Chars (1919-1945): książki, développement i déploiement

Super-Heavy Tanks of World War II (Osprey)

The super-heavy tanks of World War II are heirs to the siege machine tradition - a means of breaking the deadlock of ground combat. As a class of fighting vehicle, they began with the World War I concept of the search for a 'breakthrough' tank, designed to cross enemy lines.
It is not surprising that the breakthrough tank projects of the period prior to World War II took place in the armies that suffered the most casualties of the Great War (Russia, France, Germany). All of the principal Axis and Allied nations eventually initiated super-heavy development projects, with increasingly heavy armor and armament. Much as the casualties of World War I prompted the original breakthrough tank developments, as Germany found itself on the defensive, with diminishing operational prospects and an increasingly desperate leadership, so too did its focus turn to the super-heavy tanks that could turn the tide back in their favor.

Contents: Introduction - Design and Development - Operational History - Conclusion and Analysis - Index.

Allied Armoured Fighting Vehicles of the Second World War - Rare Photographs from Wartime Archives (Images of War)

Expert author Michael Green has compiled a full inventory of the armoured fighting vehicles developed and deployed by the Allied armies during the six year war against Nazi Germany and her Axis partners. Tank destroyers included the US Armys M18 Hellcat and M36 Jackson, the British Archer and Achilles and the Soviets SU-85, SU-100 and SU-122. Self-propelled artillery vehicles provide indirect fire support.

Examples of these were the British Bishop and Sexton, the US M7 Army Priest and The Red Armys SU-152 Beast Slayer. For reconnaissance the Allies fielded armoured cars and scout cars such as the Daimler Dingo, the US M8 Greyhound and T17 Staghound, and the Russian BA-10, -20 and -64. AFVs such as the British full tracked Universal Carrier and US M3 halftracks were fitted with a range of weapon systems, such as mortars or machine guns.

All these and many more AFVs are expertly described in words and captioned images in this comprehensive work which is the companion volume to the authors Allied Tanks of the Second World War.

Allied Tanks of the Second World War - Rare photographs from Wartime Archives (Images of War)

Expert author Michael Green has compiled a full inventory of the tanks developed and deployed by the Allied armies during the six year war against Nazi Germany and her Axis partners.

There were four categories of tank: Light, Medium, Heavy and Super Heavy. Combat experience proved Light tanks (such as the Stuart and T-26) to be ineffective. Medium tanks (the US M4 series, named Sherman by the British, and Russian T-34) soon dominated with their fire power, protection and mobility.

The later stages of the War required the Allies to answer the Axis Panther and Tiger tanks with up-gunned and up-armoured second generation M4s, T-34-85s and the Sherman Firefly. Totally new heavy tanks such as the M-26, Pershing, Soviet KV-1 series and the British Centurion only saw action in the final months.

"Allied Tanks of the Second World War" covers all these categories in detail as well as the few super heavy tanks such as the French Char 2C and the TOG. For an informed and highly illustrated work this book has no comparable rival.

Axis Tanks of the Second World War - Rare photographs from wartime archives (Images of War)

The German Army used tanks to devastating effect in their Blitzkrieg campaigns during the early years of the Second World War and in the intense defensive battles leading up to final defeat in 1945.

It may be a surprise to many that the Japanese Army had more tanks than Nazi Germany in 1938; these included the Type 95 light tank and the Type 89 and 97 medium tanks. Co-belligerents in the Axis Alliance that built their own tanks included Italy, Romania and Hungary.
The latter was responsible for the Toldi and Turan light tank series.

As can be seen from the descriptions and images in this classic Images of War series work, the Axis powers had drawn on British and, in some cases, French design for their tanks in the period leading up to the Second World War: the Carden-Loyd tankette suspension was used in the Panzer 1 series and the light Italian and Japanese tanks.
German engineering talent resulted in the original and ingenious designs of the Panzer II, III and IV series and, later in the War, the Panther Medium and Tiger heavy tanks.

This latest work by author and expert Mike Green will fascinate and inform historians, engineers and war gamers.

