Allied-Axis
The Photo Journal of the Second World War
Issue 21
Ampersand Publishing.
96 pages soft cover.


Review by Terry Ashley

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The twenty first Allied-Axis volume certainly sees the series come of age and continues the same formula of soft cover landscape book with good close-up photos, general walk around shots plus wartime action photos. Many of the photos are one to a page which allows the details to be clearly seen in the large photos while the close-up detail shots are usually two or four to a page, still large enough to clearly see the details. Each photo has a brief caption with this being the only text in the book with all available space devoted to the photo content.

Contents of issue 21:

This first section covers the Studebaker US6 of which 197,678 were produced during WWII and the identical copies produced by Reo Motors of Michigan who produced a further 22,204 vehicles. The vast majority of which were supplied to other Allies under the Lend Lease program, most notably Russia while the US Army used the General Motors CCKW "GMC Jimmy".

The chapter starts with a general overview type walk around with one shot of the short wheelbase version and the other of the more common long wheelbase US6, the shots offer a good overall view with and without the rear cargo canvas cover with most shown being fitted with the wooden cargo tray. There is also one shot of the open cab version with the photos large enough to show good overall details on the trucks.

This is followed by two pages with close-up shots of the engine bay showing the Hercules JXD 6-cylinder engine and all the associated piping and wiring to good effect as the hood and radiator cover are missing allowing unrestricted views and this is followed by 10 pages with overall shots of the many different body versions of the US6 built. These include the gasoline tanker (2 shots), the 6x4 U6 tractor with fifth wheel, the air compressor vehicle, engineer maintenance truck (just an external view with canvas cover in place unfortunately so no details of the rear layout is shown). There are shots od the short wheel base dump truck showing both the rear tilt and side tilting tray plus an action shot of a US6 in service with the Chinese Army in Burma.

The final section has 8 pages of detailed close-up shots of a fully restored US6 showing many useful details for those building the ICM kit such as the front grill/fenders showing the head lights and bush guards, the wheels and front suspension as well as the cab details both inside and out for excellent details.

The rear cargo tray has equally good shots of the rear folding gate, jerry can racks and spare wheel racks as well as the mud guard attachments and tool storage for an overall very useful set of images.

4 Sample pages

This chapter has a few shots of the very early KM7 and KM m8/KM m9 and 10 types with the short rear suspension having just two outer wheels as well as numerous other details difference before moving on the later KM m 10 and 11 types which feature in most wartime images of the Sd.Kfz.7.

All the shots in this chapter are all wartime action shots showing the vehicles towing sFH18 15cm howitzer and Flak18/36/37as well as the many jobs such as rescuing stranded vehicles and transporting the gun crews with numerous shots showing to good effect the gun crew uniforms of the time.

As well as the action shots there are also some of captured Sd.Kfz.7s in Africa and other interesting shots such as the 8 ton being loaded into a Messerschmitt Me 323 "Gigant" which looks rather impressive, a little like a python swallowing it's prey.

There are also 12 pages showing various action shots of the Sd.Kfz.7/1 with 2cm Flakvierling and Sd.Kfz.7/2 with 3.7cm Flak with a number of these shots seen previously in other publications while a few are new to me here.

A good overview of the Sd.Kfz.7 showing it in action with the large format photos allowing some good detail to be shown and while there are no real close-up walk around shots there are plenty of diorama possibilities in the photos included.

4 Sample pages


This chapter deals with the lesser known 666 (six tons, 6 wheels, six wheel drive) with identical versions built by Corbitt and White with the first few pages having general overall walk around shots giving good views of the basic truck features with a couple of close-ups of the engine bay, rear cargo tray and spare wheel mounting.

This is followed by 5 pages with close-up detail shots of the front mounted winch and the Tulsa winch mounted between the cab and cargo body as well as an underside view of the rear axle/suspension as well as the cab interior showing the steering wheels and dash board instruments.

There are 2 shots of the tractor version with fifth wheel and 2 shots of the open cab version fro a nice contrast to the steel cab versions shown earlier. This is followed by 5 pages of close-up detail shots of a preserved 666 with excellent shots of the wheels, suspensions, engine hood, cab interiors, more winch shots from different angles than those shown earlier as well as details of the rear cargo body and fittings for a very good coverage on the 666.

4 Sample pages


This final short section has all wartime action photos of the Sd.Kfz.10/4 Flak both in action and during transit with all but one of the shots showing the earlier 2cm Flak 30. There are again some interesting diorama possibilities with the photos also showing the crew uniforms to good effect as well as the gun mountings and ammo storage that should all prove very useful for any modelling the vehicle. 2 Sample pages

Another excellent book in this ongoing series with a good variety of subject, two Allied and two Axis to fit in with the series title and the coverage of the Studebaker in particular will be more than useful as are those of the Sd.Kfz.7 and the other two vehicles featured.

This is a superb series directed squarely at the modeller with the large format photos and minimal text allowing maximum detail to be included even in overall shots.

Highly recommended

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Thanks to Ampersand for the review copy.

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