The Book of Tanks

A Wargamer’s Portable Guide to Tanks, Self-Propelled

Guns, Armoured Cars, and Personnel Carriers from
World War I to the 1990’s

By David L. Ferris
ArmourSoft
 The Book of Tanks
Main Section: July 24, 2003

The Book of Tanks

All contents copyright © 2000, ArmourSoft.
Permission is granted to freely duplicate and distribute this entire document, or any portions thereof, for
personal use only.
Introduction
This book is designed to be a handy, portable, comprehensive, concise guide covering tanks and other
fighting vehicles used from the First World War to around the end of the 20th Century. Wargamers (people
who play recreational games using metal or plastic miniatures, cardboard counters and paper maps, or
computers to simulate historical situations) are the intended audience of this book so the information is laid
out with them in mind. The data is presented in “real world” format rather than in game terms, and so should
be useful as a reference for any set of wargame rules, from any publisher or manufacturer, as well as for
non-gamers.

The format allows the reader to print out as many hardcopies of the book as required and place them in
binders, to be easily carried to local game club sessions or game conventions. Updates may be downloaded
and printed out as soon as they appear, at no extra expense to the reader aside from the time spent
downloading and the cost of making a hardcopy.

Like many projects of this nature, The Book of Tanks was written for one important reason: I needed
something like it for my own personal use. Gamers and other hobbyists had expressed an interest in owning
a copy, so the choice to place it online for free downloading was an obvious one.

Originally The Book of Tanks (TBOT) was intended to be the data book to be included with the Tankbase
computer-assist wargaming project, analogous to The Book of Ships included with Shipbase III. By 1995,
Tankbase was put on indefinite hold and I considered publishing TBOT as a stand-alone title, probably
through a mainstream publisher. By 1999 I was saying nuts to that, and just decided to give the thing away
for free over the Net. No deadlines, far fewer headaches, and I didn’t have to worry about some unknown
editor screwing up the captions. If anyone is going to screw up the captions, it’s going to be me!

My intention was not to list every single sub-type, variation, or experimental prototype vehicle ever produced
or dreamed of; such a volume would be interesting, but not portable. My goal in TBOT was to list all the
vehicles likely to be encountered in a wargame, plus a number of the more interesting designs. Astute
readers will note that there are currently no wargaming miniatures available for several of the vehicle types
listed in this book. These vehicles are listed here because there may one day be miniature models made of
them, and for those who wish to create their own conversions.

Note that the coverage in this book is concentrated mostly on WWII and earlier. Many vehicles after 1945
are included, but coverage thins out rapidly after the mid-1980’s. This is because not as much information is
available on the newer vehicles (note that the bibliography lists mostly sources from the 1960’s through the
mid-1980’s) and even if I could get my hands on the data, most of it is classified, so I wouldn’t share it
anyway. The armour data for many of the post-1945 vehicles presented here are my best guesses, and this
is noted in the vehicle entries.

Most of the research used in the production of this book took place between 1989 and 1995. The sources
used often disagree with each other on major and minor points of information. In these situations, I went with
the information I felt was more reliable, tempered with my own measurements taken from the genuine
vehicles at tank museums whose photos grace the pages of this book. Because of all these disparate
references, I cannot claim that the information provided in The Book of Tanks is absolutely and definitively
accurate. I will only claim that this information is the best I have available, in my own opinion, as of this
writing.

If you have comments, suggestions, corrections, or just want to chat about tank stuff, I am generally
available online. There are now far too many game-related discussion areas on the Internet for me to visit on
a regular basis, but I can be reached via e-mail and through the ArmourSoft web site. The web site, as of
April 2002, is at http://www.irvania.com and my e-mail address is [email protected] . I am happy to
discuss the validity of any of this data, but please be prepared to cite sources and references. Old episodes

Page 2
Copyright © 2000, ArmourSoft. Permission granted to duplicate and distribute freely.
 The Book of Tanks
Main Section: July 24, 2003

of Combat, Sergeant Rock comic books, or anything written by Sven Hassel are not considered acceptable
research materials.

Credits:
Research, text, compilation, and layout by: David L. Ferris
Additional research and technical advice: Jim O’Neil

All photography by the author. Most of the photos were taken at the museums at Aberdeen Proving Grounds
in Maryland and Fort Knox in Kentucky. Some photos were taken at memorials, monuments, small
museums and National Guard armouries scattered throughout the USA, and some of the photos were taken
at the Duxford Air Museum in Cambridge, UK.

Photo retouching was done using Paint Shop Pro 5.0 and Adobe Photoshop 3.0 on Windows 3.11 and
Windows 95 machines.

