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Stalins Favourite. 2ndGuards Tank Army Helion and Company Unfortunately this, being the second part in the two book series, we are missing a lot of the early information on the 2nd Guards Division. What we do get, is the combat history of the division from July 1944 to May 1945, taking in the following operations and chapters on nearly 500 pages:- Preface Introduction The Lublin – Praga Operation of Summer 1944 The Vistula – Oder Operation 1945 The Army pivots against the German Stettin grouping In the Eastern Pomeranian Operation 1945 In the Berlin Operation Best practices from the 2nd Guards Tank Army’s wartime experiences and General Bogdanov’s proposals Afterword Appendices Once you get through the photographic references, list of maps, and list of tables, you finally get to the preface, forward and Introduction, you finally get to the first chapter, and first battle. Each Battle or Operation is described in a similar manner as first, The Lublin Operation which consists of a list of Command staff, 3rd Tank Corp, 16th Tank Corps units, 8th Guards Tank Corps units, Units directly subordinate to army headquarters, and additional attached units such as the anti-tank and anti-aircraft divisions and mortar brigade, plus each of the units commanding officers. There are then a series of photographs of the officers, men and equipment. The narrative then goes on to describe the preparatory phase of the operation, the units previous experience in the field, training and other working up exercises. The tactical situation at the start of the operation is then explained, followed by the enemy’s grouping and the correlation of forces, and the terrain. There then follows the build up and the situation the 2nd tank army and 8th Guards army from 18th July to 21st July 1944, followed by the 2nd tank army’s combat actions for Lublin, the combat losses and the combat report to the commander of the 2nd tank army from the 24th July 1944. These sections are in-dispersed with additional period photographs. There then follows additional information on the following:- 2nd tank army’s operations for Deblin and Pulawy The German force grouping on the south-eastern approaches to Warsaw 2nd tank army’s actions to seize Zelechow, Stoczek, and Garwolin The development of the offensive in the direction of Minsk-Masowwiecki 2nd tank army’s approach to Praga from the East 3rd tank corps emerges on the enemy’s communication lines in the Radzymin, Struga, Marki, Wolomin region The 2nd tank army goes over onto the defensive The 3rd tank corps fight to repel the enemy counterattacks on 3rd August 1944 Losses of the 2nd tank army over the period of defensive fighting between 1st August and 8th August. Post action conclusions regarding the 2nd tanks army’s defensive operations. Post action reports Recollections from survivors. Combat decorations There are four appendices post the Afterword which give information such as General Bogdanov’s record, Commanders of the 2nd tank army from 1943 to 1998, the 2nd tank army its Heroes of the Soviet Union, the order of glory of the 2nd tank army, Identification of the 2nd tank army’s subordinate units. Conclusion It’s taken me quite a while to get through this book as there is so much information to take in. Whilst it’s probably not the sort of book you read cover to cover, it’s definitely one you can dip into, read a chapter on a particular battle, or check tank markings for individual units, and it this that will be of interest to modellers rather than just those interested in military history. Review sample courtesy of