An authoritative 100-year overview of the fascinating history of the cargo/troop-carrying trucks, wreckers, tankers, ambulances, communications vehicles and other specialized types that provide technical support to the front-line troops. The author begins by describing the history of the wheeled military vehicle. Key issues are covered in ......
Motorcycles entered military service in World War I, replacing the mounted despatch rider and mechanizing machine-gun and stretcher units. The conflict brought an enormous upsurge in the use of motorcycles in Europe and America. This comprehensive new book covers the lively history of the machines, highlighting the roles of military ......
The Jeep is among a handful of motor vehicles, along with other classics such as the VW Beetle, the Mini, the E-Type Jaguar and the Citroen 2CV which are deserving of that over used adjective; iconic. During WW2, the Jeep could be found wherever the Allies were fighting and soldiers soon learned that here was a dependable, go-anywhere machine. ......
In 2021, as the Jeep celebrates its 80th anniversary, there is no doubt that itis one of the worlds most famous automobiles. The utility 4x4 machine was designed to help win a war - something that it did with aplomb - and a legend was born, spawning both evolved models that remain in production to this day and numerous imitators around the ......
Illustrated throughout with archival and period photographs and diagrams, this book provides a detailed overview of Diamond T vehicles used by the US army through World War II. Between 1940 and 1945, Diamond T Motor Car Company supplied just over 50,000 vehicles to the US military, and also to the Allies. Of this, just over 30,000 were heavy ......
Compared to the fighting in Northwest Europe or the epic battles in the Soviet Union, the battles for the possession of the Italian peninsula seem to seem to pale in insignificance. The Allies regarded it as a side-show and the men that fought there were often referred to as the D-Day Dodgers. The Germans must have regarded it similarly judging ......
This all-new 124-page softbound volume is profusely illustrated with almost 250 photos, many of them in color, illustrating the history and US military service of this weapon system, from its advent in the early 1950s through the first Gulf War. Widely used in Vietnam, where it had the longest range of any land-based artillery, the M107 and ......
Since the inception of Special Forces units during the early years of World War II, unique and operation-specific vehicles have been developed for units that work in extreme environments and behind enemy lines, often moving quickly and with stealth to strike when least expected. Arranged thematically by chapter, Special Forces ......
The struggle for armored dominance sometimes overshadows the vital and unsung heroes of the battlefield: the engineers. Combat engineer vehicles spearhead armored attacks, breach obstacles, and prepare defenses. Born of necessity, these amazing vehicles have developed from humble beginnings to technological and mechanical marvels. After a slow ......
The M3 vehicle was a thirteen-person armoured transporter that could be used to transport mechanised infantry or as an artillery tractor, ambulance, communications vehicle, etc. It was also used as a carrier for various types of guns. American factories producing M2 and M3 armoured personnel carriers were overloaded and could hardly meet orders ......
The British Scorpion and Scimitar are among the most successful armoured reconnaissance vehicles ever built and, almost fifty years after the initial design was introduced, updated versions are still in service today. These compact, manoeuvrable and fast-moving light tanks played a significant peace-keeping role in conflict zones around the ......
The United States, being at peace, had not foreseen the need for a specialised tank recovery vehicle, despite the ramping up of tank production in 1940 1941. However, observation of the new world war quickly pointed to the need for such a vehicle. Armored vehicles, immobilised for any reason, were easily destroyed by opposing troops, denying ......
Opel Blitz (German for ""lightning"") was the name given to various light and middle-weight truck series built by the German automobile manufacturer Opel from 1930. This book focuses on the light version of the Blitz lorry deployed by the Wehrmacht during World War II: Opel Blitz type 3,5-134 & 3,5-157; Opel Blitz type 2,0-12; Opel Blitz type ......
The Bradley Fighting Vehicle was developed in the 1970s to counter the new Infantry Fighting Vehicles of the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies. Designed to survive the imagined high-intensity, Nuclear, Biological and Chemical (NBC) battlefield of the Cold War, it became, alongside the M1 Abrams Main Battle Tank, the mainstay of US ......
During the 1930s in the Soviet Union a remarkable range of auxiliary armoured vehicles were produced for the Red Army which have rarely had the attention they deserve, and Alexey Tarasovs photographic history is the ideal guide to them. These innovative designs demonstrate the diversity and innovation of the Soviet arms industry. Among them ......
HMS Invincible was the lead ship of a class of British light aircraft carriers built between 1973 and 1985, originally designed as "through-deck cruisers" (TDC). This set them apart from conventional helicopter-carrying ships of the time, which typically featured a flight deck in the aft section of the vessel. Invincible-class carriers were the ......
In this book, Tom Cockle presents the reader with photographs of a variety of motorised transport vehicles including cars and trucks; armoured cars; half-tracks, both armoured and unarmored, used by the German Wehrmacht during World War II, along with some captured enemy vehicles that were pressed into service. The hardcover, landscape ......
The wartime Jeep continues to fascinate enthusiasts around the world, nearly eight decades after the first prototypes were built. Yet while it is true that there was only ever one Jeep, it is emphatically not the case that there was only one variety of Jeep. Not only were Jeeps built by both Willys and Ford, but the supposedly standardised ......
The armoured car has an important place in the early history of Soviet armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs) - they were the most important AFV during the Russian Civil War and figured prominently in the mechanization of the Red Army that began in late 1929. The 1930s saw the development and production of a wide variety of armoured cars, which were ......
Originally developed as a swamp rescue vehicle by millionaire philanthropists Donald and John Roebling, the LVT (Landing Vehicle, Tracked), or "Alligator," was widely used in the Allied island-hopping campaign in the Pacific during World War II. Powered by a mammoth aircraft-type engine, the LVT(4) could cross treacherous coral reefs, deep ......