The design quality of France's armored vehicles is somewhat forgotten in light of the myth of superiority surrounding the German Panzers' role in the Blitzkrieg against France, Belgium and the Netherlands.
The second volume of two covering the French tanks of World War II, this title focuses primarily on the design, development, combat performance, and technical features of France's armored cavalry vehicles, including the AMR and AMC families of light reconnaissance tanks, and the famous Somua S.35 cavalry tank. Also examined are the wide array of armored cars and half-tracks employed by the French Cavalry, and the extensively produced Hotchkiss H-35/H-39 series that was designed for the Cavalry but also saw widespread use by the Infantry. This volume also looks at the specialized armored vehicles used by the French military, including the Chenillette US, Lorraine, and the various tank destroyer types brought hastily into service in 1940.

This book surveys the development of the T-26 as well as its combat record in the Spanish Civil War, the war in China, the border wars with Poland and Finland in 1939-40, and the disastrous battles of 1941 during Operation Barbarossa.

The T-26 was the first major Soviet program of the 1930s, beginning as a license-built version of the British Vickers 6-ton export tank. Although the T-26 retained the basic Vickers hull and suspension, the Red Army began to make extensive changes to the turret and armament, starting with the addition of a 45mm tank gun in 1933. The T-26 was built in larger numbers than any other tank prior to World War II. Indeed, more T-26 tanks were manufactured than the combined tank production of Germany, France, Britain, and the United States in 1931-40.

When the Red Army needed to mechanize its cavalry branch in the 1930s, the BT fast tank was its solution. Channeling the American Christie high-speed tank, the Red Army began a program to adapt the design to its own needs. Early versions were mechanically unreliable and poorly armed, but by the mid-1930s, the BT-5 emerged, armed with an excellent dual-purpose 45mm gun. It saw its combat debut in the Spanish Civil War in 1937 and was later used in the border battles with the Japanese Kwantung Army in the late 1930s. The final production series, the BT-7, was the most refined version of the family.

One of the most common types in Red Army service at the beginning of the Second World War, BT tanks saw extensive combat in Poland, Finland, the opening phases of Operation Barbarossa in 1941, and the 1945 campaign against the Japanese in Manchuria. This is the story of their design and development history.

Allied success in invading Fortress Europe (the area of Continental Europe occupied by Nazi Germany) depended on getting armor onto the beaches as fast as possible. This book explains how the Allies developed the specialist tanks it needed, their qualities, deployment and numbers, and how they performed on the two crucial days when France was invaded, firstly in Normandy and then in Provence.
The focus of this volume will be on the specialized tanks developed for the Operation Neptune amphibious landings including the Duplex Drive amphibious Sherman tanks used on both the US and British/Canadian beaches. It also covers the specialized engineer tanks called ”Armoured Funnies” of the British 79th Armoured Division and addresses the popular myth that US Army refusal to employ the Armoured Funnies was a principal cause for the high casualties at Omaha Beach. There is also coverage of Operation Overlord's "Forgotten D-Day”, the amphibious landings of Operation Dragoon. This book addresses why there were so few Panzers opposing the landings from the German perspective as well as detailing the extent of German tank/assault gun activity on D-Day.

An illustrated study of the big guns of Hitler's army – the Wehrmacht's field artillery, its capabilities and its role in German fighting units of World War II.
Often overshadowed in military history by the tanks and aircraft of Blitzkrieg, Germany's artillery was key to its methods of waging war throughout World War II. Field artillery remained the primary killer on the battlefield, often responsible for three-quarters of combat casualties inflicted.
Redressing the balance, this book surveys the major Wehrmacht guns of the war, and the basic organizational structure of the German field artillery. Its primary focus is on the divisional field guns, especially the lFH 18 10.5cm field howitzer and the 15cm sFH 18 field howitzer that formed the backbone of German artillery. A brief survey is also made of the infantry guns used at the regimental level, and of corps-level heavy artillery. The issue of the use of"Beutewaffen,” captured war-booty field guns, is also looked at, as is the Nebelwerfer and schwere Wurfgerät rocket artillery.
With archive photos and meticulously detailed new illustrations, this book provides a concise study of the German Army's big guns of World War II, how they were organized and how they were used, both on the Eastern and Western fronts.

