Pz III Reference Sources

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Stephen White
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Pz III Reference Sources

Post by Stephen White »

I thought I'd share the collection of book reference sources I'm using. If anyone has others, please contribute. I've not included articles from the plastic modellers but there are many useful references for colours out there.

The definitive reference is said to be the Spielberger book:

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I've found it very disappointing as it only has a short section on each Ausfuerung and goes into a lot of detail about the later specialised applications. Expensive for little info.

I can't praise this book highly enough, although it's very expensive

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It contains a wealth of detail on 10 Pz Div's campaigns in France, Russia and Tunisia. I'm particularly drawn to the latter and have a particular vehicle in mind, although I've yet to find photos of it.

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A stronger claim to be the definitive reference is the Trojca book:

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It is excellent, full of detail and pictures with some stunning colour schemes, particularly for Russia.

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This book on Panzer Tactics has a lot of photos of Pz IIIs and is also full of good material about how the vehicle was operated.

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There are a number of books with photo galleries of preserved vehicles:

This one by a Greek publisher concentrates on the Ausf F at Saumer, the Ausf L at Bovington and the Ausf M at Munsterlager.

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The Osprey book is pretty superficial. It gives a good potted operational history but then so do a lot of other books.

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The best of the photo books is probably the Achtung Panzer volume:

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It needs to be cross-referenced with photo sources to check accuracy in some places but it does give good drawing sequences of the development of various aspects of the tank, in a way no other publication does. I'd say a must have.


This book under the Fotosnajper banner is excellent and has the best three view drawings. They are very accurate and are combined with photos of preserved vehicles and historical material. Very good value.

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This book on the J/L Ausf is the best coverage of detailed photography of preserved vehicles. Of course, care needs to be taken as some features of the vehicles in museums are later additions. Nevertheless, if you don't have access to a museum vehicle yourself, it is a very good source.

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The next four are self explanatory and contain historical material.

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Finally, two references aimed at the plastic scale modeller, which contain some useful material.

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I hope you find this useful and that more contributions are posted. If anyone needs an ISBN, please ask.

Regards

Stephen

Tim Bowman
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Post by Tim Bowman »

Hi Stephen

Great idea for a post! You have an impressive stack of reference books for your Panzer III. :D If I had something to add I would but the few PIII books I have are already there. Looks like you have everything you need to build an accurate model.

Are you doing a 10th Panzer Div tank?

Regards
Tim
"So long as one isn't carrying one's head under one's arm, things aren't too bad." – Erwin Rommel

Stephen White
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Post by Stephen White »

Hi Tim. Yes, a late Ausf L from about March 1943. 10 Pz Div had been resting in France after coming back from Russia. They were despatched to Tunisia to shore up a deteriorating situation. Having acted as a fire brigade, including the famous Kasserine action, they were not evacuated at the surrender and were never re-established. I've one specific tank in mind, that of Hauptman Helmut Hudel, who was awarded the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross as a result of his bravery in Tunisia. He was already a Knight's Cross holder from Russia. He survived the war, having fought in a Tiger battalion in Europe. I've yet to find any specific references to his vehicle but I can deduce what it probably looked like. 10 Pz Div had some quite distinctive unit markings and numbering systems. Their Pz IIIs also had a large stowage box on the right front fender which was quite rare. I've seen photos of it in North Africa but only one in Russia.

All the best.

Stephen

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Adrian Harris
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Post by Adrian Harris »

Many thanks for the run down on these books Stephen.

I have a III booked from the next run so will be doing a bit of library building before the summer.

For those StuGing their III, there is also a Speilberger book especially for it.

Adrian.

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