September 12, 2026

Read n' reviewed: Panzerwrecks 28: "British" from Panzerwrecks Publishing

Panzerwrecks features the best of British (& Commonwealth) in this latest issue. We have read the book & thought to take you on a walk through the carnages & some very interesting vehicles in our review...

Read n' reviewed: Panzerwrecks 28: "British" from Panzerwrecks Publishing

Panzerwrecks 28: "British"
From Panzerwrecks Publishing
By Lee Archer and Dick Taylor
Colour profiles by Felipe Rodna
Softcover, 280mm x 210mm, landscape format
Language: English (UK)
Pages: 128, Photos: 156, Artworks: 6
ISBN: 9781908032300
Price: £24.99
Panzerwrecks 28 offers somewhat of a departure for this publication series, and we don't know why it has taken twenty-eight issues to get to them, but we can be sure that lots of readers out there will want to see some "British" (& Commonwealth) armour in the pages of these excellent publications by Panzerwrecks – it's about "ruddy" time, some of you might say!
Well yes, and from the foreward, this edition has been in the planning for some time, with Lee Archer teaming up with Dick Taylor to shine a spotlight on British, Canadian, Polish and New Zealand armour units operating across north-west Europe and Italy. I promise I will also throw in my "Tommy" slang words in this review that I picked up from my Commando comics!

The book in its physical form:
The book looks and feels like many of the previous issues, this one daubed in a very fitting olive green (I'm sure I am wrong on the colour) soft cover and English text. Inside the 128 pages come the 156 large-format photos, with artworks again from the master Filipe Rodna, who adds colour as a contrast to all the black and white. The text is in English throughout (with feet and inches taking pride of place in the text this time).
The book adheres to the high production standards that long-time readers have come to expect. The photos take up as much room in the landscape-oriented book as possible to maximise visual real estate. The pages are thick, heavy-grade paper, with a physical layout that seems designed to be easy to take in, with either a subject to a page or a few series of photos of the same vehicle or several of a yard full of similar vehicles or shots in a series. The authors have wanted to tell stories in this one, and I am here for it (as the kids say).
The text meticulously documents 29 distinct vehicle types—including Achilles, Cromwells, and various specialised Sherman and Churchill configurations—across 42 military unit entries. Rather than limiting the scope strictly to the British Army, the narrative thoughtfully expands to encompass Canadian, Polish, and New Zealand units operating across north-west Europe and Italy.

The identified units, the vehicle's ultimate locations, and the artwork index in the book are all mentioned on a single separate page that also acts as a good bookmark.
You can tell this book is authored a little differently than others in the series. With Dick Taylor definitely adding that English flavour to the text when speaking about Commonwealth vehicles. He uses more familiar words (to me anyway), and his written commentary elevates the book far beyond a simple photo album through its analytical and insightful filling in the blanks for the reader in the book's captions.
Each of the images inside (and not all of them are in black and white, as we see in the image above) is paired with text that identifies specific vehicle modifications, field expedients, and often unit markings that might otherwise be overlooked or not seen by the reader. This forensic detail delivered in every accompanying caption transforms every page into an immersive history lesson (and sometimes a hunting session). I know that I often look at the photo before I read the text to try and pick out the details the authors afford us, especially how the vehicle might have met its demise.

There are several series of photos like these below that show the recovery of several vehicles that fell off an edge in the dark in Italy. These series are often fascinating and tell a story from the start to the end. You can imagine all of the "belly aching" going on when trying to recover these...
Complementing the historical photography and text are six pages of diptych artworks by illustrator Felipe Rodna. This vibrant colour artwork acts as a brilliant bridge between historical reality and artistic interpretation, providing a vivid, three-dimensional perspective on complex camouflage schemes and realistic battlefield weathering. Rodna’s technical illustrations turn often partially obscured detail in black-and-white historical shapes into clear, tangible references. I love these parts of the book; they teach me a lot and awaken the modelling juices - somewhere down there I am sure...
There are not only vehicles knocked out by enemy action, but also some doozies of accidents in here; two that caught my eye were this AVRE churchilt hat slipped from the side of the top of a pillobx and, worse still, this Sherman, whose Diamond T transporter and trailer what it was riding on combined to be too much weight for this bridge – imagine if the crew were inside that! Ouch.
Not so many photos of GIs in this book! Too often a criticism is that we only see US vehicles in books like this (In fact, after reading this, it seems to me that the British & Commonwealth DID play a part in the war after all! ☺). But for all of those fun-fair ride fanciers, there are still some great photos of kids, men, women and families riding the tanks after the action has moved on.
Another way that this book is kind of a departure from the books before is that it is quite detailed in some of the shots taken. Often pictures taken at the time by those that were there were documenting a particular vehicle for a reason; this comes out in the often grouped shots of one vehicle with several holes in them. This reader is trying to figure out how many before I read the text to see how many holes I can identify in the photos. 

