Download or read book A13 Mk I Mk II Cruiser Tanks A Technical History written by P. M. Knight and published by . This book was released on 2019-08-14 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The A13 Cruiser Tank was created by Colonel Giffard Le Quesne Martel after he had witnessed the performance of the fast Soviet BT tanks while on a military mission to Russia in 1936. These had in turn been developed from a prototype tank designed by the mercurial American engineer J. Walter Christie. The British Army quickly imported one of Christie's tanks and set about modifying it to suit their requirements, in collaboration with Lord Nuffield. The result, achieved in a mere two years, was a powerfully armed, highly mobile, though lightly armoured tank. This book follows the development history of the A13 up to and including the Battle of France, where any merits it may have possessed were overshadowed by poor preparation and the inadequate organisation and tactics of the Royal Armoured Corps.

Download or read book British Cruiser Tank A13 Mk I Mk II written by Peter Brown and published by . This book was released on 2015-04-16 with total page 88 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The A13 Mk. I was the first British Cruiser tank to use the Christie suspension system and set the style for all other Cruisers built in World War II. Together with the improved Mk. II and Mk. IIA it played an important part in the battles in France in 1940 and North Africa in 1941. This book covers its development, production and service, filling a long-neglected gap in the history of British armored vehicles. It includes over 140 period black and white photos from archives and private collections, many never before published, 7pp 1/35th scale plans, 3 pp technical drawings and sketches, and 27 profusely researched full-color plates. Its author has researched British AFVs for 40 years and has contributed many articles to professional military and modeling magazines.REVIEWS The book opens with 18 pages giving the development and service history of the A13, including many tables of information such as unit strengths, tank availability and the like. Designed using the large road wheels of the Christie suspension system it was used in service during the early stages of the war by the BEF in France, as well as the 8th Army in North Africa. As well as the UK, others were used in Greece, Cyprus and Malta which are all mentioned, as well as some captured in usable condition by the Wehrmacht. While this section is illustrated with helpful archive photos, the book then moves on to providing another 52-page Photo Gallery. Here we find a collection of archive photos, many of which I have not seen before, showing the A13 in the UK as well as in France and North Africa, all of which have well informed and useful captions. There are over 140 archive photos in the book and these include some which I thing modelers will find especially useful in diorama ideas as well as the details illustrated on the tanks themselves.- Military Modelling"Modelers will love the excellent drawings of all the variants of the A13 Cruiser tank family as well as the 1/35 scale color plates which will make finishing and correcting the Bronco model kits much easier... Highly Recommended for all Christie tank design fans and early war British armour fans."- Cookie Sewell

Download or read book A13 Cruiser Mk V Covenanter a Technical History written by P. M. Knight and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2015-03-08 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book documents for the first time the full history of the design and development of the Covenanter tank, giving in-depth coverage of the issues that beset the machine, and how they were eventually resolved. It dispels many of the myths that have attached themselves to the Covenanter story, revealing that far from being a compromised design whose problems with cooling and reliability were never cured, it was in fact a sound vehicle whose problems need never have arisen in the first place, were it not for the urgent need for tanks of any description in the aftermath of the disaster of the Battle Of France. This led to the premature introduction of the Covenanter before its development had been completed, with a consequent impact on its reputation. Contrary to popular belief, the Covenanter was judged fit for frontline service, and only missed out by the narrowest of margins. Drawn from original archive sources, this book sheds new light on one of the most controversial weapons of World War 2.

Download or read book A13 Cruiser Mk V Covenanter Tank a Technical History written by P. M. Knight and published by . This book was released on 2018-02-09 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Covenanter was intended to be the main equipment of the Armoured Divisions during the early years of the Second World War, and was a generally reliable tank that was well suited to its primary task of home defence. Due to a rather convoluted series of events, mainly involving material shortages, it would not see service overseas, and as Britain's strategic circumstances evolved it would increasingly be used as a training tank. If the Covenanter's active service was relatively uneventful, its development life was the very opposite, with two drastically different variants of the original machine being created, and constant refinement being undertaken while it was in the hands of its users. The Covenanter was reflective of the many blind spots in the British Army's pre-war thinking as regards Armoured Fighting Vehicles, and from its travails much practical experience was gained that benefited subsequent tank designs.

