Andy Taylor
Reviews By Author
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The Darkest Hour, Volume 2: The Japanese Naval Offensive in the Indian Ocean 1942- The Attack Against Ceylon and the Eastern FleetPublished:
This is the second of a two-series amazingly detailed books authored by a Polish Ph.D. in Law, living in Japan, writing about Japanese advances in the eastern Indian Ocean. As if that isn’t intriguing enough, author Michał A. Piegzik covers a little known (at least to most Americans) subject in a much larger backdrop of Allied defeats in the early Pacific War, focusing on ABDA (American, British, Dutch, Australian) forces as they reeled from Japanese attacks in Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Dutch East Indies, the Philippines, Java, and Burma. For more background information on Michał A. Piegzik, please refer to my earlier review on The Darkest Hour, Volume 1. If you read my book review on Volume 1, then I apologize for repeating myself here; however, as a standalone review,… more |
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The Soviet Baltic Offensive, 1944-1945Published:
Ian Baxter is a prolific author and has an impressive collection of photographs, many unpublished previously. The book differs from Pen & Sword’s Images of War format as it is a softbound book in a smaller size. Each chapter begins with brief introductions followed by a lot of photographs, orders of battle, color illustrations and maps to tell the story. The Soviet Baltic Offensive, 1944-45 - German Defense of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania is composed of nine chapters:
The German Baltic Offensive began with… more |
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A-10C Hoosier HawgsPublished:
Twobobs Aviation Graphics are celebrating their 20th anniversary this year and keep producing outstanding decal sheets for modern military jet aircraft. A-10C Hoosier Hawgs (72-111/32-072) celebrates three “Blacksnakes” A-10s of the 163rd Fighter Squadron based at Fort Wayne Air National Guard Station, Indiana. This decal sheet reflects the commemoration of 100 years of aviation in the Indiana Air National Guard. This decal set has the option to build five aircraft – four in the traditional gray camouflage scheme (tail numbers 192, 213, 679, 692) , the remaining in the distinctive 100th anniversary black over gray camouflage (244), following the traditional A-10 gray pattern. There are two decal sheets that have enough decals for all five jets in both 1/72 and 1/32… more |
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A-10C Hoosier HawgsPublished:
Twobobs Aviation Graphics are celebrating their 20th anniversary this year and keep producing outstanding decal sheets for modern military jet aircraft. A-10C Hoosier Hawgs (48-276) celebrates three “Blacksnakes” A-10s of the 163rd Fighter Squadron based at Fort Wayne Air National Guard Station, Indiana. This decal sheet reflects the commemoration of 100 years of aviation in the Indiana Air National Guard. This decal set has the option to build five aircraft – four in the traditional gray camouflage scheme (tail numbers 192, 213, 679, 692), the remaining in the distinctive 100th anniversary black over gray camouflage (244), following the traditional A-10 gray pattern. There is one decal sheet that has enough decals for all five jets in 1/48 scale. The four-page, color… more |
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A-10C Heritage HawgsPublished:
Twobobs Aviation Graphics are celebrating their 20th anniversary this year and keep producing outstanding decal sheets for modern military jet aircraft. A-10C Heritage Hawgs (72-110/32-071) celebrates three A-10s promoting heritage and morale. Twobobs chose A-10s from the active, reserve and National Guard squadrons: 405th Fighter Squadron celebrating the 75th anniversary of their squadron, replete in a P-47 Thunderbolt scheme from Western France in 1944 A-10 Demonstration Team (Davis Monthan AFB) in a SEA (Southeast Asia) F-105 scheme dedicated to Vietnam POW/MIA, flown during the 2021-2022 airshow season 303rd Fighter Squadron (USAFR) painted in D-Day invasion stripes in honor of the 75th anniversary of the D-Day Invasion. There are two decal sheets… more |
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The Waffen-SS Ardennes OffensivePublished:
The German Operation Wacht am Rhein (Watch on the Rhine), also called the Ardennenoffensive (Ardennes Offensive) occurred from 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945, launched in the same area as the German 1940 attack on France, through the densely forested area between Belgium and Luxembourg. At this late stage in the war, the German military realized the only hope of stemming the Russian assault, which paused only when they outran their supply lines, was to force the Allies to surrender or accept a separate peace. Germany realized that a sudden, swift attack into this lightly held area was the only way they had any chance for success. The goal was the capture of the Belgian port of Antwerp, which would increase Allied supply lines and have the secondary effect of splitting four allied… more |
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Panzerwaffe on the Battlefield 2 – Volume 21Published:
This landscaped, hardback book is written in both English and Hungarian, featuring select German armored vehicles throughout all theaters in World War II from 1939 to 1945. This is an incredible book with many previously unpublished photos of armored vehicles in depots, in the field and after combat. The next page reveals more surprises that the previous. First and foremost, this book is written in Hungarian, and this language is shown first, followed by the English translation (and a great job by the editor, by the way; this is not a case of stereo instructions printed in one language and translated into another that doesn’t have words for stereo equipment). The author sets up the book with the following introductory paragraph, “In the strictest sense of the term, “Panzerwaffe… more |
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Narvik and the Norwegian Campaign 1940Published:
Operation Studie Nord, the German plan for the invasion of Scandinavia was further developed into two separate plans that were to run concurrently – Weserubung (River Exercise) and Weserubung Sud (River Exercise South) for Norway and Denmark, respectively. The plans were drawn up after Germany’s invasion of Poland and during the “Phoney War” (Queen’s English as the book’s author is English). This often-overlooked campaign violated both Denmark and Norway’s neutrality before the German military campaign against France and the Low Countries and took place shortly after the Russian-Finish Winter War of 1939-1940. Besides Denmark and Sweden being neutral, both countries’ monarchs were brothers. The similarities between both countries continued with relatively low numerical military… more |
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Hungarian Arms and Armor in World War TwoPublished:
Hungary found itself on the losing side of World War I and the Treaty of Trianon was similar to the Treaty of Versailles imposed on Germany. As a result, Hungary was partitioned (see map on page 5) and reduced from 282,000 square kilometers to 93,000 square kilometers and its population from 18 million to 9.5 million people, absorbed by foreign countries hostile to Hungary; Hungary’s industrial base was reduced by almost 80%, and its military was limited in size and scope. Hungary’s involvement in World War II was seen through the lens of regaining their lost territories from Slovakia, Romania, Austria, and Yugoslavia. When political methods didn’t work, Hungary’s limited military did what it could, but soon found itself allied with Germany to achieve its aims. This amazingly… more |
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Burma Victory 1944-1945Published:
The book’s title, Burma Victory 1944-1945, is a little misleading as the first, very detailed chapter delves into the Japanese blitzkrieg beginning in December 1941 through 1942. The Japanese victories in China, the Dutch East Indies, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaya and the Philippines set the stage for this book on a long forgotten and neglected theater of World War II. The author does an amazing job describing the harsh, varied terrain, weather and combatants and how the Allies regrouped and learned to fight the previously invincible Japanese military as they made their furthest incursion west. American General Joseph “Vinegar Joe” Stillwell assembled an ad-hoc force of Unit Galahad (Merrill’s Marauders named after their commander Frank Merrill was officially named the 5307th… more |