Sherman Firefly vs Tiger: Normandy 1944 (Duel)
by Stephen Hart
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Book Summary Information
Author: Stephen HartEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2007-09-18
ISBN: 1846031508
Number of pages: 80
Publisher: Osprey Publishing
Book Reviews of Sherman Firefly vs Tiger: Normandy 1944 (Duel)
Book Review: Sunset of the day of the Tiger
Summary: 4 Stars
This book is easily four and a half or five star material, but I gave it four because it's not quite up to par with Panther vs. T-34. Panther vs. T-34 was written by a tanker instead of an historian and thus is a true rarity in books of the type in that it talked about things that only a tanker would think about. It convincingly shows why the T-34/76 was superior to the Panther, even though on paper the opposite appears to be true.
This book is very similar in scope and covers an almost contemporary issue, the quantitative comparison of the Tiger I opposed to the British modified Sherman Firefly. Again, on paper, the Tiger appears to have a slight advantage. It's 88mm/L56 gun was almost equal to the Firefly's 17 lb'er. In cross country mobility the Tiger's wider tracks appear to give it's greater bulk an advantage over the Sherman's higher ground pressure. The Tiger continued to have armor sufficient to defeat the majority of Western Allied tank guns at point blank range, while the Firefly's Sherman armor was easy fodder even for the lower velocity guns of lighter German vehicles. Again, getting away from the gun/armor/mobility consideration of the amateurs, Stephen Hart starts to point out why the Tiger was already starting to lose it's place of supremacy on the battlefield. The Tiger was a petrol guzzling maintenance nightmare at a time when the fuel starved German Army needed every available vehicle up and running. Most importantly, however, the fact remained that despite the Tiger's impressive armor, it was still vulnerable to the Firefly at normal combat ranges. By June/July 1944 the real advantage of the Tiger was in the fact that they were manned by Germany's best tank crews. As these increasingly fell to the attrition of the Normandy Battlefield, the Tiger's heyday was at an end.
The book has excellent graphics, as would be expected from Osprey Press, but the artwork is fantastic, even by Osprey standards. The pictures of the views from the respective gun-sights is a rare gem that is strangely absent from most books of tank warfare. The books high point, however is its meticulous reconstruction of Tiger ace Michael Wittmann's last battle. Here the author presents new and almost irrefutable proof that Wittmann's Tiger was dispatched, not by allied fighter-bombers, as has so often been speculated, but by the relatively inexperienced and unlauded crew of a Sherman Firefly. A great read in a few pages.
Summary of Sherman Firefly vs Tiger: Normandy 1944 (Duel)
The German Tiger heavy tank was a monster of a machine that dominated the battlefields of Europe. One of the most feared weapons of World War II, the Tiger gained an aura of invincibility that was only shattered by the introduction of the Sherman Firefly during the summer of 1944. Specifically designed by the British to combat the Tiger, the Sherman Firefly was based on the standard American M4A4 Sherman medium tank, but was fitted with a powerful 17-pounder gun which made it a deadly opponent for the Tiger.This book describes the design and development of these two fierce opponents, analyzing their strengths and weaknesses and assessing their tactics, weaponry and training. Innovative gun-sight artwork puts the reader "inside" the tanks during famous real-life battle scenarios, including the infamous Panzer ace Michael Wittman leading four Tigers into battle against eight Fireflies, a clash of steel that was a victory not only for superior Allied numbers, but also for Allied tactics and engineering.
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