Customer Reviews

Lorraine 1944 : Patton Vs Manteuffel (Campaign Series, 75)

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Steven J. Zaloga, the renowned expert on armored vehicles, has delivered a solid campaign synopsis of the battles fought in Lorraine between 5-29 September 1944. The campaign pitted General Patton's pursuing 3rd Army against the hastily-raised 5th Panzer Army under General Manteuffel and elements of the 1st Army. This campaign has received considerable attention in other far lengthier works, so this volume does not claim to break any new ground. However, it does offer a balanced account which covers all the key events and offers perspectives from both the American and German points of view.

As in all the Osprey Campaign series, the volume starts with a section on the opposing strategic plans. In assessing Allied strategy, Zaloga conforms to conventional wisdom in suggesting that if only Patton's 3rd Army in Lorraine had been accorded logistical priority in September 1944, then perhaps the year might have ended very differently. This is actually the voice of Patton glorifiers/Montgomery bashers. This conveniently ignores the logistic bottlenecks back at the beaches: even if Eisenhower had given Patton the bulk of available supplies, the Redball Express could not have supplied Patton very much further east at that time. The Allied armies were consuming vast quantities of fuel in their pursuit across France and they needed a deep-water port like Antwerp in September 1944 far more than a tenuous foothold across the Rhine. Finally, does anyone seriously believe that Patton's 3rd Army - which only had 8-10 divisions at the time - could have mounted a serious invasion of Germany with minimal support from the other Allied armies? Zaloga ignores the vast manpower and material resources that were still available to Hitler in September 1944. Despite widespread condemnation by many armchair strategists, Eisenhower's "Broad Front" strategy was the best course of action under the circumstances.

The section on commanders is a bit odd because the majority of the space is devoted to well-known higher-level commanders, including Hitler, Model, Bradley and Patton. The corps and below leaders who actually fought the battle are barely mentioned - the two US corps commanders receive one sentence each. Major General Wood, commander of the exemplary US 4th Armored Division, is barely mentioned anywhere in the text. Given the local nature of the armored battles in Lorraine, it is probably inappropriate to describe this series of actions as "Patton versus Manteuffel". These were battalion and brigade-level fights.

As expected from a technical expert, the sections on the opposing armies are quite good. In particular, Zaloga makes very good points about the US edge in battlefield communications. However, one major item lacking here is a discussion of tactical organizations: what did German armor battalions look like in comparison to their US counterparts, particularly in terms of scouting assets, support weapons and maintenance capability? As a former armor officer, I can attest that maintenance capability is much more critical in sustaining armored combat than is often appreciated. Unfortunately, Zaloga leaves this vital area blank and instead tells us that the Germans committed about 616 tanks and assault guns against 1,280 US tanks and tank destroyers.

The sections covering the actual campaign are quite good, starting with the destruction of the 106th Panzer Brigade on 8 September 1944 and progressing up to the final battles around Arracourt on 25-29 September. While the 3-D maps are quite good, the standard 2-D maps leave much to be desired since key phases of the battle are not depicted. There is no map depicting the German offensive that led up to the Arracourt battles, so it is difficult to determine how the Germans coordinated all their units. This tends to make it look like the panzer brigades were committed with support from other units.

The section on wargaming the battle is ridiculous as it usually is in Osprey books. With the availability of superb computer simulations of the Arracourt battles such as Talonsoft's WEST FRONT and OPERATIONAL ART OF WAR (which are never mentioned in this section on war gaming), it is absolutely ludicrous to read a discussion of a "war game" where the players "wear personal stereos, playing deafening music to recreate the effect of motor noise within the crew compartment. Players could also wear cardboard spectacles, with narrow slits to simulate the view through a periscope or vision port..." and so on. Please stop. Given the existence of Avalon Hill's SQUAD LEADER series and the Talonsoft products, which adequately cover the Arracourt battles, this section is a gross insult to serious wargamers.

Nevertheless, Zaloga's book is a useful campaign summary to keep on the bookshelf. Certainly the organization of the material is more interesting than the actual subject, for this overly-covered campaign was certainly not one of the epic struggles of the Second World War. The US 3rd Army was winded after a long pursuit and at the absolute limit of their logistical chain. Although beaten in Normandy, the Germans were starting to regroup but the Lorraine campaign offers one of the very few times in the Second World War that they fought poorly on the offense. Most of all, the strategic stakes were low in Lorraine. If the Germans won, they might have hurt 3rd Army a bit but they would probably only have bought themselves a few weeks respite. On the other hand, the US achieved a tactical victory but so what - the campaign still ended in stalemate for logistic reasons and the weather. This is a key factor ignored by Zaloga and most other writers on the Lorraine campaign: yes, the 3rd Army defeated the German spoiling attacks but how did this translate into a strategic success? The fact is that the strategic circumstances of September 1944 prohibited 3rd Army from inflicting a decisive defeat on the Whermacht, no matter how much tactical skill they demonstrated on the battlefield.

As Osprey Campaign series books go this is one of the best. The focus of the book is the blunting of the Nazi counter offensive by the Patton's 3rd Army. It is laid out in the traditional Ospery style and as always gives the reader a broad overview of the campaign.

What makes this book better than most is that it does not get lost in the details of the military movements. It does a fine job of explaining the whys and the hows. Not an easy thing in the limited space avaliable. The most interesting part of the book focus on the German commanders, fresh from the Russian front, fighting the American military with the same Eastern font tactics. As explained, the American use of artilery and close air support made the tactics a disaster.

