Although tanks and armored cars were perhaps the most potent elements of land armies in the period after World War 1, they represented but a fraction of the military vehicles used by combatants. Whilst armored vehicles and tanks were at the undoubted cutting edge of the German Blitzkrieg offensives in 1939 and 1940, and subsequent campaigns, without vast numbers of ancillary vehicles to move stores, munitions and the infantrymen, who fought beside the armored forces and secured the ground the tanks won, the armored forces would have been hugely exposed to counter-attack or ground to a halt through lack of supplies. It is a truism of war that an army marches on its stomach and the vital role of lorries and other forms of transport cannot be overstated in terms of warfare. In North Africa, for example the stretched and highly exposed supply lines of the Afrika Korps represented a weakness that the British were able to exploit during and after the crucial battle of El-Alamein. Although, increasingly, as World War 2 progressed, military transport, particularly on the Allied side was almost exclusively motor-powered, it is easy to forget that earlier in the war, horse-drawn vehicles were still common.
In World War Two Military Vehicles Pat Ware provides a comprehensive illustrated account of the development of military transport during the period from 1939 to 1945. Covering both Allied and Axis equipment, the book is a superbly illustrated and detailed study into an aspect of military history that has often been ignored by researchers and writers who have concentrated solely on the armored vehicles which led the attack. Incorporating some 220 images, both color and monochrome, including specially prepared artworks, the book is an essential work of reference for all military historians of World War 2.
Pat Ware is one of Britain's foremost experts on the subject of military transport. His first book for Ian Allan Publishing's military list, Land Rover At War, Development and Service, was published in 2007. This new volume is a fascinating study of the evolution of military transport during the period from 1939 to 1945 which examines how the Allied and Axis forces responded to the issues of supply and logistics during the period.
REVIEWS
" ...Quite an array of subjects...a delight to read...informative... purchase with confidence". ModelMadness.com, 09/07, S. VanAken
"... I absolutely recommend this book to modellers, enthusiasts and collectors. It is a great all round reference on a very broad subject and many of the pictures are rare and previously unseen."Missing Lynx 11/07
"...a great one-stop reference for support vehicles and some diorama idea."M Aldrich, IPMS# 39295, 11/07
"...there's enough meat here to satisfy most of us and very comprehensive appendices that do list every vehicle. Photographic coverage is good, with many wartime photos as well as colour shots of preserved vehicles. Even such a rarity as the US Aqua Cheetah is shown! Highly recommended."Internet Modeler, 03/08