Shows tanks, armored cars, command vehicles, carriers, and reconnaissance vehicles used by the Allied and Axis powers and recounts the development and use of each vehicle

This is the land equivalent of Jane's Battleships, a comprehensive encyclopaedia of all the combat vehicles of World War II from Somaliland to Japan. A nation-by-nation overview of each country's development of tanks and their involvement in World War II is before providing an A-Z of each army's tanks and fighting vehicles including armoured cars, personnel carriers, amphibious craft and mortar carriers. Quirkier profiles of vehicles such as the German TKS tankette are given.

Stuart, Sherman, Lee, and Grant tanks dominated the US Army and Marine Corps armored warfare effort versus Nazi Germany and Tojo's Japan. This book details the full range of these vehicles, giving technical specifications and development features as well as describing how they were manned and fought in battle. The equipping of the United States military with the weapons it needed to prevail during World War II was an unparalleled example of America's industrial might at the time. Among the many weapons produced by America's workers, tanks rate as an important example with 88,140 built between 1939 and 1945. This was almost twice what Germany and Great Britain built combined during the same period. These tanks not only equipped America's ground forces but saw service with many allied armies. In addition to the 18,620 tank-based variants, such as armored engineering vehicles, self-propelled artillery, armored recovery vehicles, and tank destroyers, American factories went on to design and build thousands of wheeled armored cars for reconnaissance purposes and armored half-tracks to transport the infantry into battle behind the tanks. Like the tanks, American armored half-tracks were modified to serve a wide variety of jobs including self-propelled artillery, tank destroyers and antiaircraft vehicles. So useful were these vehicles that they would remain in service with foreign armies for decades after World War II. To complement its inventory of tanks and armored fighting vehicles the American military industrial complex also designed and built over 18,000 amphibian tractors. Appearing in both unarmored and armored variants they went into combat with a wide variety of armaments. Referred to as the Landing Vehicle Tracked (LVT) they would serve not only with the U.S. Marine Corps who often called them "Amtracs" but the US Army who referred to them as the "Water Buffalo." They would allow the American military to take the fight to the far flung Japanese Empire wherever it had established itself in the vast reaches of the Pacific Area of Operations. These same vehicles would also see service in the ETO with the US Army and allied forces when it came time to cross various water obstacles used by the German military as defensive barriers.

Many thousands of different types of vehicles were used by the armies during the Second World War for various roles, including the fighting vehicles such as armoured cars and tanks. Today these are very popular with enthusiasts who restore these historic vehicles to their pristine state and attend specialist gatherings around the UK, Europe and the USA. This book explores original and reconstructed military vehicles from British, US, Russian, Italian and German forces using stunning colour photographs. It also provides a detailed history of each vehicle's development and use in the war, plus a wealth of technical information and rare internal shots. The range of vehicles includes trucks, ambulances, half-tracks, motorcycles, bulldozers, armoured cars and of course the impressive range of tanks, from tankettes to the fearsome German Tiger. Some vehicles are so rare that examples have been recreated using designs of the era and together with the original vehicles their fascinating wartime experiences are revealed. From the Moto Guzzi tricycle to the Schwimmwagen, the T-34 to the Austin ambulance, this is the perfect book for recreating, restoring and exploring the history of these classic military vehicles.

Pictures and describes the formidable range of tanks, self-propelled antitank guns, infantry-support guns, and heavy artillery used by Germany's panzer divisions

This WWII history vividly captures the Hungarian tanks and military vehicles that fought in Central and Eastern Europe through rare wartime photographs. The Kingdom of Hungary emerged from the Great Depression as a staunch ally of Germany and Italy. In the Second World War, the Central European country not only organized its armed forces in support of the Axis Powers, but also developed its own military industry to supply weapons and equipment to its troops. The Hungarian military produced all kinds of weapons, vehicles and armored vehicles, although they were generally under-gunned and under-armored. This book explores Hungary's participation in the Second World War through superb photographs showcasing its varieties of armored fighting vehicles. Wartime images take the reader from the beginning of the USSR campaign all the way to the bloody Siege of Budapest and the last clashes in Austrian and Slovenian territory before the army's unconditional surrender.