Allied –Axis 30 – artillery, ammo carriers and a big-ass blade with a Sherman attached to it..

Allied- Axis has undergone a change in it’s delivery of format – from the minimum of four subjects in every book to three in each – but those are being examined in more depth. Would this be an improvement? Let’s have a look with our review of Issue #30

Review:

Allied-Axis Issue #30

Author: David Doyle, Jeff Kleinhenz

Published by: Ampersand Publishing

Format: Softcover Landscape

96 pages, 100+ B&W photos.

Sale Price $11.95

You can get yours from This link at Ampersand Directly

  

Ampersand’s Allied-Axis series is back with us with three war machines in need of examination and here is the book to do it. The format is tried and true – with a glossy softcover book in landscape so you can get the best out of the photos, accompanying text by the knowledgeable authors David Doyle and Jeff Kleinhenz and great pictures to talk about. We have some of these already and find them valuable for reference and inspiration. Let’s look more at the content in Issue #30.

This issue of the photo journal features 96 pages, and the highlight is on fewer weapons of war but more detail. The book features the Sherman Tankdozer, the sFH 18 15cm Howitzer, (Part Two of the essay) and the M23 Ammunition Trailer which are three not often covered vehicles of war and so well worth their time in the sun.

First up we look at what I think is the toughest looking Sherman that there ever was, the Sherman “Tankdozer.” After some three pages of block text explaining the  genesis of this bladed tank and their use in theatre we look at a picture-to-a-page style of these tanks in the proving ground, in operations in training and domestic duties  and then at work in war. 

This series of photographs show the tank in the run through Italy and the Mediterranean, D-day and Normandy through to the “bulge” and the Rhine crossings. We see sun drenched examples in Burma and Okinawa as well as the Korean conflict. Even the latter up-gunned Tankdozers and the T7 model is shown. This is a good waltz through history of this example and it’s labours.

Next is the very had working German artillery piece – the sFH 18 15cm Howitzer in the second of two parts. This part however is not the poorer cousin or a compromise. We see this gun and read about it in a great deal of different scenarios. The deserts of Afrika, the snow of Russia and the steppes of the Ukraine. There is a lot of ground covered here and the pitfalls and eventual thorns in the side of this gun are revealed in the accompanying text. 

The crews are featured as well heavily in this book. Different artillery men from the mountaineers, soldiers with guns and ammunition present which is unusual and close ups of men working the gun from many different angles and conditions make this a great little expose.

Lastly in what many would think is a little bit of a hard sell we look at the M23 Ammunition Trailer in US service. I knew nothing really about this triple-axled trolley before reading about it here. It did however prove to be more interesting than I thought.

There are a few of pictures of this trailer with it’s front bogie and without  and showing two teamed up together, out in action and packed with ammo and empty. There are however mostly shots of the trailer in the field depots, the proving ground and in training. I did not know it was so rugged.

Well that is it for this issue – I mentioned already that the number of subjects have been lowered but the content on each has been extended. This I think would see most people satisfied as the subjects that get covered are done more thoroughly. We all want the best research done as well as it can be and this book documents these three weapons of war as good as any out there and better than most.

Adam Norenberg

Thanks to Ampersand Publishing for sending this to read and review – right now it is on sale actually – with some of their other books..

Ampersand Pre-Holiday Make Some Room Super Sale!

Get ready for the holidays with big reductions on a range of Ampersand publications. With a major schedule in store for 2015, our meagre warehouse facilities will be bulging at the seams-unless we can make some more room!

Browse the site - virtually every book and magazine has a new, reduced price.

MMiR Back Issues only $6.95

http://ampersandpubco.com/mmir/ 

Allied-Axis Back Issues only $12.95

http://ampersandpubco.com/allied-axis/ 

Visual History Series only $14.95 except for The D7, which is only $19.95

http://ampersandpubco.com/visual-history-series/ 

Son of Sherman Soft Cover only $50.00

http://ampersandpubco.com/the-son-of-sherman/ 

Sale ends December 31st, 2014!