The Book of Tanks was originally written and laid out in Ami Pro 3.0 in 1996. This edition was compiled and
laid out in Microsoft Word 97.
P26/40 Italy 1943
Example of tank entry: Gun: 75mm L34 Weight: 26 tons
The top line lists the name of the vehicle, its nation
MG: 1 or 2 x 8mm
of origin, and the year it was introduced into
service. In the case of prototype vehicles that were
Speed: 22 mph Crew: 4
never accepted into service, the year of UpHullFr: 50/45º TurFr: 50/15º
manufacture is listed. LowHullFr: 50/45º GunMant: 50/30º
HullSide: 45/25º TurSide: 45/15º
Gun: The vehicle’s cannon armament. This is LowHull: 40/0º TurRear: 45/15º
generally known by a number followed by “mm”, HullRoof: 20/85º TurRoof: 20/90º
which is the width of the projectile in millimeters. HullRear: 40/45º
British WWII guns were classified by the weight of Notes: Italy’s only heavy tank design of
the projectile in pounds, e.g., “2-Pounder”. The WWII. Only about 21 built.
letter “L” followed by a number indicates the gun’s
calibre, which is its length divided by the diameter of the projectile. The longer a gun is (the higher the “L”
number is), the higher its muzzle velocity, which increases its range, accuracy, and hitting power.

Weight: The weight of the vehicle in US tons.

MG: The number and type of machineguns carried. This number often varied in practice as the crews would
tend to mount whatever extra weapons they could scrounge, using whatever means were available.

Speed: The maximum road speed of the vehicle,

in miles per hour. In practice this would vary from
vehicle to vehicle, as one tank in a platoon would
inevitably be a bit faster or slower than the
others.

Crew: The number of men it normally took to

operate the vehicle.

Armour Thickness and Angle: The armour

characteristics are listed as the thickness of the
plate in millimeters, followed by a slash, followed
by the angle of the plate in degrees. Note that in
this book, 0° is straight up and down,
perpendicular to the ground, and 90° is laying
flat, parallel to the ground.
Nose-on view of the British A12 Matilda Infantry
Tank Mark II parked at Aberdeen. Note the many Notes: Brief comments about the vehicle’s
angles making up the front of the tank. In the entries configuration, manufacture, or service history.
in this book, I used the armour thicknesses and
angles I felt provided an aggragate value for the Variants: Common and/or interesting sub-types
surface area noted. are listed.

Page 3
Copyright © 2000, ArmourSoft. Permission granted to duplicate and distribute freely.
 The Book of Tanks
Main Section: July 24, 2003

One of my early attempts at computer graphics. This illustration is from the original Treads & Turrets
documentation from 1983. I drew this “freehand” on a TRS-80 Color Computer I with a whopping 32K
of memory. That’s 32 kilobytes, not 32 megabytes. I don’t remember the name of the graphics
application, but it was one of the early paint programs. This was drawn using a joystick, as this was
before it was common for computers to have mice.

Bibliography
Part 1: The “Must Have” List: These books should be on the shelves of every gamer interested in
tank warfare. These are all good single-volume sources, so if you only have room for a few books on tanks,
this is a good list to start with.

Part 1a: Recently published, recently reprinted, other otherwise generally easy to find

Peter Chamberlain, Chris Ellis. Pictorial History of Tanks of the World 1915-45, Fakenham Press Limited,
1972. This is usually the first book I pick up when looking up a tank type. Not a lot of specific information on
any given vehicle, but a good overall view of everything.

Peter Chamberlain, Chris Ellis. British and American Tanks of World War II, Arco Publishing Company,
1969. Still the definitive work on the subject. I often wish that there were books like this one covering all the
other nations.

Peter Chamberlain, Hilary Doyle. Encyclopedia of German Tanks of World War Two, Arms & Armour
Press, 1978. Very extensive listings for German vehicles, including self-propelled guns and personnel
carriers.

Tim Bean, Will Fowler. Russian Tanks of World War II, Stalin’s Armored Might, MBI Publishing
Company, 2002. Lots of photos and drawings of inter-war designs and light tanks that are seldom covered in
other books on Russian armour. The title is a bit misleading as the coverage actually extends from the 1917
Renault FT through WWII and a short section up to the T-90.

Page 4
Copyright © 2000, ArmourSoft. Permission granted to duplicate and distribute freely.
 The Book of Tanks
Main Section: July 24, 2003

Part 1b: Rare, out of print, or otherwise not so easy to find

Duncan Crow, Robert J. Icks. Encyclopedia of Tanks, Barrie & Jenkins, 1975. A rare volume, but
invaluable. Only short entries for each tank type, but it does a good job of listing the sub-types and variants.

