Bookshelf

WARSAW 1944

The author served in the Royal Artillery during the war in the specialist role of anti-tank gunner and this book, written in autobiographical form, describes his time in the North African campaign during 1941-1942. He faced Germans and Italians, encountered Arabs and survived the harsh terrain and blistering heat of the desert. This is a memoir which tells how he saw men being killed and the respect for a tenacious enemy and the deadliest weapon in the shape of the 88mm gun. The author describes 25-Pounder and 6-Pounder anti-tank guns in action and his narrative is interspersed with his opinions of American tanks such as the M3 ‘Honey’ and Grant/Lee. He also had to face that most tenacious of all adversaries, the British army, in his struggle to get petrol for his truck and collect replacement guns for the front. Anyone who has been in the army will recognise what he faced and sympathise.

Author: Zbigniew Czajkowski.
Publisher: Pen & Sword Books Ltd,
tel. 01226 734679. www.pen-and-sword.co.uk
ISBN: 9781781590584.
Size: 242mmX163mm.
Price: £19.99.

MILITARY LAND ROVER

If one vehicle had to be used to illustrate the British army it would undeniably be the Land Rover, which has served in every post-war campaign from Aden to Afghanistan. Since it was first produced in 1948 hundreds of thousands of Land Rovers have been built and entered service with the armed forces of some 60 countries. It has been used in all roles from towing artillery to radio vehicles. Land Rover ambulances serve in the vehicle fleet of armies and the vehicle has even been used as a platform to mount anti-tank guns and missiles. It is estimated that some 75% of all vehicles ever produced are still surviving and judging by those seen at shows it is about right. The author is a highly respected historian on military vehicles and here he has done an excellent job of charting all the variations of this vehicle and incudes photographs of some rare and unusual types. This is the type of book one expects from the leading vehicle maintenance manual publisher and owners of all types will find this a highly useful and informative work.

Author: Pat Ware
Publisher: Haynes Publishing,
tel. 01963 442030. www.haynes.co.uk
ISBN: 9780857330802.
Price: £21.99

ANTI-TANK; THE STORY OF A DESERT GUNNER IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR

The author served in the Royal Artillery during the war in the specialist role of anti-tank gunner and this book, written in autobiographical form, describes his time in the North African campaign during 1941-1942. He faced Germans and Italians, encountered Arabs and survived the harsh terrain and blistering heat of the desert. This is a memoir which tells how he saw men being killed and the respect for a tenacious enemy and the deadliest weapon in the shape of the 88mm gun. The author describes 25-Pounder and 6-Pounder anti-tank guns in action and his narrative is interspersed with his opinions of American tanks such as the M3 ‘Honey’ and Grant/Lee. He also had to face that most tenacious of all adversaries, the British army, in his struggle to get petrol for his truck and collect replacement guns for the front. Anyone who has been in the army will recognise what he faced and sympathise.

Author: Mark Carter.
Publisher: Pen & Sword Books Ltd,
tel. 01226 734679. www.pen-and-sword.co.uk
ISBN: 9781848848115.
Price: £19.99.

WEAPONS OF WORLD WAR II

The book may be new but some of the artwork dates back almost forty years, but the fact that it is still being used says a great deal for the artist’s talents. The work compares and contrasts weapons of land, sea and air as used by the main belligerents during WW II and whilst the author knows his subject he does not present the reader with anything new. He plays it safe and stays with the main tanks, ships and aircraft types of the war. It is really the charts which do most of the explaining here with some instruction by the author. The artwork has stood the test of time and modellers will fi nd this book useful for colour schemes and details and the choice of photographs are very good. If you are looking for something with substance seek it elsewhere.

Author: Michael E. Haskew.
Publisher: Amber Books Ltd,
tel: 020 7520 7600 www.amberbooks.co.uk
ISBN: 9781908696694.
Price: £19.99.

WINSTON CHURCHILL’S TOYSHOP.

This book was fi rst published in 1971 and now forty years on it is being read by an entirely new generation who may never have heard of some of the things mentioned in this book. The author held the rank of colonel and was one of the driving fi gures behind the development of many gadgets and weapons used by SOE and the infantry. He writes in a down-to-earth manner which has moments of humour at times and in doing so fi lls in some of the grey areas in weapon development. It was Churchill who ordered that SOE must ‘set Europe ablaze’ but it was the ‘Backroom Boys’ which had to develop the means to do so. This tells some of the story along with other weaponry such as the ‘Blacker Bombard’ used by the Home Guard. The author’s account of using the PIAT for a post-war BBC documentary makes interesting reading and make one think differently about the weapon.

Author: Stuart Macrae.
Publisher: Amberley Publishing, tel. 01453
847800. www.amberley-books.com
ISBN: 9781445608426.
Price: £12.99.

DOING THEIR BIT

Civilians engaged in essential war work did not wear a uniform and to identify themselves they wore discrete lapel badges such ‘MN’ for Merchant Navy and the more recognisable ARP. These are the more obvious types along with WVS and AFS, but there were literally hundreds of others types issued by factories or local services. The author has been collecting these badges worn on the Home Front and has produced a meticulously researched book with hundreds of photographs of the different types and the paperwork documents adding to the knowledge. Clubs, societies and associations all had badges and these are today highly collectable items but still affordable. In this handsome book the author explains what collectors should look for and gives a lot of very useful background history making it worth every penny of its weight.

Author: Jon Mills
Publisher: Sabrestorm Publishing,
tel.01732 452505. www.sabrestorm.com
ISBN: 9780955272394.
Price: £45.

U-108 AT WAR

This is one of the fi rst titles in a new series of books from this publisher called ‘Images of War’ and as the title suggests it is bursting with rare archive photographs, some of which have never been seen before. The book concentrates on U-108 which had a distinguished record and served with the 2nd U-Boat Flotilla based at Lorient in France. The U-Boat service infl icted heavy losses on Allied shipping and in return suffered enormous losses right until the end of the war. The author sticks to telling the story of the U-108 and the captions accompanying the photographs make this a very personal work almost like an album compiled by the crew. Some sinking of individual ships are detailed along with illustrations make this a fascinating work.

Author: Alistair Smith.
Publisher: Pen & Sword Books Ltd,
tel. 01226 734679. www.pen-and-sword.co.uk
ISBN: 9781848846678.
Price: £12.99.