Armáda 23 Jagdpanzer 38 Hetzer a jeho poválečná služba v Československu a Švýcarsku – Francev Vladimír (2025)

This Czech-language factual history examines the development, production and later service of the Jagdpanzer 38 Hetzer in Czechoslovakia and Switzerland. In 1943, as the German army shifted from offensive warfare to a slow but persistent retreat and Allied tanks became increasingly important, German commanders had to respond quickly. Growing air raids on armaments factories also restricted production, so by the end of the year manufacturing increasingly turned from tanks to assault guns and tank destroyers. The Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia offered suitable facilities, where bombing was still less frequent and light armoured-vehicle production could be redirected to more urgently needed designs. The Jagdpanzer 38 programme began there in the winter of 1943, producing from spring 1944 a lightly armoured combat vehicle that was well armed, economical in materials and suitable for large-scale manufacture. Initially intended as a rapid replacement for the StuG III assault gun, it was developed and produced mainly by the Prague BMM works, the former ČKD, with the Škoda works in Plzeň also joining the programme. The book also gives production figures for the Marder III and Hetzer, including vehicles built in 1944 and 1945.