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Osprey Duel #10
M3 Medium Tank vs Panzer III: Kasserine Pass 1943
"...the first-person perspectives offered by Kirby and Köhler put this book on my recommended books list. These personal experiences definitely stirred some interest for me to research more on the design, evolution, and field performance of each of the two tanks.- C. Peter Chen, World War II Database (July 2008)
Smarting from their defeat at El Alamein and with directives to save the North African campaign, Rommel's battle-hardened armored divisions confronted a fresh opponent in the form of the newly arrived Americans. This would be a duel between the stalwart of the Wehrmacht armored divisions - the Panzerkampfwagen III - and the American's as yet untested first armored division. In reality both would prove unequal to the task as they floundered amidst the rugged hills and ravines of the Tunisian landscape. This book charts the design and development of these two disparate rivals - their vastly different armament and armor as well as their tactical concepts. Mutually hampered by the climate, terrain, and lack of experience, this was a desperate struggle for supremacy. Moreover, it was a duel with far-reaching implications. For the Americans it was their first baptism of fire and the outcome would determine their future war strategy. For the Germans, this was the final throw of the dice to regain the overwhelming superiority they had enjoyed during the first years of the war. Analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of these two deadly opponents, this book explores the successes and failures of the Grant and Panzer III as they clashed at the critical battles of North Africa. Moreover it is an insight into the lives of the tank crews themselves as they struggled with the twin horrors of tank warfare and the fight for survival amidst some of the most inhospitable terrain on earth.
Smarting from their defeat at El Alamein and with directives to save the North African campaign, Rommel's battle-hardened armored divisions confronted a fresh opponent in the form of the newly arrived Americans. This would be a duel between the stalwart of the Wehrmacht armored divisions - the Panzerkampfwagen III - and the American's as yet untested first armored division. In reality both would prove unequal to the task as they floundered amidst the rugged hills and ravines of the Tunisian landscape. This book charts the design and development of these two disparate rivals - their vastly different armament and armor as well as their tactical concepts. Mutually hampered by the climate, terrain, and lack of experience, this was a desperate struggle for supremacy. Moreover, it was a duel with far-reaching implications. For the Americans it was their first baptism of fire and the outcome would determine their future war strategy. For the Germans, this was the final throw of the dice to regain the overwhelming superiority they had enjoyed during the first years of the war. Analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of these two deadly opponents, this book explores the successes and failures of the Grant and Panzer III as they clashed at the critical battles of North Africa. Moreover it is an insight into the lives of the tank crews themselves as they struggled with the twin horrors of tank warfare and the fight for survival amidst some of the most inhospitable terrain on earth.
80 pages, Paperback
First published May 20, 2008
About the author
Gordon L. Rottman
210 books46 followersGordon L. Rottman served for 26 years in the US Army in Special Forces, airborne infantry, long-range reconnaissance patrol, and military intelligence assignments in the Regular Army, Army National Guard, and Army Reserve. He has worked as a Special Operations Forces scenario writer for 14 years at the Army's Joint Readiness Training Center, Fort Polk, Louisiana where he developed training exercises for Special Forces.
Gordon began writing military history books in 1984 and is currently a full-time author. He has written 50 books for Osprey. He is married with four children and lives in Cypress, Texas.
Gordon began writing military history books in 1984 and is currently a full-time author. He has written 50 books for Osprey. He is married with four children and lives in Cypress, Texas.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 10, 2021
Normally I would give a book such as this a 4 or 5 star rating because it really was a good, well rounded book. But like a tanker complaining about bad chow, I am considering what is important to me. As in other books put out by Osprey, the topic is well researched backed up by the usual maps, photos, and when possible, interviews of participants.
Words and terminology were stated here. I couldn't help but laugh at the explanation of German military terms. No offense meant to my German friends but I don't know why they say, in German of course, "Divisionallighttankusedforreconnaissance" in one word a when they are talking about a "Divisional light tank used for reconnaissance." In a similar manner I can't figure out why so much US military stuff is called "M1." I mean, you have the M1 Garand rifle, M1 Carbine, M1 helmet, M1 Abrams tank, and probably the M1 pillow. In reality, in combat, the US tankers referred to their M3 Medium Tank simply as the "M3" whereas the Germans called their Panzerkampwagen MK III the "Panzer III." BTW, the British simply assigned American Civil War generals' names to the various US tanks. The M3 as used by the British with a turret of their design was called the Grant while the one the US used was called the Lee.
