Fully illustrated, this study assesses the Soviet and Waffen-SS troops who contested the cities of Kharkov and Rostov-on-Don on the Eastern Front during 1942-43. As the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union unfolded, two places that suffered exceptionally severely were Kharkov (now Kharkiv) in Ukraine and Rostov-on-Don in Russia. In total, Kharkov would change hands violently four times between October 1941 and August 1943, and Rostov-on-Don also four times between November 1941 and February 1943. In this book, Chris McNab examines the fighting men of the Red Army and the Waffen-SS who clashed in three battles - one for Rostov (July 1942) and two for Kharkov (February-March and August). He clearly explains the key differences between these two opponents - training, tactics, weaponry, ideology and motivation - and examines how these differences played out in the three engagements, which ranged from open-terrain combined-arms battles to close-quarters street fighting in major urban zones. The text is complemented by specially commissioned artwork and mapping and carefully chosen archive photographs.
| ISBN: | 9781472857989 |
| Publication date: | 16th February 2023 |
| Author: | Chris McNab |
| Illustrator: | Johnny Shumate |
| Publisher: | Osprey Publishing an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing (UK) |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Pagination: | 80 pages |
| Series: | Combat |
| Genres: |
Second World War Land forces and warfare Militaria, arms and armour |