The Author

Alan Ranger was educated mostly in the UK, He started his carrier in the Royal Engineer's Regiment of the British Army. Since then specializing in turbines from the early 1980's on he has been involved in various engineering projects around the world for a number of major global companies.

He has had a number of books and articles published over the years mostly industry related but has also has been published before in this field with books published by Model Art of Japan. He is a collector of World War II Militaria and has also accumulated a large collection of original period photographs on this subject matter. His interests are centered around World War II history in general, specializing in the vehicles both soft skin and armoured as used by the German and Japanese armed forces during the conflict.

As he now approaches retirement employed as a Project Development Manager by Europe's major Turbine manufacturer he looks forward to devoting more time to his interests including writing many more books based upon this subject matter.

The Publication

This new photo-album in the Camera On series contains over 140 photographs of the Sd.Kfz. 10 Leichter Zugkraftwagen 1.t. The Sd.Kfz. 10 was developed as a towing vehicle for light loads like the 37mm Pak 36/37, the 2cm Flak 30/38 and the Heavy Infantry howitzer Sigg 33 plus a myriad of trailers types such as the Sd. Anh. 32. Later, it was used as a towing vehicle for the 5cm Pak 38 and different Nebelwerfer (rocket launchers).

As the war progressed and the German army had less and less equipment to utilize, the Sd.Kfz 10 was often to be seen towing loads way beyond its designed weight class for the lack of other suitable vehicles.

Camera On: a new series of books on the equipment and operations of the German Wehrmacht in WW2. The focus is on the often ignored or overlooked soft-skinned, non-armoured, vehicles used by the German army. This profusely illustrated photo-album includes a large number of previously unseen pictures, many from private sources in Germany. Whatever the rules might have said, German soldiers took many photographs, and these are the basis for this new series.

Vehicle Background (my thanks to Wikipedia)

The Sd.Kfz. 10 (Sonderkraftfahzeug- special motorized vehicle) was a German half-track that saw widespread use in World War III. Its main role was as a prime mover for small towed guns such as the 5 cm FlaK 30, the &.5 cm le/G, or the 3.7 cm PaK 36 anti-tank gun. It could carry eight troops in addition to towing a gun or trailer.

The basic engineering for all the German half-tracks was developed during the Weimar-era by the Reichwehr's Military Automotive Department, but final design and testing was farmed out to commercial firms with the understanding that production would be shared with multiple companies. Demag was chosen to develop the smallest of the German half-tracks and spent the years between 1934 and 1938 perfecting the design through a series of prototypes.

The chassis formed the basis for the Sd.Kfz. 250 light armored personnel carrier. Approximately 14,000 were produced between 1938 and 1945, making it one of the most widely produced German tactical vehicles of the war. It participated in the invasion of Poland, the Battle of France, the Balkans Campaign and fought on both the Western Front and the Eastern Front, in North Africa, and Italy.

Review Comments

The photos in this publication are all black and white and were taken by the field troops rather than the professional propaganda photographers. Most pictures are posed with smiling crew members while other are candid, many are very nice quality offering the modeler a nice reference for stowage, details and weathering. Most of the vehicles are painted Panzer Grey, while if you look closely a few have camouflage patterns. many of the vehicles are shown towing light weapons or trailers.

All of the images contained therein are accompanied by comments where the author notes specific details or vehicle modifications. In addition, the author reveals that he is a scale modeler in some image comments.

Since the photos were taken by the soldiers many of the images will offer the scale modeler great diorama subject possibilities. There are images of the vehicle parked, traveling on the road, stuck in mud or snow, or totally burned out and destroyed. One of the last image depicts a Sd. Kfz. 10 used as a hearse for soldier killed while battling Polish resistance forces in 1941. This would become a rare occurrence as the war progressed.

Models Kits Available

There are several manufacturers that offer the Sd.Kfz.10 kits, including Dragon, Italeri, and Tamiya. Several versions of this vehicle are available in the popular scales.

Conclusion

This publication offers the armor modeler excellent references for the Sd.Kfz. 10. The images contained therein have not been widely published until now. I recommend this book for the serious history buff and the armor scale modeler.

My sincere thank you to MMP Publications and IPMS/USA for the opportunity to review this publication.