American Knights: The Untold Story of the Men of the Legendary 601st Tank Destroyer Battalion

by Victor Failmezger

As the war began to swing in favour of the Allies, it became clear that no final defeat of the Third Reich would be possible until the armoured monsters of the Panzerwaffe were defeated. But who would, or even could, take on the mighty Tigers and Panthers, just a handful of which could stop entire formations in their tracks? The answer lay with the formation of a new type of unit, the Tank Destroyer Battalion. This is the story of the men and machines that made up the very first Tank Destroyer Battalion, the 601st, from their unique training and formation, to the final, desperate battles in the heart of Nazi Germany. Packed with rare material, letters, diaries and previously unpublished photographs, and now available in paperback, this is an intense and intimate chronicle of the men who fought the Panzers in an astonishing 10 campaigns and 546 days of lethal combat.

Genres: Military History, World War II, History

543 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 15, 2015

Reviews

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5


Disclaimer: ARC via Netgalley.

This is better than the movie Fury.

It isn’t Hollywood.

This is a good complete book. The bits at the end are bits that many authors would leave out. Failmezger includes not only brief information about the men but also a Roll of Honor and a poem written by one of the men. Furthermore, there is detail technical information about the Battalion.

The story of the 601st Tank Destroyer Battalion is told though flat out historical writing but incorporates letters and interviews. The use of the personal letters gives a level of detail that is at once touching and funny. There are letters about loss, but there are also letters with humor, like re-decorating the tank.

I didn’t know anything about the 601st Tank Destroyer Battalion before reading this book, and Failmezger does an excellent job of guiding a newbie to tank information though the book. Which is good, I have seen quite a few tank battalion histories on my brother’s bookshelf that are very technical. While this does have a technical side, Failmezger doesn’t presume that everyone is tech-head.

Failmezger takes the reader from the beginning up until the end of the war. There is a different view of D-Day and the push into France. There is Africa and Italy. It is comprehensive.

Failmezger is able to keep the follow going, and if the history isn’t nail biting gripping, it is a compelling and somewhat engrossing read.

[patrick Lorelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting story about the 601st Tank destroy Battalion which fought for 546 against the Germans. Fighting from Africa, Sicily, and then through Europe until finally taking down Hitler’s final push. This is a book that relies on stories from survivors, letters, and diaries. The author weaves a tail of men that for many would end up being the coffin but still would stand tall against some of the mightiest German Panzer, Tiger tanks, and some the of their most hardened battle tested units. Not a story of single battles which at times would have been nice but I understand that it would have took away from the main reason for the author wanting to write the. To honor his uncle Lt. Thomas Peter “Tommy” Welch, service which he does. What he also does is honor every single man and there is a roll call and a poem written by one of the men which is at the end of the book. This puts the touch and perspective on the total picture the author wants you as the reader to get. Not just the sacrifice that they gave but to their love ones knowing they were not coming home. As a son of a WWII paratrooper (82nd airborne) I thought the author did a very good job in honoring the 601st and all of the men. A very good book. I got this book from Netgalley.com i gave it 5 stars. Follow us at www.1rad-readerreviews.com

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic and detailed account of a WW2 tank destroyer battalion which saw extensive front line action.
The author weaves in many quotes and sections from interviews and letters of the battalion veterans which provide great context to the story as a whole.
The author details the development and changes of the different armored vehicles assigned to the tank destroyer battalions through the war which was very interesting.
I was happily surprised to see a central figure in the book was a Cornell alum like myself :)
I would recommend it to anyone interested in WW2

[Brian Donaldson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading more of what my dad experienced as a 601st TD comander. He never would tell us kids much of anything when we asked. My father shipped off from NY to Scotland on the Queen Mary. He was engaged through out all of the 601st's campaigns from North Africa to Germany. He was proud of his time spent with his comrades and a patriotic and proud American. He would say the German soldier was only fighting for their country like we were! After reading the book I have a better sense of what a terrible war this was for him and his fellow soldiers. Dad was a humble man and a patriotic soldier. After the war he married Mary Kelley and had six sons. He lived a quiet life in rural Massachusetts. He passed at age 84 in April 2002 less than a year after the World Trade Centers fell. He was interviewed for this book only weeks before his death. His name was Albert C. Donaldson from B Company of the 601st. Thank you for all your time and work producing this good book. I am the youngest of his six and we are all very proud sons and I am proud to read about the 601st!