These M3 and the Panzer IIIs were used against each other at the Battle of Kasserine Pass in 1943. It was the last victory for Rommel and his Afrika Korps. The reasons for the initial US losses were covered. The Germans captured a lot of equipment but few tanks. One reason being that a US armor piercing round (AP) was a solid shot. It punched through the armor killing and destroying whatever was in its way. German AP rounds had an explosive filler and bursting charge. A penetrating round brewed up (burned) an American tank with a gasoline engine. Anyone who has watched the movie "Fury" will know what I am talking about.
Now for my complaint. There are books dedicated to the M3, the Panzer III, as well as the Kasserine Pass in the Osprey series. I felt that too much space was wasted on the tank development and production processes, nor did the author have to give so much battlefield background information. I would have preferred more interesting tidbits about the two tanks. Also, there are pictures of tank main gun ammunition, but no explanation. For instance, did you know that the 37mm M52 APC (armor piercing capped) was for shooting at light armor, that the M63 HE (high explosive) was for blowing up stuff, and that the M2 canister was like a giant shotgun shell? Without peeking at Wikipedia, I am not sure of the difference between the German 5cm Pzgr 39 and the Pzgr 40, and I know this stuff.
Overall, it was a good book, but being as I paid for it, I was just a teeny bit disappointed.
Words and terminology were stated here. I couldn't help but laugh at the explanation of German military terms. No offense meant to my German friends but I don't know why they say, in German of course, "Divisionallighttankusedforreconnaissance" in one word a when they are talking about a "Divisional light tank used for reconnaissance." In a similar manner I can't figure out why so much US military stuff is called "M1." I mean, you have the M1 Garand rifle, M1 Carbine, M1 helmet, M1 Abrams tank, and probably the M1 pillow. In reality, in combat, the US tankers referred to their M3 Medium Tank simply as the "M3" whereas the Germans called their Panzerkampwagen MK III the "Panzer III." BTW, the British simply assigned American Civil War generals' names to the various US tanks. The M3 as used by the British with a turret of their design was called the Grant while the one the US used was called the Lee.
These M3 and the Panzer IIIs were used against each other at the Battle of Kasserine Pass in 1943. It was the last victory for Rommel and his Afrika Korps. The reasons for the initial US losses were covered. The Germans captured a lot of equipment but few tanks. One reason being that a US armor piercing round (AP) was a solid shot. It punched through the armor killing and destroying whatever was in its way. German AP rounds had an explosive filler and bursting charge. A penetrating round brewed up (burned) an American tank with a gasoline engine. Anyone who has watched the movie "Fury" will know what I am talking about.
Now for my complaint. There are books dedicated to the M3, the Panzer III, as well as the Kasserine Pass in the Osprey series. I felt that too much space was wasted on the tank development and production processes, nor did the author have to give so much battlefield background information. I would have preferred more interesting tidbits about the two tanks. Also, there are pictures of tank main gun ammunition, but no explanation. For instance, did you know that the 37mm M52 APC (armor piercing capped) was for shooting at light armor, that the M63 HE (high explosive) was for blowing up stuff, and that the M2 canister was like a giant shotgun shell? Without peeking at Wikipedia, I am not sure of the difference between the German 5cm Pzgr 39 and the Pzgr 40, and I know this stuff.
Overall, it was a good book, but being as I paid for it, I was just a teeny bit disappointed.
December 10, 2021
Parts about developments, construction, organisations of each tank is very imformative.
But the main part, the Duel, about the actual fighting is very short.
But the main part, the Duel, about the actual fighting is very short.
February 7, 2015
After reading first couple of of Duel booklets I started to have doubts about the concept on which this series is based. 'M3 Medium Tank vs Panzer III' did nothing to dispell them, if anything it is perhaps the best example so far of a book in this series missing the intended mark by a wide marigin. Out of 80+ pages perhaps five or six are mildly associated with the topic insinuated by series title, the remainder is, if anything, a comparison of U.S. vs German armoured units.
