Featured battle : Elchingen

Part of French War of the Third Coalition

Date : 14 October 1805

Napoleon needed to secure the north bank of the river Donau and ordered Ney [VI Corps] to do the job. Had the initial attack across the stringers of the partially demolished bridge been faced by a determined Austrian force it would probably have been replused. Once again Austrian poor command and control played into the French hands and Ney was able to get his whole corps across.

Schnellbootwaffe

Hrvoje Spajic
Anyone familiar with the super series of Images of War books from Pen and Sword may well be disappointed by this edition. True there are many images of war but in the whole book there are only ten pictures of Schnell boats. The narrative on the other hand is full of information from the detail about the boats to their strategic use. What comes across strongly is the bravery and daring of those who commanded and crewed these small warships. They attacked warships much larger than themselves, they laid mines, frequently in harbour approaches, and they sank a significant amount of convoyed shipping in the North sea. Their role in escorting Scharnhorst, Gneisenau and Prinz Eugene in their channel dash and their actions around D day also form part of their exploits. Only brief mention is made of the people who designed and built these superb vessels which enabled the crews to use them as they did. The many maps strongly support the text.
Forget it is in the Images of War series and enjoy a jolly good read and on that basis we thoroughly recommend it.

Pen & Sword Military, 2021