For those readers not familiar with this series of publications, they are published by Ampersand Publishing, the firm responsible for the excellent Military Models in Review (MMiR) armor modeling magazine edited by Pat Stansell, one of my favorite magazines. As the title suggests, each issue of Allied-Axis contains a number of photo journal articles covering various aspects of the Second World War. The issue under review today contains three separate articles. For the most part, each page of any given issue is devoted to a single photograph, with an appropriate written caption. Thus the detail contained in each photograph is extremely good, due to its size. For the most part, the clarity of each photograph varies from good to superb, depending on the quality of the original print used. The Journal paper quality utilized is also very good. Each segment/article starts off with a short written introduction of the subject covered, followed by page after page of photos with their captions.

Issue 31 consists of three articles of varying length:

1. Panzer-Abteilung 40 in Finland. This Panzer unit’s various components were part of the original invasion force that went into Denmark and Norway in 1940. In 1941 Germany decided to aid Finland in her attempts to retake territory lost to the Soviet Union in the “Winter War” of November 1939-March 1940, as part of Germany’s overall invasion plan for the Soviet Union. Pzr-Abt 40 was a major component of Germany’s fighting force in Finland, which coordinated operations with Finnish forces. The photos in this article were taken during the unit’s fighting in the early spring and summer of 1942.
   
   The unit was armed with among other vehicles the Panzer I A, Panzer II Ausf C, Panzer III Ausf H. The article is loaded with photos of these vehicles up close and personal, together with their crews on the move, and at rest. Pages 2 through 61.
2. The German 5cm PaK 38 L/60 anti-tank gun. Following a short written introduction, multiple mostly full page photos of this gun and its crews in various theaters of operation are presented. There are also two full page photos showing the light tank destroyer developed by Rheinmetall using the Borgward VK3.02 artillery tractor, including an excellent photo of the crew/gun fighting compartment. Pages 62 through 76.
3. The German 7.5 cm le.IG 18 Infantry Gun. Photo coverage includes both the horse drawn wooden spoke wheel version and the later rubber pneumatic tire version for towing behind motor vehicles. Coverage includes both vintage WW2 action shots, as well six full page shots of a museum example (horse drawn version) housed at a museum in Koblenz. Excellent detail for those with a copy of the Esci 1/35^th model kit of this gun.

To sum up, this is a first rate publication for anyone interested in obtaining good photographic references of World War Two military subjects. The photos are large format and generally to a high reproductive quality, each coming with a very informative written caption. Given the price, the “Journal” is also a steal in today’s publishing market. HIGHLY recommended. My thanks to The Ampersand Publishing Company for providing the review copy to IPMS USA.