The Great Tank Scandal - British Amour in the Second World War (Part 1)
David Fletcher MBE
Überarbeitete Neuauflage des viele Jahre vergriffenen Originals vaus den 1980er Jahren.
Bei Ausbruch des Zweiten Weltkriegs waren die deutschen Panzer den britischen technisch deutlich überlegen, von denen viele als nicht einsatzfähig zu bezeichnen waren.
Ausgehend von 1939 zeichnet Fletcher ein Bild der Vertrickungen von Politik, Industrie sowie Armee und zeigt auf, wie es zu dieser Situation kommen konnte, die sich erst in den Jahren 1942-45 wandelte und im Part 2 - The Universal Tank dargestellt wird.
British ingenuity lay behind the invention of the tank and its initial use in action in the First World War, but this impressive lead was then lost in a mere 20 years. With the Second World War outbreak, German tanks quickly earned an excellent reputation. By and large, this infamy was well deserved. Still, it gained even more credibility because many Allied tanks, especially those built in Britain, were markedly inferior – to the point of some designs being declared un-battleworthy.
So, what had gone wrong? The reasons for this can be found in the story of British tank development between the wars. Taking 1939 as his starting point, David Fletcher examines the evolution of British and Commonwealth armoured fighting vehicles, building a convincing picture of the factors that led to the ‘great tank scandal!
The Great Tank Scandal is supported by more than 100 original photographs and technical illustrations; the author draws on archive sources that include reports, minutes and correspondence between politicians, tank builders and the army to illustrate a tale of indecision in high places, stubborn industrialists and years of military vacillation. The book ends with the tragedy on the beaches of Dieppe in August 1942, but with a kernel of hope that is developed in David Fletcher’s sequel, The Universal Tank, in which he covers the last three years of the war.
Format 24,5 x 17,3 cm, Paperback, 192 Seiten, über 100 Fotos sowie Zeichnungen und technische Abbildungen,
englischer Text, Best-Nr. PTM004
Inhalt:
Introduction
Scraping the barrel
And then there were none
The cupboard was bare
Unbattleworthy
Tracks in the sand
Missionaries in Washington
To El Alamein and back
The return of specialised armour
Index