TIGER VS CHURCHILL

◗ Neil Grant ◗ Osprey (2022) ◗ £14.99 ◗ 80 pages (softback) ◗ ISBN:9781472843883 ◗ ospreypublishing.com

Another thoroughly workmanlike volume in the Duel series, describing two of WWII’s most iconic tanks. The author covers development history, design, key characteristics, training, maintenance/recovery, and combat experience, and a relative analysis of each tank’s strengths and weaknesses. The two vehicles fought each other only rarely, and the author uses Operation Jupiter – the second Allied attempt to seize the key Hill 112 feature – as the descriptor battle (an excellent wargame, by the way).

The text is sound, with useful supporting tables not only of technical data but also reasons for combat losses. Around a half of Tigers were lost through breakdown and/or the crews destroying immobilised vehicles, albeit the author reminds us that German recording of losses was very different to British methods, leading to ‘under-stated’ German losses if the vehicle was viewed as recoverable (a useful lesson for those of us contemplating refights based upon raw data).

There is little on Churchill variants (the ‘Funnies’), but this neat little volume serves as a fine bridge between a technical manual and a battle history.