F.M. von Senger und Etterlin. German Tanks of World War II, Arms & Armour Press, 1969.
Comprehensive listings, many useful charts and diagrams.

John Milsom. Russian Tanks 1900-1970, Galahad Books, 1970. This is a fairly rare book but it covers the
subject matter well and is well worth hunting down.

Aberdeen Proving Grounds staff. Tank Data Proving Ground Series, WE Publishing Inc. Photos of the
vehicles at the museum, back when they were in much better condition. Measurements and data taken
directly from the real thing, plus some good archive photos and some very interesting period drawings.
Tank Data, no date, author, or editor listed.
Tank Data 2, 1969. Edited by E.J. Hoffschmidt and W.H. Tantum IV.
Tank Data 3, 1972. By Harold E. Johnson..

F. Heigl. Taschenbuch der Tanks, J. F. Lehmanns Verlag, 1935. This three-volume set is rare and
expensive, but well worth it for the information contained therein. I don’t know if an English translation exists.
My copy is a 1971 reprint of the 1935 edition, but the original 1921 edition can be found on the used book
market. Ich habe Teil I und II, nicht habe Teil III.

Part 2: The “Overview” Books: I call this type of source “overview books” because they cover a
big swath of tanky subject matter, either the entire history of tanks (up to the date of publication), a particular
war, or a particular nation.

Christopher F. Foss, chief author and consultant. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of the World’s Tanks and
Fighting Vehicles, Salamander Books Ltd., 1977.

Christopher F. Foss, general editor. The Encyclopedia of Tanks and Armored Fighting Vehicles, Thunder
Bay Press, 2002. Very good coverage. Short capsure entries for each vehicle, good photos and some
familiar artwork. A bit more expensive than the other books in this section but well worth it. Some annoying
technical errors, like the photo of the Aberdeen Type 97 Shinhoto Chi-Ha medium tank in the entry for the
Type 97 Te-Ke light tank.

Ian V. Hogg. The Greenhill Armoured Fighting Vehicles Data Book, Greenhill Books, 2000. Also very
good coverage with short capsure entries for each vehicle, but not very many pictures. Data is displayed in
worldwide alphabetical order, rather than the usual sorting-by-date and/or sorted by nation.

Roger Ford. The World’s Great Tanks From 1916 to the Present Day, Barnes & Noble Books, 1997.

F.M. von Senger und Etterlin. The World’s Armoured Fighting Vehicles, Doubleday and Company Inc.,
1962. A bit out-of-date information on many important vehicles that were being developed in the late 1950’s
and early 1960’s (Chieftain, M60, M113) but still a very useful book for post-WWII designs. Photos,
illustrations, and data on many prototypes that never entered service, many of which are rarely mentioned in
later books.

Peter Gudgin. Armoured Firepower, the Development of Tank Armament 1939-45, Sutton Publishing
Ltd., 1997. This book contains some factual errors but describes a number of systems not generally covered
by other sources, e.g., target acquisition doctrine and the design of gun mountings.

Simon Dunstan. Modern Tanks and AFVs, Afterlife Publishing Ltd., 2002.

Phillip Trewhitt. Armored Fighting Vehicles, Brown Packaging Books, Ltd., 1999.

David Miller. The Illustrated Directory of Tanks of the World, Salamander Books, Ltd., 2001.

Page 5
Copyright © 2000, ArmourSoft. Permission granted to duplicate and distribute freely.
 The Book of Tanks
Main Section: July 24, 2003

David Miller. The Great Book of Tanks, Salamander Books Ltd., 2002. A surprisingly high number of
factual errors and misidentified vehicles in this book. I like the title though. A good selection of pictures.

Ray Bonds, editor. Modern Tanks and Fighting Vehicles, Salamander Books Ltd., 1980.

David Miller, Christopher F. Foss. Modern Land Combat, Salamander Books Ltd., 1987.

Col. Walter J. Boyne, consultant. Weapons of Desert Storm, Publications International Ltd., 1991.

Jacques Sicard et François Vauvillier. Les Chasseurs D’Afrique, Histoire & Collections, 1999. Très bon
couveture les français chasseurs d’Afrique de 1831 à 1998, avec beaucoup de chars.

Steve Crawford. Tanks of World War II, MBI Publishing Co., 2000. If you’re looking for one single volume
inexpensive reference for WWII tanks, this would be a good candidate.

Jean Restayn. Tanks of World War Two, Histoire & Collections, 1996. My copy is an English translation of
the original French. An entire book of color plates with brief commentary, looks a lot like the color plate
pages in the Squadron/Signal books. Perfect for researching paint schemes and vehicle markings.
Unfortunately doesn’t cover Pacific Theatre or late-war Soviet vehicles.

