books
52 SCALE MILITARY MODELLER INTERNATIONAL
Pen & Sword
StuG III and StuG IV
Publisher: Pen & Sword
Author: David Oliver
ISBN: 9781526755865
Format: Softback
P r i c e : £11. 9 9In the last years of the
Second World War the
Sturmgeshutz III (StuG III) and Sturmgeshutz
IV (StuG IV) played a vital role as assault guns
during the German army’s struggle to block
the Allied advance on the Western Front. As
the Wehrmacht’s tank forces declined, these
armoured vehicles were thrown into every
defensive operation. They are not as well-
known as the Tigers and Panthers, but German
resistance would have been much weaker
without them. They were also among the most
frequently encountered German armoured
vehicles on the battleields, which is why they
are such a fascinating subject for Dennis Oliver
in this volume in the TankCraft series. He uses
archive photos and extensively researched
colour illustrations to examine the StuG III and
StuG IV deployed by the German army and the
Wafen-SS during these doomed campaigns. A
key section of his book displays available model
kits and aftermarket products, complemented
by a gallery of beautifully constructed and
painted models in various scales. Technical
details as well as modiications introduced
during production and in the ield are also
examined providing everything the modeller
needs to recreate an accurate representation of
these historic armoured vehicles.(^) http://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk
Osprey
The Arisaka Rifle
Publisher: Osprey
Author: Bill Harriman
ISBN: 9781472836122
Format: Softback
Price: £13.99
Entering service in 1897, the Arisaka family of
bolt-action riles armed Japanese troops and
others through two world wars and many other
conlicts, including the Russo-Japanese War of
1904-05. Issued in long and short versions - the
latter for cavalry and specialists - the Type 30 was
the irst main Arisaka model, arming Imperial
Japan’s forces during the Russo-Japanese War,
though after the war it was reined into the
Type 38, which would still be in use in 1945. The
main Arisaka rile of World War II though was
the Type 99. Lighter and more rugged than the
US M1903 Springield rile it would face in the
initial battles in the Paciic, it was produced in
four main variants, including a sniping model
and a take-down parachutist’s rile. Featuring
full-colour artwork as well as archive and close-up
photographs, this is the absorbing story of the
riles arming Imperial Japan’s forces, from the
trenches of Mukden in 1905 to the beaches of
Okinawa forty-years later.
(^) http://www.ospreypublishing.com
Osprey
The Churchill Infantry Tank
Publisher: Osprey
Author: David Fletcher
ISBN: 9781472832351
Format: Softback
Price: £11.99
It will begin with the prototype
tank A20, which has not been
covered in any detail before, then go on to
look at all seven Marks of Churchill, in particular
their diferent guns. This book will also look at
the tank’s service in Russia and later with the
Irish, Jordanian and Australian Armies. It will also
feature on the disastrous Dieppe raid of August
1942, ending with a brief look at the Black Prince
or super Churchill which was only developed
up to the prototype stage at the end of World
War II. The Churchill is an interesting tank, quite
diferent from any other British tank of World
War II, built outside the normal process of British
tanks and the Department of Tank Design. It
was built under the watchful eye of the Prime
Minister, after whom it was named, by a irm
with no previous experience of tank production.
Despite being condemned as unsuitable and
more than once being scheduled to be replaced
by a better design this never actually happened.
It remained in production and ultimately
vindicated itself since, although it was slow and
noisy it was found to have superior climbing
ability and thicker frontal armour than the
vaunted German Tiger.
Its classiication as an Infantry Tank has been
extensively criticised although recently one
or two authors, notably Americans, seem
to have revised their views on this and even
Field Marshal Montgomery, who advocated
a Universal Tank to fulil all roles, found the
Churchill a useful tank on
many occasions, particularly
considering its ability to
absorb punishment.
The Battleship USS Iowa
Publisher: Osprey
Author: Stefan Draminski
ISBN: 9781472833296
Format: Hardback
Price: £35.00
USS Iowa (BB-61) was
the lead ship in one of
the most famous classes
of battleships ever
commissioned into the
US Navy. Transferred to the Paciic Fleet in
1944, the Iowa irst ired her guns in anger in
the Marshall Islands campaign, and sunk her
irst enemy ship, the Katori. The Iowa went
on to serve across a number of pivotal Paciic
War campaigns, including at the battles of the
Philippine Sea and Leyte Gulf. It ended the war
spending several months bombarding the
Japanese Home Islands before the surrender in
August 1945. After taking part in the Korea War,
the Iowa was decommissioned in 1958, before
being briely reactivated in the 1980s as part of
President Reagan’s 600-Ship Navy Plan. After
being decommissioned a second and inal time
in 1990, the Iowa is now a museum ship in Los
Angeles. This new addition to the Anatomy of
the Ship series is illustrated with contemporary
photographs, scaled plans of the ship and
superb 3D illustrations which bring this historic
battleship to life.
http://www.ospreypublishing.com
Pen & Sword
Publisher: Pen & Sword
Author: Norman Friedman
ISBN: 9781526755865
Format: Hardback
Price: £50.00
Although the Royal Navy did
not invent the submarine,
Norman Friedman’s new book
demonstrates how innovative the service
was, to an extent which few will recognise.
Its submarines performed well in combat in
both world wars, and often in unheralded
ways. Few will be aware that in 1914 Britain
had the largest submarine fleet in the world,
and that at the end of World War I it had
some of the largest and most unusual of all
submarines – whose origins and design are all
detailed. As in other books in this series, the
author demonstrates how a combination of
evolving strategic and tactical requirements
and evolving technology produced successive
types of design. The Royal Navy was always
painfully aware of the threat
enemy submarines posed, and
British submariners contributed
heavily to the development of
British anti-submarine tactics
and technology, beginning
with largely unknown efforts
before the outbreak of World
War I. Between the Wars British
submariners exploited the new
technology of sonar (Asdic),
both to find and attack enemies and to avoid
being attacked themselves. As a result, they
pioneered submarine silencing, with important
advantages to the US Navy as it observed the
British. And it was a British submarine that
pioneered the vital post-War use of submarines
as anti-submarine weapons, sinking a U-boat
while both were submerged. This feat was
unique. Heavily illustrated with photos and
original plans, this new volume from Norman
Friedman, incorporating so much original
analysis, will be eagerly awaited by naval
historians and enthusiasts everywhere.
(^) http://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk
British Submarines in Two World Wars
on the side