Armoured Warfare and the Fall of France - Rare photographs from Wartime Archives (Images of War)

At 21:00 on 9 May 1940 Codeword Danzig was issued alerting Adolf Hitler's airborne troops that they were about to spearhead an attack on Belgium and the Netherlands. The following day his blitzkrieg rolled forward striking the British Expeditionary Force and the French armies in Belgium and in northern France at Sedan.

The desperate attempts of the allied armies to stem the Nazi tide proved futile and, once their reserves had been exhausted and the remaining forces cut off, Paris lay open. By early June, it was all over - trapped British, Belgian and French troops were forced to evacuate Dunkirk, Calais and Boulogne and the defeated French army agreed to an armistice leaving the country divided in two.

This dramatic story is shown in a sequence of over 150 historic photographs that Anthony Tucker-Jones he has selected for this memorable book. The images he has chosen cover every aspect of this extraordinary campaign, but his main focus is on the vital role played by the armoured fighting vehicles of both sides.
The book is a graphic record of the destruction wrought by the Wehrmacht's lightning offensive through the Low Countries and France.

Armoured Warfare on the Eastern Front - Rare photographs from Wartime Archives (Images of War)

On the Eastern Front during the Second World War massive Soviet and German tank armies clashed in a series of battles that were unmatched in their scale and ferocity. Several of them have attained almost legendary status.
But epic encounters such as these were only part of a broader story, as Anthony Tucker-Jones demonstrates in this selection of graphic photographs.

While the images give a fascinating inside view of combat, they also reveal the daily routines of tank warfare 65 years ago. Training, maintenance, transportation and supply are shown, as are the daily lives of the tank crews and the often appalling conditions in which they worked and fought.
The photographs also record in vivid detail the destructive reality of armoured warfare, from the initial triumphant advance of the German panzers deep into the Soviet Union to the massive Red Army counter-offensives which drove the German armies back to Berlin.

Armoured Warfare in the Far East 1937 - 1945 - Rare photographs from Wartime Archives (Images of War)

Anthony Tucker-Jones's photographic history is a fascinating visual introduction to the armoured battles of the Second World War in the Far East and Asia-Pacific regions, from 1937 to 1945.
In contrast to the experience of the armies that fought in Europe and North Africa, in the Far East tanks remained an infantry support weapon, and their role is often neglected in histories of the conflict.

Japanese armour confronted tanks deployed by the Chinese, Russians, British and Americans. Early in the war, against Chinese forces which lacked armour, the Japanese had some success, but their light and medium tanks were no match for their Allied counterparts.
Later Japanese designs were better armed, but they were built in such small numbers that they could do little to stem the Allied advance.

The role of armoured vehicles in each theatre of the war in the Far East is shown in a selection of over 150 rare wartime photographs that record armour in action in China, Manchuria, Mongolia, Malaya, Burma and during the battles fought for the Pacific islands.

Armoured Warfare in Italian Campaign 1943-1945 - Rare photographs from Wartime Archives (Images of War)

The Second World War campaigns in North Africa, on the Eastern Front and in northwest Europe were dominated by armoured warfare, but the battles in Italy were not. The mountainous topography of the Italian peninsula ensured that it was foremost an infantry war, so it could be said that tanks played a supporting role.

Yet, as Anthony Tucker-Jones demonstrates, in the battles fought from the Allied landings in Sicily in 1943 to the German surrender after the crossing of the Po in 1945, tanks, self-propelled guns and armoured cars were essential elements in the operations of both sides.
His selection of rare wartime photographs shows armour in battle at Salerno, Anzio and Monte Cassino, during the struggle for the Gustav Line, the advance on Rome and the liberation of northern Italy. And they reveal the full array of Axis and Allied armoured vehicles that was deployed - most famous among them were the German Mk IVs, Panthers, and Tigers and Allied Stuarts, Chafees, Shermans and Churchills.

This volume in Anthony Tucker-Jones's series of books on armoured warfare in the Second World War gives readers a vivid impression of the Italian landscapes over which the campaign was fought, the wide range of military vehicles that were used, and the gruelling conditions endured by the men who fought in them.