Introduction

The StuH.42 (Sturmhaubitze 42, Sd.Kfz 142/2), was used to support armor and infantry. They were fitted with a 10.5cmStuH.42 L/28 howitzer offering greater destructive firepower than the StuG III that had a 7.5cm StuK 40 L/43 cannon. The 10.5cm StuH was modified to be electrically fired and fitted with a muzzle brake. The StuH 42 used the chassis from the StuG.III Ausf.E/F. Alkett, a major manufacturer of armored vehicles for the German war machine, produced 1,299 StuH 42 from 1943 to 1945. Additionally, the vehicle weighed over 26 tons.

The Cold War produced a number of unusual weapons systems, and few were more unusual than the M50 Ontos (a Greek word meaning “entity” or “thing”). In the aftermath of the Korean War, The M50 Ontos and its cousin, the M56 Scorpion, were developed to fulfill the role of Tank Destroyers, a service corps left to languish following the end of World War 2. Both the Army and the Marine Corps had been disappointed by their difficulty in stopping Russian made armor in Korea, and the prospect of thousands of Soviet tanks flooding across the plains of central Europe gave rise to the re-establishment of the dedicated tank destroyer concept.

“The 1916 Battle of the Somme Reconsidered” is a revision of a book written twenty four years ago by Peter Liddle, which benefits from more recently acquired research and information. It is a high quality, hard cover book. Peter Liddle is an historian of the First and Second World Wars, who has concentrated on personal experience of the men and women who took part in these conflicts.

The book was of great interest to me, as my grandfather fought in the “Great War”, and indeed was involved in trench fighting on the Somme. He was a very proper, jolly English gentleman, and held the rank of Sergeant. After the war, he emigrated to Australia. He had a fabulous life, and passed away at the age of 92.