This little book gives an overview of a single campaign in France during 1944. It involved the liberation of the Lorraine area by Patton and his famous 4th Armored Division versus German armor expert von Manteuffel. The author, Steve Zaloga is a long-time student of armored combat in all areas. His expertise shows in this book as describing this campaign weaves the technical aspects of armor with the personalities of the commanders and the tactical situation. As with most Osprey "Campaign" series books there are chapters covering the larger picture, the opposing commanders, the forces involved and then looking at the actual campaign and significant engagements. At the end of the book are quick notes on touring the battlefield today and on creating wargame simiulations of the campaign. A quick and easy read, but packed with good historical information. Highly recommended for history buffs and armor fans.

Lorraine 1944 is another excellent book from one of the best writers of American military history in World War Two- Steven Zaloga. He presents well this pivotal battle in NW Europe within the context of the personalities of the predominant commanders in the field, Patton of the United States, and von Manteuffel of Germany. As is a Zaloga trademark, rich detail is furnished regarding the organizational structures of the contesting forces, along with photos and illustrations of really good to excellent quality.
Enthusiasts of armored warfare will especially like this volume as it presents a vivid picture of one of the true tank against tank battles the United States Army fought in NW Europe at Arracourt. Also presented quite nicely is the tank battle at Dompaire, where the French 2nd Armored Division trumped the Wehrmacht decisively.
The maps presented along with the text, however, are difficult to reference as one reads. I found myself flipping from the text to three different maps to follow the various engagements described. It was distracting, to say the least.
Nevertheless the true value of this book illustrates well how an army of determined, well trained fighting forces can defeat an enemy having equipment of superior technology and a fearsome reputation.

September 1944 was a busy, important time for the Allies. The 3rd and the 7th Armies were approaching the Lorraine / Alsace region where the Germans were trying to recover and regroup from a long retreat, pursued by a relentless adversary. The logistic problem was becoming acute for the Allies, the Walcheren and the Scheldt had stilled been ignored by Montgomery and now he was advocating a risky Operation called Market-Garden. To my astonishment, General Eisenhower approved this risky, almost reckless operation. To facilitate this operation, a large tonnage of supplies would be diverted from the eastern line where they were already experiencing crucial shortages of fuel and ammo.
Patton had already proved the ability of pushing the Germans back and now General Patch was nearing the line, the combined effort had a good chance of penetrating the German defenses into Germany while they were still in disarray. Instead Operation Market-Garden was approved and set in motion, forcing Patton and Patch to halt their advance.

For Montgomery to want the rest of the American forces to stop while his forces received all the supplies so he could penetrate the Rhine and reach Berlin just doesn't seem rational from anybody's perspective. General Eisenhower wouldn't allow that but he did approve Market-Garden in appeasement for refusing Montgomery's bigger assault plans.
This is the situation Mr Zaloga describes in his first few chapters. The author includes Market-Garden in this episode of Lorraine tank battles because of the big impact it will have on Patton.
In the Plans chapter, Patton wanted to cross the Moselle River and establish bridgeheads between the heavily fortified town of Metz in the north and Dompaire, south of Nancy. Hitler unrealistically wanted Manteuffel to counterattack and destroy the 3rd Army before they could get a firm grip on the Moselle and before 7th Army could intervene. The top commanders were well represented in their chapter; the key Corps and Division commanders are presented in the action chapters.

A point of interest was Mr Zaloga briefly comparing the Sherman and Panther tanks, pointing out the US army failed to make any appreciable improvements to the Sherman and now it had to compete against the Panther.
My one complaint of the book would be Mr Zaloga's decision to drop a Chronology for the unwanted wargaming segment. With so much going on, a Chronology would have been most helpful.

The author begins the batle action with 3rd Army crossing the Moselle and with the Pz Brig 106 counter attacking but ultimately suffers heavy casualties and must withdraw. The assault on Metz by Walkers 20th Corps is briefly mentioned and the assault on Nancy by Eddy's 12th Corps is more fully described. On the 13th, the destruction of Pz Brig 112 at Dompaire is covered and the biggest tank battle in the campaign which lasts for about 2 weeks at Aracourt is explained.

In the chapter "Stalemate", the author explains the casualties and the final outcome of the series of battles for the Moselle. He also discusses Montgomery, Eisenhower and Market-Garden in regards to these two battle fronts. In addition to the narrative, the author provides five 2-D maps and three 3-D maps which are excellent and help the reader understand the battle action. There are also four 2-page illustrations and many fine photos. There is also a further reading list if one is so inclined.
From my perspective, this campaign was covered extremely well in a 96 page format and definitely worthy of five stars.

This is a good crash course in the essentials of the Lorraine Campaigne, the "who, what, where, when and how." Unlike some books in the Osprey "Campaign" series, it is very readable. Unfortunately, like most books in this series, it is written in very broad strokes, without a lot of details to give the story some life and color. But the many photos and illustrations go a long way to compensate for this short-coming in the text, and anyway, what do you expect from a 65-page paperback? The maps are extremely helpful in understanding the tactical and strategic situation on the battlefield and in the sectors, but they sometimes take a while to parse out.

I bought this book to read on the airplane while flying to France for a visit in Lorraine. The book was an excellent summary of WWII progress in the area, including detailed maps and photographs of several towns I was visiting. Very well done.

The book was shipped on time and the condition as described. I would gladly use this seller again in the future.

It's a tiny might for quick reference concerning the Loraine Campaign during WWII. For more references concerning the Loraine Campaign, go to "Patton's Trouble Shooters" web page ([...] it). The book has great graphics and well written chapters. No left-wing academic dogma, just the facts.