bookAllied-Axis
The Photo Journal of the Second World War
Issue 23
Ampersand Publishing.
96 pages soft cover.


Review by Terry Ashley

The Book:
The twenty third Allied-Axis volume continues the same formula of soft cover landscape book with good close-up photos, general walk around shots plus wartime action photos. The majority of the period photos are one to a page which allows the details to be clearly seen while the close-up detail shots are usually two or four to a page, still large enough to clearly see the close-up detail.

Contents of issue 23:

M4A3E2 Jumbo: America's heavyweight fighter: (Pages 2 to 18)
This first section covers the M4A3E2 Jumbo, the most heavily armoured Sherman to see service in WWII it was first armed with the standard 75mm gun for infantry support but was quickly rearmed with the better tank killing 76mm gun

The chapter starts with 4 shots (4 pages) of the trials Jumbo showing some good overall detail along with 10 pages of action shots in NW Europe during 1944/45. All of these shots have been seen in other Sherman publications but the large photo size allows the vehicles and surrounding buildings to be shown nicely.

Finally there are 2 pages with close up shots of the current Jumbo at Fort Knox with shots of the suspension, hull welds and the turret mantlet for some nice details.

Sample pages
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Sd.Kfz.7, 8-ton KM m11 halftrack, part two: (Pages 19 to 37)
This chapter follows on from part 1 in Volume 21 and has 10 pages of wartime photos all on the "standard" prime mover version with the three rows of seats and again the large size and the various angles in the shots provides good overall views of the working half-tracks.

There are a few shots of the vehicles undergoing maintenance and towing the sFH18 15cn Howitzer (it's primary function) plus numerous shots showing the crews and their uniforms very well as well as providing some excellent diorama possibilities.

This is followed by 8 pages of close-up walk around shots (4 per page) of a museum Sd.Kfz.7 with good shots of the body work, front wheels and suspension and the road wheels and track. There are also excellent interior shots showing the driver's compartment with instrument panel, foot pedals, gear levels and seats for very useful reference for anyone building the current spate of Sd.Kfz.7 kits.

Sample pages
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U.S.Army Snow Tractors: (Pages 38 to 45)
This section covers the little known subject of the US snow tractors of WWII with 4 pages following the development through various models (with photos of each) plus the photo captions giving plenty of useful information on the development and deployment of the tractors as well as few good shots of the M19 trailer being towed.

this is followed by 4 pages of close-up walk around photos of the standardized M7 snow tractor with good shots of the front wheels and engine compartment, the tracked suspension and the interior driver's compartment for a very useful coverage of the tractor.

Sample pages
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The Armored Utility Car M20: (Pages 46 to 62)
This section covers the Armored Utility Car M20 based on the M8 Light Armoured Car and being 1900 pounds lighter due to not having a turret had a better overall performance than the M8.

There is only 1 wartime shot of an M20 and M8 together followed by all round shots of a factory fresh M20 to show very good overall details with standard equipment stowage, the clean vehicle allows details such as the hull welds and other smaller external details to be seen nicely.

Following this are 10 pages of close-up interior shots showing the engine through both the engine bay doors open as well as the driver's compartment showing the steering wheel, foot pedals and equipment on the inside of the front hull plate. The interior of the central fighting compartment is also well covered in 4 large photos showing excellent details of the SCR-508 radio, M1 carbine storage as well as the seats and other equipment fittings.

Sample pages
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SPA/Fiat TM40 Prime Mover: (Pages 63 to 72)
This section has another unusual subject that starts with 5 shots of the TM40 captured in Sicily and tested at Aberdeen that provides some good overall shots showing the vehicle layout as well as soem good details.

Following this is 8 pages of close-up walk around shots of a preseved museum TM40 with shots of the wheels, suspension and chassis with some exterior shots. Interior shots include details of the driver's compartment with the engine compartment between the seats plus the gear levels and seats to provide excellent details for anyone interested in this vehicle. And the way things are going who's to say we won't see a new kit of it soon?

Sample pages
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6-ton Bridge Erector Truck: (Pages 73 to 95)
The final section sovers the U.S. 6-ton Bridge Erector Truck and starts with 4 pages of overall shots of the chassis with just the cab and engine compartment attached for good overall shots of the vehcile layout.

Next is 11 pages of wartime photos of the truck in action showing the equipment storage as well as the laying arms extended including a couple with the large pontons used in the Rhine crossings. Finally there are 8 pages on close-up walk around shots with details of the front winch (4 shots), front lights, front wheels and the rear chassis showing the heavy hydraulic cylinders used when extending the bridge sections.

Sample pages
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Another excellent book in this ongoing series with a good variety of subjects, the mixture of wartime photos and close-up walk around shots provides a good overall coverage of the vehicle 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


Thanks to Ampersand for the review copy.

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Page created August 31, 2009


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