Through World War II the US Army worked on projects for new heavy tanks, which are charted in this illustrated study of the M6 and the never-built T14, T28, and Pershing-derived designs.
In this book, world-renowned armour expert Steven J. Zaloga examines the US Army's efforts to field a heavy tank in World War II. The first design was the M6, which never saw combat use despite being type classified. The heavy T14 assault tank, earmarked for the British under Lend-Lease, was also developed, while the M4A3E2 assault tank went into production as a stopgap for the 1944 campaign in France. The most outrageous US tank project of the war was the T28/T95 superheavy tank, which was so large that it required four sets of suspension bogies instead of the usual two.
The M26 Pershing medium tank program also spawned a number of heavy tank projects, such as the T29, T30 and T34, which are also examined. Although production of these was envisioned in 1945–46, the end of the war put an end to any possibility of serial manufacture. Nevertheless, these tanks were heavily influenced by World War II lessons and their development and technical features are examined.
Illustrated with rarely seen archive photos and meticulously illustrated new profiles of the key designs, this book traces the US Army's efforts to develop heavy tanks comparable to the German Tigers, and the reasons why such monstrous machines were never required.

Built for mobile antitank firepower, the Marder family combined the superb 7.5cm antitank gun with existing light tank chassis. Fully illustrated, this studies their design and use.
The appearance of T-34 and KV tanks in 1941 forced the Wehrmacht to field a more powerful antitank gun, the 7.5cm PaK 40. Although an excellent weapon, the towed gun was heavy, awkward to employ, and vulnerable to enemy counter-fire. At the same time, many light tanks had become obsolete even though their chassis was still useful.
In this book, armor expert Steven J. Zaloga presents a study of how these obsolete tanks and the superb new gun were combined to create the Marder family of tank destroyers. The Marder I used captured French Chenilette Lorraine chassis, and subsequently other French light tanks such as the Hotchkiss H39 and FCM36, while the Marder II was based on the PzKpfw II chassis. The Marder III was the most significant of the new types, built on the Czech PzKpfw 38(t) chassis. The Marder family reached its peak production in 1942, constituting over 18 percent of new German Panzers, and production ended in 1944.
Packed with rare photos and original artwork, this book explores the designs, capabilities, and employment of the Marders, as well as the little-known and largely unsuccessful late-war attempts to produce further self-propelled 7.5cm PaK 40 vehicles on half-track, armoured car and tractor chassis.

The US Army's development of the 37mm anti-tank gun began in response to needs identified during the Spanish Civil War. By the time it entered service in Tunisia in 1943, the gun was already obsolete, and the US began the licensed manufacture of the British 6-pdr in the hope of finding a quick solution to its artillery requirements. This in turn proved unequal to the demands of warfare in France in 1944, and further anti-tank measures were developed – rocket propelled grenades for infantry use, and weapons designed specifically for use by the Tank Destroyer Force.

An in-depth look at the US' desperate battle to secure Carentan and support the Normandy invasion and the elite German units that sought to repel them.
Although the US Army had successfully secured both Utah and Omaha Beach on D-Day, the next tactical problem was to connect the two beachheads. Utah and Omaha were separated by the Vire river estuary. Carentan was the first major town on the river, and as such was of vital tactical importance. However, this was not lost on the Germans, who dispatched their elite Fallschirmjager-Regiment 6 to hold the town. On the US side, the task of capturing Carentan fell to the 101st Airborne Division, and in the week following D-Day, US and German troops waged a battle for Carentan.
Here, expert historian Steven J. Zaloga goes in depth into the initial battle on June 10–12 , 1944, the German counterattack and the final Allied victory. With stunning artwork, detailed maps and BEVs, firsthand accounts, and period images, this study brings to life the fierce fighting between paratrooper forces and highlights how this Allied success led onto the next phase of Operation Overlord.

Two months after D-Day, the Allies began the liberation of southern France. Fully illustrated, this study explores the Allies' unique US/Free French tank force, and the Panzers they faced.
Much less known than the Normandy landings and the campaign in northern France, the second part of Operation Overlord began on August 15, 1944 with the Operation Dragoon landings in southern France. It involved a substantial Allied tank force that took part in the amphibious landings and the subsequent campaign via the Rhone valley to the German frontier in the summer and autumn of 1944.
In this book, world-leading armour expert Steven Zaloga examines the unique Allied tank force that fought this campaign, and the single Panzer division that the Germans could field against them. The Allied force consisted of two main elements: US army tank battalions and tank destroyer battalions of the Seventh US Army, and French tank divisions of the 1st French Army. The US Army units were battle-hardened veterans of the campaigns in North Africa, Sicily and Italy. The French tank units were raised with US aid and training in North Africa in 1943 and saw their combat debut during Operation Dragoon.
With rarely seen photos and meticulously detailed original illustrations, this book provides a fresh look at this largely-ignored subject. It also details the particularly colorful markings of the tank units involved in these campaigns.