Tony Cullen, Christopher F. Foss, editors. Jane’s Armour and Artillery, 17th Edition, 1996-1997, Jane’s
Information Group, 1996.

Kenneth Macksey, John H. Batchelor. Tank, A History of the Armoured Fighting Vehicle, Ballantine
Books, 1971. Very dated.

Various authors. Land Power, Exeter Books, 1979. Also very dated.

Eric Morris. Tanks, Octopus Books Limited, 1975. Coffee table book. One of the first tank books in my
collection.

Roger Ford. The Gatefold Book of Tanks, Barnes & Noble Books, 1998. Very nice fold-out illustrations,
some interesting photos.

Richard Chasemore, Ian Harvey. Look Inside Cross-Sections: Tanks, Dorling Kindersley Ltd., 1996. I
really like this one but I can’t put my finger on why.

Hans Halberstadt. Inside the Great Tanks, Crowood Press Ltd., 1998. Lots of color photos of really clean,
freshly painted vehicles.

Chris Bishop, editor. The Encyclopedia of Weapons of World War II, Orbis Publishing Ltd., 1998. Some
good coverage of tank stuff but by no means exhaustive.

Liliane and Fred Funcken. Arms and Uniforms: The Second World War, Volumes 1-4, English Edition:
Ward Lock Ltd., 1976. The vehicle data in this four-volume set is not as reliable as most of the other
sources listed in this bibliography, but the color plates are very useful as painting guides and the uniform
information is invaluable. These books are rare and expensive, but well worth the investment if you are a
scale modeller or miniature painter.

Duncan Crow, Robert J. Icks. Encyclopedia of Armoured Cars, Chartwell Books Inc., 1976. Companion
volume to Crow & Icks Encyclopedia of Tanks. The most comprehensive book on the subject that I’ve ever
seen.

Charles K. Kliment and Vladimir Francev. Czechoslovak Armored Fighting Vehicles, 1916-1948, Schiffer
Publishing Ltd., 1997.

Nicola Pignato. I Mezzi Corazzati Italiani 1939-1945, Storia Miltare, 1996. The edition I have is entirely in
Italian, but the information is well laid-out and easy to read.

Page 6
Copyright © 2000, ArmourSoft. Permission granted to duplicate and distribute freely.
 The Book of Tanks
Main Section: July 24, 2003

Wolfgang Fleischer. Russian Tanks and Armoured Vehicles, 1917-1945, Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 1999.
Fred Koch. Russian Tanks and Armoured Vehicles, 1946-Present, Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 1999.

Eric Grove. Russian Armour 1941-1943, Almark Publishing Co. Ltd., 1976.

Dr. Matthew Hudges & Dr. Chris Mann. The T-34 Russian Battle Tank, MBI Publishing Co., 1999. This is
more of an “overview” type book than a “nitty-gritty” type. Lots of good internal and external photos and line
drawings.

Thomas Berndt. American Tanks of World War II, MBI Publishing Company, 1994. Lots of nice photos of
restored vehicles.

Wolfgang Fleischer. An Illustrated Guide to German Panzers, 1935-1945, Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 2002.
Contains a lot of photos I hadn’t seen before. Interesting information on the German maintenance system
and how few tanks were usually available at any given time. Quotes from German unit commanders will
shock many gamers as to actual division strength versus “paper” Order of Battle strength.

Michael Green, Thomas Anderson, and Frank Schulz. German Tanks of World War II in Color, MBI
Publishing Company, 2000. Great color photos of museum displays and vehicles restored to their original
condition. Some sad photos of tanks that have not been properly cared for and have deteriorated over the
decades.

Philip Warner. Panzer, Arthur Barker Limited, 1976. Coffee table book.

Part 3: The “Nitty-Gritty” Books: The following sources are more in-depth than the overview
books, so probably won’t be of interest unless you’re really interested in the specific subject matter. Many of
these are pretty expensive as well.

The R. P. Hunnicutt Series from Feist Publications, Inc.: These volumes tell you just about everything you
need to know about the vehicles described. I would have included this series on the “Must Have” list above,
were they not so expensive and hard to find. It took me several years to collect the entire set.
Patton: A History of the American Main Battle Tank volume I, 1984.
Firepower: A History of the American Heavy Tank, 1988.
Abrams: A History of the American Main Battle Tank volume II, 1990.
Stuart: A History of the American Light Tank, Park 1, 1992.
Sherman: A History of the American Medium Tank, 1994.
Sheridan: A History of the American Light Tank, Part 2, 1995.
Pershing: A History of the Medium Tank T20 Series, 1996.
Bradley: A History of American Fighting and Support Vehicles, 1999.
Half-Track: A History of American Semi-Tracked Vehicles, 2001.
Armored Car: A History of AmericanWheeled Combat Vehicles, 2002.

