Duel in the Mist 2 - front cover

Title: Duel in the Mist 2
Author: Timm Hassler/Roddy MacDougal/Simon Vosters/Hans Weber
Publisher: Panzerwrecks
ISBN: 978-1-908032-02-7
 
...The Leibstandarte during the Ardennes Offensive
 
Another excellent hard cover book has been published by Panzerwrecks, the second in their series of books on the story of the Ardennes offensive.  Over 230 pages tackles the story of Kampfgruppe Peiper of the Leibstandarte during the Ardennes offensive, the 'Battle of the Bulge'.  The authors have pieced together the detailed story of events over just 2 days, the 20th and 21st December 1944.  Interviewing veterans from all sides and examining records has been a time consuming process that has yielded an excellent book.  Sadly of course, the number of veterans who remain to tell us their stories is declining significantly now, some 78 years after these events took place.
 
The book is organized into 17 chapters plus 3 appendices and is illustrated throughout with the excellent photos that Panzerwrecks are well known for, many of which are seen for the first time in print, plus explanatory maps that fit well with the text.  It starts where the previous book in the series left off, with the re-organisation of the US Regimental Combat Team 119 as they got over their first encounters.    What then follows, broken into sections, is the story of these two days, the events and the issues that faced both sides, detailing what happened in and around the villages of Stoumont, Cheneux, and La Gleize.  The small things that happen are included, such as the cows roaming around who broke telephone wires to command posts as they wandered around freely amidst the fighting.  It is the little details like this which make it very readable for me, in addition to simply 'this unit was here and moved there' sort of thing.  The text does tell us who was where and when, relating the movements to each other as both sides needed to get the information on what was happening where in order to plan their next moves.
 
Studying the position of wrecks helps verify the story of what took place and where, and there are many photos showing them after the fighting had cleared the area, and civilians returned to their often shattered homes.  Many are accompanied by present day photos of the same locations so if you combine these with the story and the detailed maps that feature in the book, it would be great to have this book with you in the car if you want to visit the battleground for yourself.
 
The final appendices cover the re-organisation of the Panzer units following the retreat from Normandy, and how they were rebuilt in order to take to the offensive in December, then the Order of Battle for 3./ SS-Pz.Pi.Btl.1 and finally a few colour profiles of German AFVs that took part.
 
Another excellent book by this team of researchers and another excellent addition to the series of publications from Panzerwrecks.  If you have an interest in the events that took place in the Ardennes in the winter of 1944, this is a book you will want to read.
 
Our thanks to Lee Archer of Panzerwrecks for our example.
 

More information on the Panzerwrecks website