Precious little space is dedicated to the actual 'duel', simply because it never really took place. M3 was a temporary stop-gap product already partially replaced by M4, while PzIII was at the time of Kasserine a well proven, but obsolete AFV on its last leg. The presumed 'duel' was therefore nothing but a brief encounter, hardly providing any data for detailed comparison of those tanks and even to lesser degree waranting such study to begin with.
Precious little space is dedicated to the actual 'duel', simply because it never really took place. M3 was a temporary stop-gap product already partially replaced by M4, while PzIII was at the time of Kasserine a well proven, but obsolete AFV on its last leg. The presumed 'duel' was therefore nothing but a brief encounter, hardly providing any data for detailed comparison of those tanks and even to lesser degree waranting such study to begin with.
June 5, 2011
Osprey’s Duel series has been a great concept but rather hit and miss with me. Despite this hit and miss with the series, I do enjoy getting some of the esoterically on the off chance they cover that’s not easily obtainable and the author provides good analysis of the combatants capabilities.
I went into this one with some concern because of the battle Mr. Rottman chose; Kasserine Pass, not because Kasserine Pass was a setback for US forces but rather because this was a twilight battle where these combatants would have been major contributors to battles. Mr. Rottman’s presentation followed Osprey’s standard for their Duel series, set the stage, give technical aspects and training, then describe a battle and go with your conclusions; a lot to do in 77 pages unless you can tell a good story and bring things together nicely or fail too. The Design and Development section provided a basic description of both vehicles. I didn’t have many problems with the M3 portion but was blown away when Mr. Rottman referred to the Mark III as a light tank. This was the first time I’ve ever heard of a Mark III being a light tank. Later Mr. Rottman makes the statement that “the panzersoldaten considered themselves bearers of the traditions of the Hussar, the old heavy cavalry.” Which is a total mistake since hussars were light cavalry; cuirassiers were the German heavy cavalry. These mistakes start to raise questions about Mr. Rottman’s analysis capabilities, especially when merged with this having been done more as an opinion piece than one based on fact (sorry, limited references and the bibliography is mainly made up of history, no reference on technical or tactical manuals. This means that Mr. Rottman accepted his sources as fact, not opinion). The component that makes or breaks Osprey’s Duel series is the description of combat and the author’s presentation/analysis. In this case Mr. Rottman chose to describe company/battalion level engagements where we could see how US and German forces engaged mixed forces (M3s and M4s against Mark IIIs, Mark IVs and a few Tigers) he couldn’t isolate any engagements where Mark IIIs and M3s fought each other individually. Even the “personal” battle accounts are brought into question since the German was a radio operator (a tank commander or gunner has a different perspective) and the American used a pseudo-name. When combined with the fact that this was generally the last engagement these vehicles fought against each other raises questions on the value of this book. Mr. Rottman further sinks his case in the last two chapters (Statistics and Analysis and Aftermath) where he talks about the battle of Kasserine Pass rather than the performance of the Mark III and M3 tanks (please Mr. Rottman you pointed out how there were more M4’s in the 1st Armored Division and how the Mark III was seeing limited use due to the Mark IV long barreled 75mm’s and Tigers). Instead of a Duel book, this should have been a campaign book with other data provided.
Rating wise this one’s about 1.5 stars. Mr. Rottman’s descriptions of the M3 and the Mark III are better done on Wikipedia! He provides less data and his analysis was suspect. When we merge his weak analysis with the poor descriptions of battles (I’m sorry, Mr. Rottman’s choices of battles are battalion level engagements where he failed to isolate how M3’s or Mark III’s performed against each other) I really want to make it a one star book. The biggest plus is there are a number of unique photographs of M3’s I hadn’t seen before and I did like the drawings showing the layout for the M3 and Mark III turrets and their ammunition. If Mr. Rottman had picked Gazala as the point of comparison between the Mark III and the M3 I believe the book would have served a much better purpose of letting readers understand how these two tanks contributed to the battlefield when they were major contributors rather than either supporting cast or performing their swan song. I’m rounding this to 1 star because the author failed to provide a comparative analysis of the M3’s performance the Mark IIIs. The author’s focus in the back half of the book was on US Armored vs. German Panzers at Kasserine, not the M3 and the Mark III.