The Thomas L. Jentz Series from Schiffer Publishing Ltd..: Jentz has authored an extensive series of
excellent books concentrating mostly on German WWII armour.
Tank Combat in North Africa, the Opening Rounds, 1998.
Panzer Truppen, Volumes 1 and 2, 1996.
Germany’s Tiger Tanks Series: VK45.05 to Tiger II, 1997. Co-authored with Hilary L. Doyle.
Germany’s Tiger Tanks Series: Tiger I & II: Combat Tactics, 1997. Good stuff.
Germany’s Tiger Tanks Series: Tigers at the Front, 2001. Mostly photos.
Germany’s Panzers in World War II from Pz.Kpfw.I to Tiger II, 2001. Co-authored with Hilary L. Doyle.
Great book! Entries for all the “ausf’s”, including lots of armour thickness and gun penetration data. This
book is one of my new favourites.

The Spielberger German Armor & Military Vehicles Series from Schiffer Publishing Ltd..: Not as
much detail as the Hunnicutt series, but plenty of excellent photos, drawings, and data.
Volume I, Panther & Its Variants, 1993.

Page 7
Copyright © 2000, ArmourSoft. Permission granted to duplicate and distribute freely.
 The Book of Tanks
Main Section: July 24, 2003

Volume II, Sturmgeschütz & Its Variants, 1993.

Volume III, Panzer III & Its Variants, 1993.
Volume IV, Panzer IV & Its Variants, 1993.

David Fletcher. Mr. Churchill’s Tank, the British Infantry Tank Mark IV, Schiffer Publishing Ltd., 1999.
Very good volume covering the entire history of the Churchill, plus a bit on the earlier British infantry tanks.

Part 4: Monograph Series, Magazines, and Similar “Booklet” Format Sources

The Profile Series, Profile Publications Ltd.: Two excellent sets of pamphlets on individual vehicle types
and series of vehicles. Perhaps more useful to scale modellers than to wargamers, but well worth the price.
Published between 1967 and 1974. There were 24 issues in the first series, sometimes known as the “red
cover editions”. The second series was much more widespread, at least 64 issues having been published.
The following were used in researching The Book of Tanks:
B.T. White. AFV 1, Churchill, B.I.T. Mk IV.
Chris Ellis and Peter Chamberlain. AFV 4, Light Tanks M1-M5.
B.T. White. AFV 6, Valentine Mk III.
Chris Ellis and Peter Chamberlain. AFV 7, Medium Tanks Marks A-D.
Major James Bingham. AFV 8, Crusader – Cruiser Mark VI.
Major-General N.W. Duncan. AFV 9, Early Armoured Cars.
Chris Ellis and Peter Chamberlain. AFV 10, Panzerkampfwagen V Panther.
Chris Ellis and Peter Chamberlain. AFV 11, M3 Medium (Lee/Grant).
Major-General N.W. Duncan. AFV 12, Mediums Marks I-III.
Chris Ellis and Peter Chamberlain. AFV 13, Ram and Sexton.
Peter Chamberlain and Duncan Crow. AFV 14, Carriers.
Major-General N.W. Duncan. AFV 15, Panzerkampfwagen I & II.
Colonel Robert J. Icks. AFV 16, Landing Vehicles Tracked.
Major Michael Norman. AFV 17, Russian KV and IS.
Peter Chamberlain and Chris Ellis. AFV 20, Churchill and Sherman Specials.
B.T. White. AFV 21, Armoured Cars, 1970.
Major James Bingham. AFV 25, Cromwell and Comet, 1971.
Colonel Robert J. Icks. AFV 26, Hellcat, Long Tom and Priest, 1971.
R.M. Ogorkiewicz. AFV 34, Scorpion Reconnaissance Tank, 1971.
Major Michael Norman. AFV 38, Conqueror Heavy Gun Tank, 1972.
R.M. Ogorkiewicz. AFV 39, Panhard Armoured Cars, 1972.
Colonel Robert J. Icks. AFV 40, U.S. Armored Cars, 1972.
R.M. Ogorkiewicz. AFV 42, Modern Swedish Light Armoured Vehicles, 1972.
R.M. Ogorkiewicz. AFV 44, Ferrets and Fox, 1972.
R.M. Ogorkiewicz. AFV 45, Vickers Battle Tank, 1973.
Colonel Robert J. Icks. AFV 46, Light Tanks M22 Locust and M24 Chaffee, 1972.
J.M. Brereton and Major Michael Norman. AFV 47, Russian T34, 1972.
Lt.General Tomio Hara. AFV 49, Japanese Medium Tanks, 1972.
R.M. Ogorkiewicz. AFV 50, Swiss Battle Tanks, 1972.
Christopher F. Foss. AFV 51, Abbot FV433 Self-Propelled Gun, 1972.
Colonel Robert J. Icks. AFV 52, M47 Patton, 1972.
Christopher F. Foss. AFV 53, The FV 432 Series, 1973.
R.M. Ogorkiewicz. AFV 56, Missile Armed Armoured Vehicles, 1973.
Walter Spielberger, Peter Chamberlain, and Hilary L. Doyle. AFV 57, Schützenpanzerwagen SdKfz 251,
SdKfz 250, 1973.
Major James Bingham. AFV 58, French Infantry Tanks: Park I (Chars 2C, D and B), 1973.
Christopher F. Foss. AFV 62, Commando, Twister and High Mobility Vehicles, 1973.
Major-General N.W. Duncan. AFV 64, Armoured Personnel Carriers – A Survey, 1974.