Download or read book A15 Cruiser Mk VI Crusader Tank A Technical History written by P. M. Knight and published by . This book was released on 2015-05-17 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There can be few tanks that have proved as controversial in their deployment as the Crusader, a tank that was invested with high hopes on its entry into service in 1941. This book investigates in unprecedented detail the issues that impinged on its service life. Drawing extensively on original archive sources, a new perspective is drawn on both the employment of the tank itself, and on British tank development of the era. The complex story that unfolds encompasses many interwoven and sometimes contradictory threads, allowing the author to reach both perceptive and surprising conclusions.

Download or read book Crusader and Covenanter Cruiser Tanks 1939 45 written by David Fletcher and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2012-05-20 with total page 113 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Covenanter (which never saw active service) and Crusader Cruiser tanks were developed between 1939 and 1940. The Crusader first saw action in the North African desert in June 1941: its speed and sleek design made it a hard target to hit, and the tank was well-respected by the Afrikakorps for its velocity in combat. But its hurried development prior to World War II also made it prone to mechanical failure. This book examines the Covenanter and the many variants of the Crusader tank, detailing the designs, developments and disappointments of these infamous World War II tanks.

Download or read book Allied Armored Fighting Vehicles 1 72 Scale written by George Bradford and published by Stackpole Books. This book was released on 2009 with total page 122 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Filled with 1:72-scale drawings of armored vehicles from the U.S., Britain, Canada, and Russia, including: M4 Sherman medium tank (U.S.) T1E3 Aunt Jemima mine exploder (U.S.) M18 Hellcat tank destroyer (U.S.) Mk VI Crusader cruiser tank (Britain) Crocodile flamethrower (Britain) Ram I cruiser tank (Canada) T-34 medium tank (Russia) SU-100 tank destroyer (Russia) And dozens more . . .

Download or read book A 13 Mk I Mk II written by Jacek Solarz and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 74 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book A Midshipman s War written by Frank Wade and published by Trafford. This book was released on 2005 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The World War II Mediterranean sea battles are not well known. Many of our ships were sunk, but Malta was saved. North Africa was cleared and Sicily taken in 1943.

Download or read book Desert Armour written by Robert Forczyk and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2023-10-12 with total page 480 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Robert Forczyk covers the development of armoured warfare in North Africa from Rommel's Gazala offensive in 1942 through to the end of war in the desert in Tunisia in 1943. The war in the North African desert was pure mechanized warfare, and in many respects the most technologically advanced theatre of World War II. It was also the only theatre where for three years British and Commonwealth, and later US, troops were in constant contact with Axis forces. World War II best-selling author Robert Forczyk explores the second half of the history of the campaign, from the Gazala offensive in May 1942 that drove the British forces all the way back to the Egyptian frontier and led to the fall of Tobruk, through the pivotal battles of El Alamein, and the final Allied victory in Tunisia. He examines the armoured forces, equipment, doctrine, training, logistics and operations employed by both Allied and Axis forces throughout the period, focusing especially on the brigade and regimental level of operations. Fully illustrated throughout with photographs, profile artwork and maps, and featuring tactical-level vignettes and appendices analysing tank data, tank deliveries in-theatre and orders of battle, this book goes back to the sources to provide a new study of armoured warfare in the desert.

Download or read book British Cruiser Tank A34 Comet written by Richard Taylor and published by . This book was released on 2013-05-19 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Technical/historical background illustrated with b/w period photos and a selection of detailed walk around photographs highlighting technical details of the A34 Cruiser - the best British tank of W.W.II. Includes 227 full color photos of the Comet Mk. IA preserved at the Military Vehicle Technology Foundation, CA, U.S.A.; 51 b/w period photos showing several stowage and marking options in British, South African, Finnish and Irish service; 5pp 1/35th & 1/48th scale drawings of Comet Mk. IA, 28 tone drawings reprinted from various technical manuals.

