehicles such as the Panzer II, BT series or M3 Stuarts. And even a majority of the Panzer IIIs and IVs had short-barreled main guns of 50mm or 75mm.   

The illustrations, by Steve Noon, are better than average for this series. I especially liked the lived-in look of the AFVs depicted. His M3 Lee illustration is one of my favorites.  

The book opens with a strategic introduction to the campaign. By summer 1942, the Germans were no longer able to mount offensives along the entire front, nor was the Red Army in any condition to do the same. Both sides mounted regional offensives in the south, with an over-optimistic Red Army attacking first. After that failed spectacularly, the Germans launched their main effort aimed at taking the oilfields of the Caucasus or at least denying them to the Soviets. The distances involved were vast. 

The author also provides a few pages describing the doctrines employed by each side. The German combined-arms, mission-oriented doctrine that became known as "blitzkrieg' is well known. Less well known in the west is the Soviet pre-war doctrine of 'Deep Battle' or 'Deep Operations' , which were similar in some respects, although  I think Field Marshal Montgomery would be more comfortable with the Soviet doctrine than the Germans would. Both doctrines prioritized combined arms,  and both recognized the need to drive deep penetrations into the enemy position to achieve operational freedom. The Soviet doctrine, of course, was much more command-driven and allowed far less flexibility than the German approach; no surprises there. It is, however, refreshing to read a popular book that avoids the "red steamroller' myth. 

The author then gets into great detail describing the tactical-level actions of the summer 1942 drive towards the oilfields (spoiler alert: they didn't make it) and the brutal, drawn-out winding down of the campaign as events elsewhere forced both sides to economize forces. 

In his conclusion the author rightly calls out the Germans for defeating themselves by failing to maintain their objective. Both sides assigned only secondary forces to this fighting, seeing the more important points being Stalingrad and then Kursk. The outcome of the Caucasus fighting ultimately was dictated elsewhere. 

These color plates are very nice, and include some less-famous AFVs such as the Valentine and M3 Lee. 

Recommended for all builders. This is a good lightweight introduction to a perhaps overlooked campaign of WW2. The author does an excellent job providing an overview in plain language without assuming a lot of specialist knowledge on the part of the reader. Readers who enjoy this may want to dig deeper with other followup books. As a modeling reference this is excellent, with good details on the AFVs used and some excellent color plates.   

Thanks goes out to Osprey Publishing for this review sample.

Reviewed by Dan Egan

If you liked this review, consider joining AMPS. Your annual membership
includes six copies of AMPS's magazine, Boresight,
and helps to support our ongoing reviews.

Click here for more information about joining AMPS