This publication covers one of the most interesting modern German Army exercises held during the Cold War. Exercise Schneller Wechsel (Rapid Change) took place in the autumn of 1974 as a III Corps exercise. The name was chosen due to the relocation and repositioning of major units over long distances, often over hundreds of kilometres, on road marches and by railroad transport. Included were the crossing of various rivers using engineer bridges with most crossings carried out at night and were followed by immediate engagements. Road marches were covered with scenarios such as heavy losses and rapid deployment of maintenance and repair troops airlifted in. Airborne units supported the andvance as were units of the U.S. Army. A specific aspect of Schneller Wechsel '74 was its sheer size and magnitude, today unbelievable and undoable. Participating tank battalions and armoured reconnaissance battalions were often 600 vehicles strong! Also of interest are the various generations of MBTs such as the ageing M 48 A2C or the then brand-new Leopard 1 MBT, often fighting side by side.

The booklet shows 110 b&w- and 9 color photographs. Text completely bilingual - English/German!

Author: Walter Böhm
Pages: 64
Language: German/English
Edition: 1
Year of publication: 2010
Dimensions: DIN A4
Binding: Paperback
Weight: 0.25 kg