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British author George Forty, a noted international expert
on tank warfare, discusses 26 individual soldiers from 8 countries
in his book "Tank Aces," published in 1997. The time
period of the study covers World War II to the Gulf War ("Desert
Storm" - 1991). By eliminating those aces who were officers
in command positions of company-level and greater (involved more
in general strategy), and those aces who were extraordinary in
one or several battle situations only, three men of the original
26 remain, and stand apart in meeting a criteria of continual,
front-line, combat brilliance:
- Lt. Dimitri Lavrinenko - U.S.S.R., WWII
- SSgt. Lafayette Pool - U.S.A./3AD, WWII
- SS-Capt. Michael Wittmann - Germany WWII
Listed above in alphabetical order, each of these men repeatedly
excelled in situations where they were directly involved in destroying
enemy armor and vehicles and killing enemy soldiers. At the same
time, each was an inspiring and aggressive leader who repeatedly
risked his own life to achieve these missions. Of the three,
only Pool survived the war, but was critically wounded in September,
1944, and would eventually lose a leg. As can be extrapolated
from George Forty's book, these three soldiers are arguably history's
greatest hands-on battlefield tank commanders.
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