Streetfighting

[Sebastian Pye]

Are there any good books with stories and tactics about city street fighting?

[Wurger]

A number of books have detailed descriptions of streetfighting. Here are a couple that leap immediately to mind. Antony Beevor's "Stalingrad" has exhaustive descriptions of the nature of streetfighting in that shattered city. Cornelius Ryan's "The Last Battle" also examines it during the battle for Berlin.

In terms of tactics, I really can't help you. I read a book on the Canadians in Italy a long while back which devoted a fair bit of text to the development of their streetfighting tactics, but the author and title escape me.

Regards,

Wurger

[Fridolin]

For WWII, have a look at M.D. Doubler, Closing with the Enemy University Press of Kansas, 1994, chapters 4&5 (USA view).
Also, German soldier's Memoirs (have a look at the relevant thread below).
For modern FIBUA warfare, have a look at (USA doctrine):
http://155.217.58.58/cgi-bin/atdl.dll/f ... 11/toc.htm

Cheers

[Sebastian Pye]

Thank you! That was a very helpful site

[jmark]

Hi there,

I've just finished a book about 24. Panzer-Division in Stalingrad and it clearly shows how the panzers were used in city combat. It is a general rule that tanks should not be used in city fighting but the veteran panzer crews of 24. Panzer-Division had quite a lot of success using panzers in Stalingrad. For example, Leutnant Sylla (known as the 'Lion of Stalingrad'), a platoon commander in 1./Pz.Rgt.24, was able to utilise the cover offered by massive buildings to sneak up on a Russian T-34 and destroy it from a distance of only 30 metres.

With the successes also came some defeats and losses. Overall, it was discovered that Panzer IV short-barrels were the best panzers for street combat.

I hope this has helped.

Jason Mark