Some of the Profile volumes were collected in hardcover or softcover compilations:

Various authors. Armour in Profile, Profile Publications Ltd., 1968. Hardbound collection of the 24 “red
cover” first series profiles.

Page 8
Copyright © 2000, ArmourSoft. Permission granted to duplicate and distribute freely.
 The Book of Tanks
Main Section: July 24, 2003

Various authors. Armored Fighting Vehicles of Germany, Arco Publishing Company, 1978.
Duncan Crow, editor. Modern Battle Tanks, Arco Publishing Company, 1978.

The “Ospreys”, Osprey Publishing Ltd.: There are so many volumes in these two series, the “Old”
Vanguard and the New Vanguard Series, that the thought of collecting them all overwhelmed me. They’re
excellent books but for some reason I only bought one until just recently. I’m now slowly picking them up,
one or two here and there. At this rate I’ll own the entire series in about forty-five years.
Steven J. Zaloga, James Grandsen. Soviet Heavy Tanks, Vanguard 24 , 1981.
Steven J. Zaloga. The M2 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle, Vanguard 43 , 1986.
Bryan Perrett, Peter Sarson, Mike Chappell. Churchill Infantry Tank 1941-1951, New Vanguard 4, 1993.
Tom Jentz, Hilary Doyle, Peter Sarson. Tiger I Heavy Tank 1942-1945, New Vanguard 5, 1993.
David Fletcher, Peter Sarson. Matilda Infantry Tank 1938-1945, New Vanguard 8, 1994.
Chris Foss, Simon Dunstan, Peter Sarson. Scorpion Reconnaissance Vehicle 1972-1994, New Vanguard
13, 1995.
Tom Jentz, Hilary Doyle, Peter Sarson. Flammpanzer German Flamethrowers 1941-1945, New Vanguard
15, 1995.
Michael Jerchel, Peter Sarson. Flammpanzer German Flamethrowers 1941-1945, New Vanguard 16,
1995.
Hilary Doyle, Tom Jentz, Mike Badrocke. Panther Variants 1942-1945, New Vanguard 22, 1998.
Steven J. Zaloga, Jim Laurier, The M47 and M48 Patton Tanks, New Vanguard 31, 1999.
Steven J. Zaloga, Tony Bryan, Jim Laurier, M26/M46 Pershing Tank 1943-1953, New Vanguard 35, 2000.
Mark Healy, Kursk 1943, Campaign 16, 1993.

The Arco “WW2 Fact File” Series, Arco Publishing Company: A handy and inexpensive series, although
the entries are often incomplete and the data sometimes contradicts more reliable sources.
Peter Chamberlain, John Milsom. Allied Combat Tanks, 1978.
Peter Chamberlain, Chris Ellis. Axis Combat Tanks, 1977.
Peter Chamberlain, John Milsom. Self-Propelled Anti-Tank and Anti-Aircraft Guns, 1975.
Peter Chamberlain, Terry Gander. Anti-Tank Weapons, 1974.

The Bellona Print Series, Bellona Publications, Ltd.: Another outstanding series of pamphlets, somewhat
more rare than the Profiles. Excellent multi-view drawings and armour layout information.
Peter Chamberlain, John Milsom. Allied Combat Tanks, 1978.
Series 1 through 19, 1964 to 1969.
Series 20, 1970.
Series 21, 1967.
Series 22, 1970.
Series 23, 1970.
Series 24, 1970.
Series 25, 1970.
Series 28, 1971.
Series 31, 1972.
Series 34, 1972.

The Schiffer Military History Series, Schiffer Publishing Company: Reminiscent of the old
Squadron/Signal “In Action” series. Most of the series covers German WWII topics.
Michael Sawodny. Unusual Panzers, 1994.
Michael Sowodny. German Armored Rarities 1935-1945, 1998.
Michael Scheibert. The Secret Beginnings of Germany’s Panzer Troops, 1999.
Troy D. Thiel. The M26 Pershing and Variants, 2002.

