The book goes into details of the formation, deployment and combat actions of the Panzergrenadier Division “Brandenburg” on the eastern front on the last few months of World War Two. The hardback book comes with a companion book of all the campaign maps with corresponding references to the book pages and chapters.

This is the first book to take a deep look at the famous Panzergrenadier-Division 'Brandenburg' from its formation and its five-month campaign in the Eastern Front at the end of the Second World War.

'Brandenburg' was created in December 1944 from several burnt-out commando regiments and the remnants of a few conventional units supplied by the Ersatzheer.

The unit fought in some of the most dramatic and relatively unknown late war battles in Poland, Silesia, Saxony, and Czechoslovakia. The book has been created by using many never before published accounts by soldiers who were with the unit in the final months of the war.

I’ve always had a soft spot in my old modeling heart for the early Israeli equipment, back when the IDF had to scrounge for every item. I loved the interesting field modifications and clever use of limited resources, and the Israeli halftracks were a good example. Admittedly, from a modeling standpoint the conversion was always relatively easy, and I had it on my “to do” list for years, but just never got around to it. Dragon has done the job for me with this excellent little kit. I did, however, encounter a few bumps along the road, although nothing that should make any average modeler quail. One basic bit of advice, though -- do NOT try and build this in the sequence in the instructions. They have you build the separate units, such as chassis, truck bed, etc. in their entireties then piece it all together at the end. Due to the fragility of many of the exterior items you will land up trashing your work.

History

The Canadian Military Pattern (CMP) truck was a class of military truck - of various forms - made in large numbers in Canada during World War II to British Army specifications for use in the armies of the British Commonwealth allies. Standard designs were drawn up just before the beginning of the war.

The Crusader Mk. III came into British service in the second half of 1942 during the Tunisian Campaign in North Africa. They were used for about a year until replaced with the M4, then they were converted to AA or reconnaissance tanks. This Tamiya kit is part of their Italeri series where they take older Italeri molds, correct errors, add details and pack them in new boxes with some extra Tamiya goodies. This Italeri kit first hit the market in 1976. Tamiya has taken these old molds and added turret and hull weld seam. They also corrected the front fenders by taking a molded-in step out of them, updated the moldings on the turret tool box, added details to the underside of the hatches, hollowed out the spotlight and included a thin, plastic lens. Two Tamiya figures are included from their Churchill Mk. VII kit, # 35210, from 1996, and a sprue from the British Infantry on Patrol weapons, kit #35223, from 1999.

Steven J. Zaloga was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts to John and Muriel Zaloga on February 1, 1952. Steven earned his undergraduate degree cum laude in history at Union College and his Masters degree in history at Columbia University. He obtained a Certificate in International Affairs from the graduate program of the University of Cracow. He has worked in the aerospace industry for some twenty years as an analyst specializing in missiles, precision guided munitions and unarmed aerial vehicles. Steven has served with a federal think tank, Defense Analyses. He was the writer director for The Discovery Channel’s “Firepower” series from 1987 to 1992. He has authored many books on military technology, especially in armored warfare. Steven is a noted scale armor modeler and is a member of AMPS (Armor Modeling and Preservation Society).