CONCORD 7052 AMERICAN ARMOURED FUNNIES

American special armoured vehicles in combat, 1942-1945. Any buff of World War II armoured vehicles will be well aware of the ¡§Funnies¡¨ designed by the British, particularly those employed by the 79th Armoured Division from D-Day onwards. Yet the United States was a prodigious designer and user of specialised armoured vehicles as well. This was especially true in the areas of tank recovery vehicles and armoured engineer vehicles. Steve Zaloga, a prolific writer with an unsurpassed knowledge of American military vehicles, has put together a collection of photographs of these US Funnies. The focus is on the European Theatre of Operations (ETO), which includes Italy and North-west Europe. The United States tended to sprinkle its specialist tanks throughout regular tank battalions, rather than create specialised divisions. The fascinating array of black and white photographs offer a detailed look at a whole host of vehicle types, and insightful captions explain the subject matter. The book also includes sixteen high quality computer generated colour plates that have also been produced by the author. This volume begins with the following vehicles: M31 and M32 tank recovery vehicles; M33 and M35 prime movers; Shermans fitted with dozer blades; DD amphibious tanks, as well as Shermans fitted with wading stacks. The book continues on with bridgelayers and treadway layers in action, then mine clearing tanks. As the book progresses towards the end, there are detailed sections on flamethrower and rocket launcher tanks. Last but not least are the top secret Leaflet and Sonic tanks. Each type of vehicle receives a detailed yet concise summary of its history, development and use in the introductory text. This is an engrossing book, and it covers a category of vehicles that have not been well represented in print before. When combined with the penmanship of one of the leading military history and modeling exponents in the world, this is a Funnies book that any enthusiast would be funny to miss!