P. Touzin and C. Gurtner. French Armoured Fighting Vehicles No.1, Char d’Assaut Battle Tanks,
Bellona Publications Ltd., 1970. Capsule entries covering all French light, medium, and heavy tanks from
the Schneider through the AMX-30.

Page 9
Copyright © 2000, ArmourSoft. Permission granted to duplicate and distribute freely.
 The Book of Tanks
Main Section: July 24, 2003

P. Chamberlain and H.L. Doyle. German Army Semi-Tracks 1939-45, Part 1. Prime Movers and Self
Propelled Carriages, Bellona Publications Ltd., 1971. Very good “capsule” coverage of German halftrack
artillery tractors and gun carriages, including a number of types that are usually left out of other sources.
P. Chamberlain and H.L. Doyle. German Army S.P. Weapons 1939-45, Part 2. Foreign-Built Fully
Tracked Chassis, Bellona Publications Ltd., 1971. Typical good quality Bellona stuff, covering Hetzers and
Marders and Semoventes and all that stuff.

The Squadron/Signal Series, from Squadron/Signal Publishing Co.: Intended more for scale modellers
than for wargamers, these books nevertheless contain lots of useful information and good photographs.
Terence Wise. D-Day to Berlin, 1979.
Bruce Culver, Bill Murphy. Panzer Colors, 1976.
Bruce Culver. Panzer Colors II, 1978.
Bruce Culver. Panzer Colors III, 1984.
Steven J. Zaloga. Blitzkrieg, 1980.
B. T. White. British Tank Markings and Names, 1978.
Jim Mesko. Armor in Vietnam, 1982.
Pierangelo Caiti. Modern Armor, 1978.
Norm E. Harms, Steve Clayton. British Armour in Action, 1974.
Martin Windrow. Tank and AFV Crew Uniforms Since 1916, 1979.
Steven J. Zaloga and James Grandsen. The Eastern Front, 1983.

The Aero Armor Series, Aero Publishing Inc.:

Heinz J. Nowarra, Uwe Feist, Edward T. Maloney. Volume 1, The Tiger Tanks, 1966.
Uwe Feist, Heinz J. Nowarra. Volume 2, The German Panzers from Mark I to Mark V “Panther”, 1966.
Walter J. Spielberger, Uwe Feist. Volume 3, Sturmartillerie from Assault Guns to Hunting Panther,
1967.
Walter J. Spielberger, Uwe Feist. Volume 4, Sturmartillerie, Self-Propelled Guns and Flak Tanks, 1967.
Walter J. Spielberger, Uwe Feist. Volume 5, Strassenpanzer, The German Scout Cars, 1968.
Walter J. Spielberger, Uwe Feist. Volume 6, Armor on the Eastern Front, 1968.
Walter J. Spielberger, Uwe Feist. Volume 7, Halbkettenfahrzeuge, German Halftrack Vehicles, 1968.
Walter J. Spielberger, Uwe Feist. Volume 8, Armor in the Western Desert, 1968.
Walter J. Spielberger, Uwe Feist. Volume 9,Sonderpanzer, German Special Purpose Vehicles, 1968.
Walter J. Spielberger, Uwe Feist. Volume 10, Militarfahrzeuge, German Softskinned Vehicles of WW2,
1970.
Uwe Feist. Volume 11, Aero Armor-Series, 1979.
Walter J. Spielberger, Uwe Feist. Panzerkampfwagen IV, “Workhorse” of the German Panzertruppe,
1977.
Walter J. Spielberger, Uwe Feist. Panzerkampfwagen V Panther, 1977.
Walter J. Spielberger, Uwe Feist. Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger I and II “Königstiger”, 1977.
John M. Brereton and Uwe Feist. Russian Tanks, Evolution and Development 1915-1968, 1970.
Uwe Feist. Journal Military Panorama No. 1, 1969.

The Almark Series, from Almark Publishing Co. Ltd.: Another series of small, inexpensive books
intended primarily for scale modelling.
Kenneth M. Jones. No. 2 British North Africa, 1977.
Kenneth M. Jones. No. 3 German Eastern Front, 1978.

Purnell’s History of the World Wars Series:

Peter Chamberlain, Chris Ellis, John Batchelor. German Fighting Vehicles 1939-1945, 1975.
Andrew Kershaw, editor. The Tank Story, 1972. My very first tank book. Somebody gave it to me around
1974.