[Robert Krenzel · Rating 3 out of 5]

American Knights was clearly a labor of love. The author's quest to learn more about a relative's wartime service resulted in a well-researched glimpse into the life of the 601st Tank Destroyer Battalion. This unit served with distinction and fought its way from North Africa to Rome to Berchtesgaden.

While the research is impressive the book suffers somewhat from a tendency to go off on tangents that detract from the overall narrative. That said, some of those tangents yield interesting insights into lesser known aspects of soldiers' lives.

Overall, American Knights is a diamond in the rough.

[Chris Hudson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting topic but for some reason never seemed to delve into the actual on the battlefield strategy of how to kill German tanks with (the usually outgunned) tank killers. More of a battalion history than anything.

[Jimy Sharp · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved how the author has done all his research and used letters, first hand accounts of the men written to their families back home. Puts things into perspective and as a lover of US military history in WW2, I learnt a lot of new little things and opinions on equipment and experiences. This book will throw sand in your mouth for the North African deserts, itll fling shrapnel past your head as your soaked day in and day out in the bloody hell of Italy. Itll take you through the streets of Germany in the final days, the impregnable Siegfried Line and into picturesque Bavaria for Vino and champagne from Hitlers collection. Loved it

[Michael Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too dry. As a history buff and a wargamer I usually really enjoy these unit account books. But the author's style of writing was terrible. Every time a person was named he added hometown and state info. If the person had a profession it was often worked into the description. While detailing a battle if a person was killed or wounded their data was listed or relisted. He spent way to much time making sure all the names were there and a brief history was brought out and little real detail on the engagements. Lists of people were repeated at various portions of the narrative. If a letter or diary entry was important to a point it would be quoted. This was a good writing technique but the basic prose was so dry that it was a very difficult volume. The author had a lot of respect for the men of the 601st AT battalion and his father in particular. But he was not a readable author for such a long and involved history. His assistants did not help him that much and if someone were to look for a unit review or data about this unit the book would be a hard research asset.

[Sleepy Boy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I felt like this could have been so so much better. Sadly it just ended up being incredibly dry.

[William Troy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another perspective of WWII told by the soldiers who fought it. Victor Failmezger gathered the accounts of wartime experiences from numerous members of the 601st Tank Destroyer Battalion and compiled them into an action packed, vivid narrative. He follows the unit from its training to fighting in North Africa. As a side note, during the battle of El Guettar, the unit reported the death of PFC John A. Gibeau of Lawrence, Massachusetts. This is the first book about WWII that a man from my home town was listed as KIA. I have seen his name on the city's WWII memorial of those KIA from Lawrence. This book identifies the cities from which the men came from whenever an soldier is named. First time I have experienced this in a book. Landing at Salerno, the 601st proceeded to fight in Italy and was used in the landing at Anzio. The unit experienced fierce fighting. The 601st fought in Italy until the landings in Southern France were finalized and executed. Essentially as part of the 3rd Infantry Division, the unit landed in Operation Dragoon. It fought up into Germany and was sent towards Austria. It was one of the units that liberated the Dachau Concentration Camp and claim first to enter Hitler's mountain retreat in Berchtesgaden. There are excellent pictures, many taken by the soldiers themselves. Some maps for general reference, a number of appendices for organization and equipment are included. There is an Epilogue that follows the main participants after the war and speaks to their integration back into society. One officer, Lieutenant Tom P. Welch struggled to adapt and probably suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). He was a hard charging officer who was often at the forefront of the fighting. During his time with the 601st he received Two Silver Stars, one Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts. If you want to know what the soldier experienced during WWII, this is an excellent read.

