Panzer Ace (Hardback)
The Memoirs of an Iron Cross Panzer Commander from Barbarossa to Normandy
Pages: 416
Illustrations: 100
ISBN: 9781784382667
Published: 5th March 2018
Last Released: 20th September 2021
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Richard Freiherr von Rosen was a highly-decorated Wehrmacht soldier and outstanding panzer commander. His memoirs are richly illustrated with contemporary photographs, including key confrontations of World War II.
After serving as a gunlayer on a Pz.Mk.III during Barbarossa, he led a Company of Tigers at Kursk. Later he led a company of King Tiger panzers at Normandy and in late 1944 commanded a battle group (12 King Tigers and a flak Company) against the Russians in Hungary in the rank of junior, later senior lieutenant (from November 1944, his final rank.) 


Only 489 King Tiger tanks were ever built. They were the most powerful heavy tanks to see service, and only one kind of shell could penetrate their armour at a reasonable distance. Every effort had to be made to retrieve any of them bogged down or otherwise immobilised, which led to many towing adventures. The author has a fine memory and eye for detail. His account is easy to read and not technical, and adds substantially to the knowledge of how the German Panzer Arm operated in the Second World War.
As featured on World War II Today
WW2 Today
"...unequivocally the best, most honest, and riveting memoir from the German-side of World War II tank life, tank fighting, and tank survival ever written."
ARGunners.com
As featured in
Despatches Spring 2019
Richard Von Rosen left not only some interesting written pages of his actions in war but the book is accompanied by a large number of photos, so much so that I would be almost tempted to call it a photographic book in all respects. The images accompany the story well. Richard Von Rosen, wounded several times and fighting a good part of the war on the eastern front, was certainly a lucky soldier, and we are also lucky to read these pages thanks to the work of the Greenhill Books publishing house. A book that I highly recommend to all fans of memories of the Second World War.
Old Barbed Wire Blog
Read the full Italian review here
Verdict: The chapter about Operation Goodwood in Normandy during 1944, seen from a German point of view, makes particularly interesting reading.
Classic Military Vehicle, March 2019
The author has a fine memory and eye for detail. His account is easy to read and not technical, and adds substantially to the knowledge of how the German Panzer Arm operated in the Second World War.
Inscale Book Reviews
Read the complete review online here.
Originally published in German by Flechsig Verlag, this is a welcome addition to the rather limited number of English language memoirs of German Panzer crew. It is a substantial book - nearly 400 pages long - and is recommended to anyone with an interest in the Panzerwaffe in the Second World War.
Recollections of WWII
Read the complete review online here.
The author has a fine memory and eye for detail. His account is easy to read and not technical. It adds substantially to the knowledge of how the German Panzer Arm operated during the Second World War.
Military Vehicles magazine, August 2018
As featured 'ON THE SHELF'
Wargames Illustrated, March 2018
About Richard Freiherr von Rosen
Richard Freiherr von Rosen served as a gunlayer on a Panzer tank during Operation Barbarossa; led a company of Tigers at Kursk; a company of King Tiger panzers at Normandy and in late 1944 commanded a battle group against the Russians in Hungary. He was awarded the Iron Cross Class I and II; the German Cross in Gold being the highest Wehrmacht award for bravery, awarded on 28 February 1945; the Panzer Combat Badge II Grade and the Wound Badge in Gold.
Rosen died in 2015 aged 93, two years after his memoir was published in Germany. He was married to the daughter of Caesar von Hofacker, a German Air Force officer who was executed for his role in July Plot to assassinate Hitler.
About Robert Forczyk
Robert Forczyk is a leading expert on the history of armored warfare, and he has made a particular study of the Second World War on the Eastern Front. His many books include Georgy Zhukov, Demyansk 1942-43, Red Christmas: The Tatsinskaya Airfield Raid 1942, Rescuing Mussolini: Gran Sasso 1943, Sevastopol 1942: Von Manstein\'s Triumph, Leningrad 1941-44, Model, Erich Von Manstein, Panther Vs T-34: Ukraine 1943 and Tank Warfare on the Eastern Front 1941-1942: Schwerpunkt, the first volume of his major two-volume history of this aspect of the Russo-German war.
About Geoffrey Brooks
Geoffrey Brooks was an experienced author, researcher and historian. He translated and edited Hirschfeld - The Secret Diary of a U-Boat NCO and Fips - Legendary U-Boat Commander 1915-18. He was the author of Hitler's Nuclear Weapons.
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