World War II Database

The StuG III assault guns were born out of a requirement to provide German infantry self-propelled gun support; the Germans would later realize that they needed to modify the purpose of such a weapon to improve anti-tank capabilities against the American, British, and Soviet tanks inching ever closer to the German border. In the US, the development of the M10 tank destroyers interestingly took a wholly different route in its evolution. The M10 design was born as the result of the US Army study of the quick campaigns the Germans conducted in Poland and France in the early phases of the European War; as the Germans conducted far fewer assaults with concentrated tank forces, the Americans decided to release many M10 tank destroyers to serve in infantry-support roles.

In M10 Tank Destroyer vs StuG III Assault Gun, author Steven Zaloga conducted a brief study of these two designs, comparing and contrasting their characteristics, strengths, and weaknesses. He used the actions between Americans and Germans outside Aachen, Germany in 1944 to illustrate how each of the two sides used these guns in a common arena. Accompanying Zaloga's analysis were historical photographs, artwork, and cut-aways, all of which provided visuals to the text very effectively.

M10 Tank Destroyer vs StuG III Assault Gun was a good study of these two particular weapons, and I had certainly enjoyed this short 80-page book from cover to cover.