The Germans who carried the greatest burden in maintaining the deadlock were the beleaguered panzer crews, living short and brutal lives that more resembled those of men aboard hunted U-boats. Trapped by day in their dug-in and heavily camouflaged Mark IVs and Tigers, low on fuel and ammunition, hidden in the lee of honeysuckle-draped walls and hedgerows, covered in clods of lush pasture and leaves, Rommel’s amphetamine-fueled youths watched and waited for their prey to stir. No longer crack offensive units, masters of blitzkrieg, the panzers were now used mostly as armored anti-tank
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