Only Allah can make something perfect.

-- Saying among Turkish carpet weavers, who insert an intentional imperfection into the weave

No author wants mistakes to make it into the final product, and yet that happens in nearly every publication.  Here are those I of which I am aware, and I will gratefully add any that readers spot.

 Steel Victory

 A technical editor decided that the Roer and Ruhr rivers must be the same stream and changed all references to read “Ruhr.” When this error was caught, all references were changed to read “Roer.” This error was caught very late in the game, and I am told that there are still two references where the names are cris-crossed.

 The Tank Killers

 In the unit histories, that listed under the heading of the 643d Tank Destroyer Battalion belongs to the 644th Tank Destroyer Battalion, the history of which is missing. The history of the 643d Tank Destroyer Battalion is as follows:

Redesignated from the 43d Infantry Division’s Antitank Battalion (Provisional) on 3 December 1941 and activated at Camp Blanding, Florida, on 15 December. Arrived at Cherbourg, France, on 15 December 1944 equipped with towed guns. First engaged near Manhay, Belgium, on 22 December 1944. Crossed the Roer River on 24 February 1945. Re-equipped with M18s in March 1945, crossed the Rhine River at Wesel and the Elbe River en route to Zerbst. Withdrawn to take up occupation duties in the Harz Mountains.

 (Thanks to Mr. Bernard Haas for catching the error and forwarding a brief history of the 643d Tank Destroyer Battalion.)

 (Hardback only) The 705th Tank Destroyer Battalion was equipped with M18s, not M10s.

The Longest Battle

Most if not all citations in the index are off by one page.

 P. 57: 2d paragraph should begin, “The insertion of VIII Corps to the right of V Corps, a step. . . .” (Thanks to Ralph Fritsche for spotting that one)

 P. 224: Hitler’s counteroffensive began, of course, on December 16, not November 16 as rendered.

 Weapons of the Tankers

 The printers completely bollixed the sidebar footnotes, which lead no where.

 Pp. 56-57: The cross-over sentence should read, “In response, the Army in 1943 introduced ammunition stowage racks surrounded by liquid. . . .” Recent research by Michael Green indicates that the liquids could at some point in the equipment’s life include water, antifreeze compound, or ammudamp.

 P. 75: 2d sentence under Duplex Drive (DD) Tanks should read, “The British had an answer: the DD conversion to the M4-series Sherman.”

 P. 92: In the sidebar “Mechanized Cavalry,” the last sentence of the 2d paragraph should read, “The infantry divisions in other theaters and the 1st Armored Division in Italy likewise had mechanized cavalry elements.”

 First to the Rhine

 P. 223 - 2nd line: should read '63d' Infantry division vice 73d.

 
P. 284: The 2d Battalion, 274th Infantry actually recaptured Wingen. The 1st Battalion, 276th Infantry, provided covering fire.

 (Thanks to Steve Dixon for these catches.)

Fighting Patton

P. 6, hardback only. Pancho Villa raided Columbus, New Mexico, not Texas.