Over the years I’ve read a number of personal histories of American and German soldiers from WWII; recently with the growth in the number of Russian personal histories available I’ve become intrigued with reading their view of WWII, first reading Tank Rider and now Panzer Destroyer. Panzer Destroyer is the personal history of Vasiliy Krysov, a Red Army tank commander who joined shortly after the German invasion of Russia. Vasiliy opens with the German invasion and his selection and training for the armored corp. After his training period he fought in Operation Uranus as a KV-I tank commander. Surviving Operation Uranus, Vasiliy is transferred to tank destroyers, commanding SU-122’s and later SU-85’s, picking up the war with his contributions at Kursk and the central Ukraine, concluding as T-34 commander in Germany. As expected, Vasiliy’s view is that of common tank commander, presenting situations from a tactical perspective of a small unit commander rather than a larger view (sometimes it’s hard to see the broader scope of the battle since Vasiliy never gives it to us), always describing the ‘skirmish’ his unit is participating in. Each battle is unique with Vasiliy telling us of his and his tank crews reactions to the events around them; interestingly often mentioning the civilian around the battlefield. Maps are provided for some of the tactical situations, several are great for wargamers to consider for scenarios though they generally lack the detail a wargamer needs for the participating units. Interestingly Vasiliy each unit Vasiliy is assigned to gets it own ‘unique’ comment and coverage, with Vasiliy easily showing that he preferred his time with the 1454th Self-propelled Artillery Regiment (Vasiliy provides some excellent insight into his crew, something that was lacking when he talked about his time with the 1435th Self-propelled Artillery Regiment) .

Rating wise this was a 3.5 to 4 star book. While Vasilly brings us the unique perspective of a Russian tank/tank destroyer commander, there’s too much that’s unpolished or like reading from a Red Army report on how great our troops did. Though Vasiliy addresses how the Red Army inflated German casualty reports, we rarely read about combat losses in his unit and the Germans always seem to be driving Tigers (yes, I know American tankers always saw Tigers also, but when Vasiliy states he knocked out 8 Tigers in one battle and didn’t get a decoration I’m a little skeptical about them all being Tigers). Despite being unpolished or a Red Army propaganda report, there’s some excellent view s of the battlefield that only a veteran could provide; particularly when he talks about the feelings for his crew and the men in his unit. This is a good read of something we don’t always get, the perspective of a Russian tank commander. I would have loved to have seen how a professional writer might have helped Vasiliy tell his story, but since these are Vasiliy’s memoirs, I respect them and the service he gave. My bottom line, 4 stars and recommended for those wanting to read about the Russians experience in WWII.