Osprey Publishing has released a new volume in their Warrior series looking at British tank crewment in the Second World War. British Tank Crewman 1939-45 (Warrior)
Publisher’s Description:
Great Britain had introduced the tank to the world during World War I, and maintained its lead in armored warfare with the “Experimental Mechanized Force” during the late 1920s, watched with interest by German advocates of Blitzkrieg. Despite these successes, the Experimental Mechanised Force was disbanded in the 1930s, making Britain relatively unprepared for World War II, both in terms of armored doctrine and equipment.
This fully illustrated new study examines the men who crewed the tanks of Britain’s armored force during World War II, which was only four battalions large in 1939. It looks at the recruitment and training of the vast numbers of men required, their equipment, appearance and combat experience in every theater of the war as the British armored division sought to catch up with the German Panzers.
Available on Amazon here.
. Written by Jamie Prenatt, this book follows the well established format of other New Vanguard titles, being a soft cover of 48 pages.
In the video above, The Chieftain makes a reference to his book as a “Hunnicutt for tank destroyers.” This is an apt description. Those familiar with the works of Richard Hunnicutt will know that his ten volume work contains a detailed history of US armored vehicle development, each volume dedicated to a specific vehicle type, such as Medium tanks, Heavy tanks, halftracks, etc. However if you scan through the titles of his books you will find one title conspicuously absent, US tank destroyers. To be sure, tank destroyers are included in his books, but scattered over about five different volumes and generally regulated to the later pages of the volume. For example, if you want to read about the tank destroyers that saw service during WWII war, you will need to go to the Hunnicutt Sherman book for the M10 and M36, the Stuart book for the M18, the Halftrack book for the M3 GMC, and the Armored Car book for the various wheeled tank destroyer models.
. This is an 80 page softcover volume containing both black and white and color photos. For a preview of the book, check out the video preview posted below.
. Anderson has written several books for Osprey over the last few years on German tanks and armored units. This book is a 272 page hardcover with over 200 images.
The previously untold story of the Special Vehicle Development Committee, better known as ‘The Old Gang’ or by the abbreviation ‘TOG’. These were the men who were mainly responsible for the creation of the British tanks in WW1. Men like Sir Albert Stern, Sir William Tritton, Sir Harry Ricardo, and Major Walter Wilson. At the outbreak of WW2, they were given a new task, that of breaching the heaviest German defences, with a heavily armoured tank able to cross the worst mud soaked ground of Flanders.
by Steven Zaloga
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. This is a 224 page hardcover with photographs and illustrations. Anderson has written several books on German WWII armor, including volumes on the Tiger, the Ferdinand and the Sturmgeschutz. Oddly enough, this is the second hardcover that Osprey has released in the past few years on the Panther, in 2012 they published 
by Michael Green.
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