I went into this one with some concern because of the battle Mr. Rottman chose; Kasserine Pass, not because Kasserine Pass was a setback for US forces but rather because this was a twilight battle where these combatants would have been major contributors to battles. Mr. Rottman’s presentation followed Osprey’s standard for their Duel series, set the stage, give technical aspects and training, then describe a battle and go with your conclusions; a lot to do in 77 pages unless you can tell a good story and bring things together nicely or fail too. The Design and Development section provided a basic description of both vehicles. I didn’t have many problems with the M3 portion but was blown away when Mr. Rottman referred to the Mark III as a light tank. This was the first time I’ve ever heard of a Mark III being a light tank. Later Mr. Rottman makes the statement that “the panzersoldaten considered themselves bearers of the traditions of the Hussar, the old heavy cavalry.” Which is a total mistake since hussars were light cavalry; cuirassiers were the German heavy cavalry. These mistakes start to raise questions about Mr. Rottman’s analysis capabilities, especially when merged with this having been done more as an opinion piece than one based on fact (sorry, limited references and the bibliography is mainly made up of history, no reference on technical or tactical manuals. This means that Mr. Rottman accepted his sources as fact, not opinion). The component that makes or breaks Osprey’s Duel series is the description of combat and the author’s presentation/analysis. In this case Mr. Rottman chose to describe company/battalion level engagements where we could see how US and German forces engaged mixed forces (M3s and M4s against Mark IIIs, Mark IVs and a few Tigers) he couldn’t isolate any engagements where Mark IIIs and M3s fought each other individually. Even the “personal” battle accounts are brought into question since the German was a radio operator (a tank commander or gunner has a different perspective) and the American used a pseudo-name. When combined with the fact that this was generally the last engagement these vehicles fought against each other raises questions on the value of this book. Mr. Rottman further sinks his case in the last two chapters (Statistics and Analysis and Aftermath) where he talks about the battle of Kasserine Pass rather than the performance of the Mark III and M3 tanks (please Mr. Rottman you pointed out how there were more M4’s in the 1st Armored Division and how the Mark III was seeing limited use due to the Mark IV long barreled 75mm’s and Tigers). Instead of a Duel book, this should have been a campaign book with other data provided.
Rating wise this one’s about 1.5 stars. Mr. Rottman’s descriptions of the M3 and the Mark III are better done on Wikipedia! He provides less data and his analysis was suspect. When we merge his weak analysis with the poor descriptions of battles (I’m sorry, Mr. Rottman’s choices of battles are battalion level engagements where he failed to isolate how M3’s or Mark III’s performed against each other) I really want to make it a one star book. The biggest plus is there are a number of unique photographs of M3’s I hadn’t seen before and I did like the drawings showing the layout for the M3 and Mark III turrets and their ammunition. If Mr. Rottman had picked Gazala as the point of comparison between the Mark III and the M3 I believe the book would have served a much better purpose of letting readers understand how these two tanks contributed to the battlefield when they were major contributors rather than either supporting cast or performing their swan song. I’m rounding this to 1 star because the author failed to provide a comparative analysis of the M3’s performance the Mark IIIs. The author’s focus in the back half of the book was on US Armored vs. German Panzers at Kasserine, not the M3 and the Mark III.
April 30, 2010
Kasserine Pass was a battle between Americans and Germans in the early stages of the American involvement in North Africa. This book details one aspect of the battle--the duel between American and German tanks. As with others in the series, we get a sense of the design and development of the respective tanks, the technical speicifications, the combatants themselves. Finally, the battle and what happened. Another nice slender volume in the series.
November 28, 2014
Great overview of two historic, important tanks. Fantastic illustrations and information on the historical context of the battle. It left me wanting to know more about both vehicles, especially how useful 2 fixed .30 cal machineguns are on a tank!
September 21, 2024
As is typical for me in regards to this series, I'm left with the sense that the parts are less than the whole. Still, some of the parts are pretty good, as Rottman is able to say intelligent things about the machines, the training and outlook of the crews, and the operational and tactical situation. When it's all said and done though, I would still prefer more tactical coverage. Single biggest insight: That by Kasserine Pass the M3 medium was already out of production and only two U.S. tank battalions were using it in theater. Biggest annoyance: The howler where Rottman refers to "hussars" as heavy cavalry, when in German parlance they were always light cavalry (maybe the author was thinking about the Polish hussars).
Actual rating: 3.5.
Actual rating: 3.5.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews