Simon Forty

Well, this was unexpectedly interesting book :) This book did for WW2 period what I expected the other book to do for Cold War period.

Book is divided into chapters that cover the tank and mechanized warfare in general from 1939 to 1945 throughout the all war theaters - Western Front, Eastern Front, some information when it comes to Russo-Japanese wars in Manchuria at the end of 1930's, Asia battlefront (India, Thailand, Singapore) and finally Pacific theater.

Of course it is impossible to expect that book covering so many war operations can contain only 200 pages. Some trimming had to take place and it is true - every front is presented in broad strokes with main officers and main vehicles used. But what is interesting here is that author manages to give actual core of the problem in each and every theater of operations by providing information from specialist magazines of the period and reports by officers involved in the actual combat. It is very interesting to read thoughts of these veterans when it comes to fighting in the desert or Russian steppe, what needs to be improved, how to train the troops, how to handle constricted areas of Italy with armor or handle amphibious landings in Pacific. Also interesting are findings on artillery use (indirect fire and anti tank), development of main guns and ammunition for both guns and anti-tank warfare (especially interesting is note that increase in main gun caliber did not guarantee better results, and according to the US Army use of smaller caliber guns with proper ammo could give better results). We follow development of tanks, tactics of their use (interesting comment is how tank was viewed as not primary anti-tank weapon but weapon to wreak havoc behind enemy lines), development of armed wheeled and tracked vehicles to act as command vehicles but also self propelled guns.

What is interesting this is one of the very rare books that cover Italian (very very small amount of data, but at least something) and Japanese armor (decent introductory chapter with overview of their experiences with armor troops and models they developed but did not use since they kept them for the defense of their home islands).

Appendices delve further into evolution of ammo, tank guns, anti tank and general self propelled artillery, decisions on use of proven weapon platforms (like T34/IS2/KV1/Sherman/PzKfw4) for various purposes, from engineering vehicles to combat vehicles and SP guns, logistics and engineer aspect of mechanized warfare.

All in all, very well rounded book considering the area author's covered. Definitely got me interested in the another book in the series related to artillery.

Recommended.… (mehr)

These 125 rare and fascinating historical documents chart the boundaries of the Great War from its start in 1914 to the Armistice. Detailed maps show the trench lines of the major Western Front battlefields sitting side-by-side with Lawrence of Arabia’s campaigns in Palestine and the Middle East. Naval battles in the North Sea and Atlantic Ocean appear alongside details of ANZAC’s Gallipoli campaign or Canadian battles at Vimy Ridge. Plans for rolling barrages at Serre on the Somme contrast with details of operations in East Africa (the setting for the popular movie The African Queen). One section focuses entirely on the United States’ involvement in the fighting, while the introduction provides a brief background of the war and an examination of military mapping.… (mehr)