Download or read book Operation Compass 1940 written by Jon Latimer and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2013-08-20 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A highly illustrated, absorbing account of the first battle of the desert war: the British against the Italians. Operation Compass was originally envisaged as a spoiling attack, combined with a reconnaissance in force to disrupt the Italian forces that had advanced into Egypt in September 1940. Lt Gen. Richard O'Connor launched what amounted to a British 'Blitzkrieg'. In less than two months the British forces swept 500 miles along the coast of North Africa. 7th Armoured Division raced across the desert to cut off the retreating Italians, and O'Connor's men destroyed 9 Italian divisions, and took 130,000 prisoners. In March 1941 General Rommel and the Afrikakorps landed at Tripoli.

Download or read book The History of the Panzerwaffe written by Thomas Anderson and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2015-12-20 with total page 497 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This technical and operational history is the definitive guide to the legendary Panzerwaffe, from its very infancy to the days when it made Europe its garden path at the height of Nazi German power. The Germans transformed armoured warfare from a lumbering and ponderous experiment in World War I into something that could decide the outcome of conflicts. With rare and revealing combat reports, along with photographs sourced from previously unseen private and archival collections, it uncovers the technical and operational stories of the formidable armoured beasts that formed the backbone of the German war machine – tanks such as the Panzer I, II and 38(t).

Download or read book France in the South Pacific written by Denise Fisher and published by ANU E Press. This book was released on 2013-05-23 with total page 366 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: France is a Pacific power, with three territories, a military presence, and extensive investments. Once seen by many as a colonial interloper in the South Pacific, by the early 2000s, after it ended nuclear testing in French Polynesia and negotiated transitional Accords responding to independence demands in New Caledonia, France seems to have become generally accepted as a regional partner, even if its efforts concentrate on its own territories rather than the independent island states. But Frances future in the region has yet to be secured. By 2014 it is to have handed over a set of agreed autonomies to the New Caledonian government, before an independence referendum process begins. Past experience suggests that a final resolution of the status of New Caledonia will be divisive and could lead once again to violent confrontations. In French Polynesia, calls continue for independence and for treatment under UN decolonisation procedures, which France opposes. Other island leaders are watching, so far putting faith in the Noumea Accord, but wary of the final stages. The issues and possible solutions are more complex than the French Pacific island population of 515,000 would suggest. Combining historical background with political and economic analysis, this comprehensive study offers vital insight into the intricate history -- and problematic future -- of several of Australias key neighbours in the Pacific and to the priorities and options of the European country that still rules them. It is aimed at policy-makers, scholars, journalists, businesspeople, and others who want to familiarise themselves with the issues as Frances role in the region is redefined in the years to come.

Download or read book The Illustrated Guide to Tanks of the World written by George Forty and published by Bookmart. This book was released on 2007 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A definative encyclopaedia of the most important tanks in history: over 230 tanks are shown in 500 colour and black & white photographs. Tanks from every corner of the world including those used in WWI and WWII. Specification boxes provide at a glance information.

Download or read book Armored Champion written by Steven Zaloga and published by Stackpole Books. This book was released on 2015-05-15 with total page 701 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Armor expert Zaloga enters the battle over the best tanks of World War II with this heavy-caliber blast of a book armed with more than forty years of research. • Provocative but fact-based rankings of the tanks that fought the Second World War • Breaks the war into eight periods and declares Tanker's Choice and Commander's Choice for each • Champions include the German Panzer IV and Tiger, Soviet T-34, American Pershing, and a few surprises • Compares tanks' firepower, armor protection, and mobility as well as dependability, affordability, tactics, training, and overall combat performance • Relies on extensive documentation from archives, government studies, and published sources—much of which has never been published in English before • Supported by dozens of charts and diagrams and hundreds of photos

Download or read book A34 Comet Tank A Technical History written by P. M. Knight and published by . This book was released on 2016-11-25 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The A34 Comet was the ultimate iteration of the Cruiser series of fast, mobile tanks, and built on the hard lessons that had been learned with earlier designs. However, it was also brought into being at a time when British industrial capacity was nearing exhaustion, and when officialdom already had one eye on the transition to more profitable peacetime production. As such, the Comet saga was one of the husbanding of the scarce, and declining, resources available to the tank programme against the backdrop of a conflict whose end was already in sight. As this book demonstrates in depth, the result was a well-balanced design that optimised the possibilities presented by the previous Cruisers. However, it would be outshone by its ubiquitous successor, the A41 Centurion.