The series of vehicles in tank disposal pick up yards are just as interesting, as the authors pick out details unexpected even in these group shots.
On that, I do have to say that the shots I have taken often don't do the book justice. Some of the images are so very clear; they often look better than the photos we are used to seeing on our own camera phones. There is no AI or digital image trickery in these. The big photos look to be selected for the image clarity, and we have mostly larger, page-sized images in this issue.
I don't know (or didn't) know much about some of these more exotic tanks before reading this book. The Centaur, the Ram, and the Otter light recce tank – not to name just a few – so many types are explained in detail, with the more interesting, unique, or downright unusual points of interest brought to light under the author's pens. 
One thing I do sometimes want to see more of in these books is a little more explanation of the British & Commonwealth tank and army acronyms. Sometimes I got a bit left behind when the author (obviously an ex-tankie himself) confidently explained something that got me lost once or twice.

Well, what did we think?
All too often people do not like change, and I know some won't be interested in a book of only British & Commonwealth vehicles, but they are missing out here. To me the gamble was well worth it, for not only the publisher but also for the reader. There is a wealth of new knowledge to be gleaned and a lot of really interesting insight delivered from the authors. What about some Japanese tanks next, huh? 

The artwork is, as always, an inspiration for modellers and a boon for historians who might overlook a detail without the contrast it provides.

Panzerwrecks 28 "British" is an essential, high-quality resource that successfully expands the horizons of the series. It is a highly recommended addition to the library of any serious scale modeller, military enthusiast, or World War II historian. 

"Cor blimey", "strewth" and all that! This is another great book in this long-legged series that looks to be just getting warmed up.

Adam Norenberg

Thanks to the team at Panzerrecks for sending this book to read and review. This book is available now to purchase from the Panzerwrecks Store

Addendum:

Identified Units in this book:
1st Canadian Armoured Brigade, 11th Canadian Armoured Regiment (The Ontario Regiment)
1st Canadian Infantry Division, 4th Princess Louise’s Dragoon Guards
1st Guards Brigade
1st Lothian & Border Horse
1st Northamptonshire Yeomanry
1st Polish Armoured Division, 10 Pułk Strzelców Konnych (Polish 10th Mounted Rifles Regiment)
2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade, 12th Armoured Regiment (The Three Rivers Regiment)
2nd Canadian Armoured Regiment (Lord Strathcona’s Horse)
2nd Dragoons, Royal Scots Greys
2nd Polish Armoured Brigade, 4th Armoured Regiment ‘Skorpion’
4th Armoured Brigade
4th County of London Yeomanry (Sharpshooters)
4th/7th Dragoon Guards
5th Anti-Tank RCA
5th Canadian Armoured Brigade, South Alberta Regiment
6th Airborne Armoured Reconnaissance Regiment
6th Armoured Division, 1st Derbyshire Yeomanry
6th Assault Regiment RE, 284 Squadron
6th Assault Regiment RE, 82 Assault Squadron
9th Royal Tank Regiment
10th Canadian Armoured Regiment (The Fort Garry Horse) 11th Armoured Division, 23rd Hussars
11th Hussars
13th/18th Hussars
141st Regiment RAC (The Buffs)
14th Canadian Armoured Regiment (The Calgary Regiment)
19th NZ Armoured Regiment
20th NZ Armoured Regiment
21st Canadian Armoured Regiment (Governor General’s Foot Guards)
22nd Dragoons
23rd Field Regiment (SP) RCA
28th Canadian Armoured Regiment (British Columbia Regiment)
34th Tank Brigade, 107th Regiment RAC (King’s Own)
51st Royal Tank Regiment
52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division, 52nd Reconnaissance Regiment
79th Armoured Division, Westminster Dragoons
Grenadier Guards Division, 2nd Armoured Battalion
Grenadier Guards, 2nd Armoured Battalion
Guards Armoured Division, 2nd Battalion Irish Guards
Royal Marines Armoured Support Group
Staffordshire Yeomanry

Vehicles featured in this issue:
17 pdr SP M10 (Achilles)
Centaur
Churchill III
Churchill IV
Churchill IV AVRE
Churchill IV AVRE (Bobbin)
Churchill VII Crocodile
Churchill NA75
Cromwell CS
Cromwell Mk IV
Cromwell Mk IVF
Cromwell Mk V
Crusader AA Mk II
Daimler Armoured Car Mk I
Daimler Armoured Car Mk II Light Tank Mk VII Tetrarch
Otter Light Reconnaissance Car
Ram OP tank
Sherman IC Firefly
Sherman II (M4A1)
Sherman IIA
Sherman III (M4A2)
Sherman III DD
Sherman V (M4A4)
Sherman V. Crab
Sherman VC Firefly
Stuart III (M3A1)
Stuart VI (M5)
Valentine Bridgelayer