PK Cameraman No. 1 Panzerjäger in the West 1944

PK CameraMan No. 1 is a photographic record of Panzerjager-Abteilung 19 (L) moving from one peaceful town to another. There are 61 large black and white photos, which were taken in February 1944. The photos are large, most of which are 9”x11” to 12”x19” . Only problem is they are a bit grainy unless it is a close up, such as showing a driver with his head out of the tanks hatch. (This is the photo of the cover of the book) If the photo shows a number of vehicles the one in the foreground MIGHT be sharp, but further back they are a blur. In some cases the photographer might have intend that (manipulating depth of field), but I would say in most cases the photos are simply average quality because of the equipment used. All photos simply showed pristine vehicles lining up in pristine Eeklo Belgium or driving to and arriving in pristine Zedelgem Belgium about a 20 mile drive. The first 29 photos are of the same 4 Marder IIIs from different angles. There were many sequences where the tanks were photographed from the left side slightly, then the right, then moments later when they have driven 50 feet another series of photos. If you are obsessed with factory fresh Marder IIIs, located in empty streets of a pristine town you will like this book. If you like lots of photos of one type of German WWII tank I recommend the Panzer Tracts series by Thomas Jentz. The best photos are of superior quality and you get plenty of detailed information about the tank's development. However, I don't believe he covered the Marder III M.The book contains 41 exterior shots of the Marder III M, 8 of various half tracks, 3 of converted Ford Eifels (most interesting photos in the entire book), 3 photos of 7.5cm Pak 40, 2 photos of 2cm Flak,4 photos of close up of soldiers.If you are interested in variants of Panzerkampfwagen 38(t) I highly recommend the 60 page booklet by David V. Nielsen - "Panzerkampfwagen 38(t) Variants". High quality photos that include the Marder III M, but also several other variants.The most interesting part of the book was the 3 page introduction, covering the background of Panzerjager-Abteilung 19 (L). Basically Hermann Goering was loosing influence due to the Luftwaffe failures, and so he could somehow retain power he manged to acquire his own ground forces which included these tanks shown in this book ! Another example of how inefficient the Germans conducted their side of the war,. It shows how Hitler had to cater to various powerful individuals at the expense of good policy – Goering should have been sidelined, not given more resources. Unfortunately this book gives no indication on what happened to Panzerjager-Abteilung 19 (L). The L indicates it is a Luftwaffe unit.

RZM has done it again. A wonderfully illustrated, well researched document of panzerjäger in and around the Low Countries circa 1944. It starts with a short intro including a map of the areas covered. Then, the photos. And what a treat they are. Virtually all are well focused and printed in the best possible manner. You have shots of both personnel and equipment depicted in natural settings. Though they were obviously made by propaganda troops, they look and have the feel of photos from someone's scrapbook. In many photos the faces of the Germans show uncertainty and fear beneath the smiles as they know the end is not far off. Overall, a very insightful and poignant glimpse of an army on the brink of disintegration.

Great collection of photos. Some of them are a bit similar, as they are correlative shots from the PK photographer, but they give an overall view about the training operations of a Panzerjäger (mainly Marder III) unit.Big and well printed images.Highly recommended.

Fantastic book and hopefully the start to a great series. Large format photos, which are crystal clear. Really a fantastic photo study, endless purposes for a historian, reenactors and even modelers to be able to research uniforms, vehicles and equipment in detail. Will definitely be purchasing PK 2 and hopefully many more after!

this was really unique and i hope more in this series come to press. very well done and the photos are outstanding; worth both the wait and cost.

These photographs deal with the military power, equipment, personnel, and organization of the German Army in terms of how dangerous and powerful they were as a military opponent of the United States during the late phase of World War II.

Excellent quality, great, clear pictures. This is a photo book, if you want a detailed history go elsewhere. If you like Marder IIIs then this is your book! Photos of converted Ford Eifels to military specs is quite unique.

Liked the pictures. Nice to see details on the vehicles. Just go's to show how they setup new units and then sent them into the inferno of battle.

Un reportage photographique sur une unité allemande peu (ou pas) connue durant la seconde guerre mondiale, qui sort des sentiers battus des unités plus célèbres du Heer ou de la Waffen SS (maintes fois ressassées par des auteurs anglo-américains voire européens continentaux). Il a le mérite d'une part d'offrir une succession chronologique de photos concernant cette unité dans une configuration statique puis dynamique et d'autre part de proposer des gros plans (bien utiles aux maquettistes !) sur des engins de combat connus mais aussi de donner un aperçu sur des improvisations ou des transformations de véhicules civils, réalisées par des ateliers mécaniques, dont j'ai découvert l'existence avec une certaine surprise. Remy Spezzano paraît se spécialiser sur des photos-reportages que l'on ne trouve pas malheureusement en langue française. Il est également avéré que tout ce qui a trait à la Wehrmacht est certainement plus porteur, commercialement parlant, qu'une quelconque brigade russe ou anglaise.

a big heavy ,expensive book,with a2 pictures on every page of 4 marders very repetitive, the pictures could have been a quarter of the size and so could the book and thier could have been more on the towed flak formation.they seem to think that bigger is better,but it is not in this case.

Das Buch zeigt im wesentlichen deutsche Fahrzeuge in ihrem Verfügungsraum auf einem Marktplatz.Die Bilder sind dabei aus verschiedenen Blickwinkeln aufgenommen und zeigen die gleiche Situation auf sehr unterschiedliche Weise, so daß man sich "mitten im Geschehen" fühlt.Leider sind die sehr großen Abbildungen teilweise unscharf, was vermutlich daran liegt, dass sie lediglich vergrößert wurden und dabei die Tiefenschärfe auf der Strecke blieb. Dadurch geht dem Buch leider sehr viel verloren, man blättert das Buch interessiert durch, verliert sich aber selten ins genaue Studium der Aufnahmen.Aufgrund der schlechten Qualität der Bilder ist das Buch gänzlich überteuert.

Briliant book and great service