The War Data Series, Eshel Dramit Ltd., edited by Lt. Col. D. Eshel: This series, along with the Born in
Battle magazines from the same publisher, contain a lot of interesting photographs and illustrations. The
data however should be taken with a grain or two of salt, particularly when it involves the then-new
equipment.
War Data Number 10, Israel’s New Merkava, 1981.

Page 10
Copyright © 2000, ArmourSoft. Permission granted to duplicate and distribute freely.
 The Book of Tanks
Main Section: July 24, 2003

War Data Number 12, Soviet A.P.C. BTR40, 50, 60, 152, BRDM, BMP, BMD, 1981.
War Data Number 14, Main Battle Tanks Chieftain, T-62, M-60, AMX-30, 1981.

AFV-G2 Magazine, many issues.

Tankette, the Miniature Armoured Fighting Vehicle Association (MAFVA) Magazine, many issues.

Thomas L. Jentz. Panzerkampfwagen Maus, Darlington Productions Inc., 1997.

Janusz Magnuski. Samochod Pancerny Wz.34, Wydawnictwo Ministerstwa Obrony Narodowej, 1979.
This is from a series of Polish-language booklets similar to the Profiles in format.

Frank Chadwick. Desert Shield Fact Book, Game Designers’ Workshop, 1991.

Part 5: “Pocket”/“Recognition Guide” Books: Small-format booklets with capsule entries for
each vehicle. Inevitably they don’t have an entry for the specific vehicle you’re looking for if it isn’t one of the
main types, but if you work with a stack of four or five of these books you’ll usually find at least one entry.

Christopher F. Foss. Jane’s Pocket Book 4: Modern Tanks and Armoured Fighting Vehicles, MacDonald
and Jane’s Publishers Ltd., 1974.

Charles Messenger. The New Observer’s Book of Tanks & Other Armoured Vehicles, Frederick Warne
(Publishers) Ltd., 1981.

Bob Lewis, editor. Concise Color Guides: Modern Fighting Vehicles, Longmeadow Press, 1988.

Terry J. Gander. Collins/Jane’s Tanks of World War II, HarperCollins Publishers, 1995.

Chris Foss. Collins/Jane’s Modern Tanks, HarperCollins Publishers, 1995.

Heinz J. Nowarra. German Tanks 1914-1968, Arco Publishing Company, 1968. Very dated.

George Bradford, Len Morgan. 50 Famous Tanks, Arco Publishing Company, 1967. Very dated.

George Bradford. Great Tank Battles of WWII, Arco Publishing Company, 1970.

Part 6: Recommended Autobiographies and Histories

Major Robert Crisp. Brazen Chariots, Bantam Books edition, 1978. The classic. Crisp’s autobiographical
experiences as a tank commander in North Africa. If you read nothing else in this bibliography, read this
one.

Major Robert Crisp. The Gods Were Neutral, Ballantine Books edition, 1960. Crisp describes his first
combat experience as part of the unsuccessful British excursion in Greece in 1941.

Ralph Zumbro. Tank Sergeant, Presidio Press, 1986. The author’s experiences as an M-48 commander in
Viet Nam.

Ralph Zumbro. Tank Aces, Pocket Books, 1997. Collected experiences of tank crewmen and cavalrymen
from WWII through Desert Storm. The combat recollections are pretty good, the editorialized political
sections in between are not so good.

Michael D. Mahler. Ringed in Steel, Presidio Press, 1986. ACAV operations in Viet Nam.

Belton Y. Cooper. Death Traps, Presidio Press, 1998.

Page 11
Copyright © 2000, ArmourSoft. Permission granted to duplicate and distribute freely.
 The Book of Tanks
Main Section: July 24, 2003

Dmitriy Loza, translated and by James F. Gebhardt. Commanding the Red Army’s Sherman Tanks,
University of Nebraska Press, 1996.

Dmitriy Loza, translated and by James F. Gebhardt. Fighting for the Soviet Motherland, University of
Nebraska Press, 1998.

Major-General F. W. von Mellenthin. Panzer Battles, Cassell & Co. Ltd., 1955.

Kenneth Macksey. Tank Warfare, Rupert Hart-Davis Ltd., 1971.

Bryan Cooper. The Ironclads of Cambrai, The First Great Tank Battle, Rupert Cassell Military
Paperbacks, 2002. Reprint of a 1967 Souvenir Press edition.

Patrick Wright. Tank, Penguin Putnam Inc., 2002.

Part 7: Web Pages

There are some outstanding web pages out there covering all sorts of tank-related stuff. These
sites sometimes come and go faster than I can keep track of them, so I will not attempt to list
them here. I try to maintain a fairly up-to-date list of armour-related links at my web site
(www.irvania.com).

Page 12
Copyright © 2000, ArmourSoft. Permission granted to duplicate and distribute freely.