[Frank L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great in depth review of the transformation of the men of a tank destroyer battalion from green recruits to veteran soldiers. You get to see the war through their eyes from Kasserine Pass in North Africa through Italy, France and finally Germany. Their letters home reflect the soldiers fears and concerns as they confront an initially more seasoned and better armed German army. As time progresses they evolve into hardened and highly effective warriors with some going perhaps well beyond.

Hard to blame them when enduring significant combat over 3 + years and witnessing the brutality inflicted on their friends and additionally the horrors of the concentration camps. Even after victory and their return home, the war did not really end for many of them or their families.

Excellent analysis of the era and equipment used by the" Greatest Generation".

[Mike Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

Untold history - US Army Tank Killers - they did their job!

I liked this work. It told the story not discussed often of the 2nd World Wars armor and anti armor weapons and the brave soldiers that did heroic work .

[Darin Dykstra · Rating 3 out of 5]

The way the book was put together made it a bit difficult to read. It seemed like it was patched together. It was interesting part of history, but this took more time to read than with similar books.

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an excellent book. Very well researched and with many first hand accounts. I certainly got a good sense of the horrors experienced by the soldiers.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

After finding his uncle Lieutenant Thomas Peter "Tommy" Welch's military service records from WWII, the author dug deeper and shared his discoveries into his uncle's life in the book An American Knight, a Tank Destroyer Story. One book, according to the author, wasn't enough to contain all that he had found, and thus we get the companion piece, American Knights: The Untold Story of the Men of the Legendary 601st Tank Destroyer Battalion.

The book relates the daring and often heroic deeds of the young men of the 601st. Theirs is an important yet usually overlooked story. Failmezger serves these men well as her relates their time during the war and their encounters with enemy soldiers. The author has a knack for laying out complex battles and engagements; relating them in simple terms and making them easy to understand for someone who has no military experience.

The narrative of American Knights is rather clinical, reading more like a dry military report than a biography, giving the reader no real sense of what it felt like to be in the battles, or combat in general.

Aside from a few of the main "characters" I also had trouble keeping track of who was who. We meet so many people in the book, that except for the few whose own words are reproduced in the book, the rest are rather fuzzy and never clearly defined as people, just names.

The only time I felt the book had any heart and was touched by it, was a brief section in the Epilogue about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, when we learn the tragic effect the war had on Lt. Welch.

Overall, American Knights is not a bad book, but it could have been so much more.

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

American Knights is not your typical World War II history that looks at an individual battle, campaign, or the whole war. Instead, it is a unit history of the 601st Tank Destroyer Battalion during World War II. The 601st served in North Africa, Italy, and France attached to a variety of divisions, landing across the beach in Morocco, Salerno, Anzio, and Southern France. It helped break the Colmar Pocket and then made it all the way to Austria by the end of the war.

Victor Failmezger had a relative who served in the 601st during the war and his letters acted as a catalyst in the writing of this book. In addition to his relative's letters, he used diaries and letters of other soldiers, official unit reports, news articles, and other sources to provide a picture of the unit in action, at rest, and at play.

The 601st was one of the first tank destroyer battalions to see action and also one of the last. The unit used all of the tank destroyers in the US Army inventory during the course of the war, receiving multiple individual and unit citations. If you want to read about a different fight, you are likely to enjoy American Knights.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review originally published at Book of Bogan
I received a review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

American Knights is the very personal story of the men of a battalion of tank destroyers, and follows them in their dangerous journeys through the battlefields of World War 2. When reading the book, I felt like I was there in the midst of the battle, with an effective combination of narrative interwoven with letters to and from the front.

I guess the story of the tank destroyers lack some of the glamour of some of the bigger tales in the war, but the battlefield is a big enough place to embrace stories from a wide range of sources. I learned a lot more about what it was like to be a combatant in the tank war.

An excellent read, and an interesting addition to library of literature about the second world war.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a fascinating read, dealing with a little known unit in the Second World War, focusing the men, the weapons, tactics and the actions. The primary sources are from the author's Grandfather's correspondence whilst he was fighting through North Africa, Italy, France and Germany, particularly the narrative describing the actions in the south and central France, something normally not focused on.

The discussion on the character of the author's Grandfather is a interesting insight, usually neglected, and I really felt honoured by having the chance to read this book!