Panther Tracks

The comprehensive history of Elder High School through the 1900's. Elder is the oldest Catholic private high school in Cincinnati, Ohio, with a long history of great sports tradition.

While the Battle of Berlin in 1945 is widely known, the horrific story of the Halbe Kessel remains largely untold. In April 1945, victorious Soviet forces encircled 80,000 men of the German 9th Army in the Halbe area, South of Berlin, together with many thousands of German women and children. The German troops, desperate to avoid Soviet capture, battled furiously to break out towards the West, where they could surrender to the comparative safety of the Americans. For the German civilians trapped in the Kessel, the quest to escape took on frantic dimensions, as the terror of Red Army brutality spread. The small town of Halbe became the eye of the hurricane for the breakout, as King Tigers of the SS Panzer Corps led the spearhead to the West, supported by Panthers of the battle-hardened 21st Panzer Division. Panzer by panzer, unit by unit, the breakout forces were cut down - until only a handful of Panthers, other armour, battered infantry units and columns of shattered refugees made a final escape through the rings of fire to the American lines. This first-hand account by the commander of one of those Panther tanks relates with devastating clarity the conditions inside the Kessel, the ferocity of the breakout attempt through Halbe, and the subsequent running battles between overwhelming Soviet forces and the exhausted Reich troops, who were using their last reserves of fuel, ammunition, strength and hope. Eloquent German-perspective accounts of World War 2 are surprisingly rare, and the recent reissue of Wolfgang Faust's 1948 memoir 'Tiger Tracks' has fascinated readers around the world with its insight into the Eastern Front. In 'The Last Panther, ' Faust used his unique knowledge of tank warfare to describe the final collapse of the Third Reich and the murderous combat between the German and Russian armies. He gives us a shocking testament to the cataclysmic final hours of the Reich, and the horrors of this last eruption of violence among the idyllic forests and meadows of Germany.

This fully illustrated modeling guide offers in-depth information on the German Panther tanks battalions that fought Russia in 1944. In the summer of 1944, overwhelming Soviet offensives threatened to destroy the entire German army on the Eastern Front. As the Wehrmacht scrambled to hold its ground, the newly raised IV SS-Panzerkorps—with its battalions of Pzkpfw V Panther tanks—was critical to the defense. The Panthers were perhaps the most effective armored fighting vehicle produced by Germany during the Second World War. In this volume of the TankCraft series, Dennis Oliver uses archive photos and extensively researched color illustrations to examine the Panther battalions that fought to hold back the Soviet advance. A key section of his book displays available model kits and aftermarket products, complemented by a gallery of beautifully constructed and painted models in various scales. Technical details as well as modifications introduced during production and in the field are also examined, providing everything the modeler needs to recreate an accurate representation of these historic tanks.

Wild Boar Hunting in the Mississippi Delta --

Beautifully blending contemporary travel writing and military history, John Gimlette travels across Europe in the footsteps of one of the greatest armies ever assembled: the United States forces of 1944-45. In 2004, John Gimlette set off across Europe with his guide Putnam Flint, an eighty-six-year-old Bostonian who had landed in Marseille in the midst of World War II with his tank destroyer battalion, nicknamed The Panthers. With Flint's help, Gimlette traveled from Marseille north to Dijon and Alsace, Paris and Lorraine, across the Rhine into Germany, and eventually south through the Alps into Austria. Gimlette provides a vivid portrait of the route as it is today, from spectacular landscapes to cities that have risen from cinders and as it was during one of the most tumultuous moments in world history.

THE LAST PANTHER This is the story of Mathew Davis, a young boy living with his family on the edge of the Florida Everglades, who because of his short stature, is constantly taunted and bullied by his classmates. It is a story of Mathew’s struggles to discover who he is, and of his relationships with his father, and those around him. Thinking that being able to have a gun, and going hunting will help him secure recognition and respect, Mathew befriends a native Indian schoolmate, Charlie Jim, who teaches Mathew how to track animals and to respect the natural beauty of the Glades, while sharing many adventures together. Their confrontation with an angry alligator, and rescue of a wounded panther provide an exciting climax to their youthful adventures. Mathew’s desire to participate in a pharmaceutical study for the introduction of a new biological agent offers Mathew hope that his short stature can be corrected medically. This is a story of a young boy coming of age, who learns that the measure of a man is not in his size, but what is in his heart, and of the friend who helps him find his way.

For animal lovers and fans of The One and Only Ivan and Hoot, this is the uplifting story of a girl who discovers a family of panthers that were thought to be extinct, and her journey to save the species. Eleven-year-old Kiri has a secret: wild things call to her. More than anyone else, she’s always had a special connection to animals. But when Kiri has an encounter with the last known Florida panther, her life is quickly turned on end. Caught between her conservationist father, who wants to send the panther to a zoo, and the village poachers, who want to sell it to feed their families, Kiri must embark on a journey that will take her deep into the wilderness. There has to be some way to save the panther, and for her dad and the villagers to understand each other. If Kiri can’t figure out what it is, she’ll lose far more than the panthers—she’ll lose the only home she’s ever known, and the only family she has left. 2018 Green Earth Book Award Honor 2018 Colorado Book Award Winner CAL Book Award Winner Green Prize for Sustainable Literature Award Winner A Bank Street "Best Children's Book of the Year" A National Geographic Giant Traveling Map of Florida Selection "A powerful tale of a future to be avoided." —Kirkus Reviews "An eerie cautionary tale about the dangers of not protecting the environment, tackles an important theme in a compelling way...a fantastical tale with roots in real-world issues." —Booklist "Earnest, heartfelt, and passionate, this book will likely inspire new environmentalists." —Bulletin "A boldly original, profoundly wise, deeply moving book. It’s a rare gift to any reader, as well as to our planet.” —T. A. Barron, best-selling author of the Merlin Saga

In "Liquid Land," Levin guides readers past the dire headlines about the Everglades' demise and into the magnificent swamp itself, where they come face-to-face with the remaining plants, animals, and landscapes that will survive only if the public protects them.