As a result of the heavy losses in armoured vehicles, and tanks in particular, on the Eastern Front the assault gun units played an increasingly vital role in supporting the beleaguered infantry and countering Allied armour, The Stumgeschutz was one of the most numerously produced and effectively deployed of the German armoured vehicles. Total production of the Ausf G alone was close to 7000 vehicles; a further 1299 were equipped with the 10.5cm gun as self-propelled howitzers. This book reveals how the Sturmgeschutz provided the backbone of Germany's amoured forces in every theatre and on every front during the long fighting-retreat of the final years of the war.