Men Against Tanks; A History of Anti-Tank Warfare
New York City: Mason/Charter, 1975. Presumed First Edition, First printing. Hardcover. Format is 5.75 inches by 189, [3] pages. Illustrations. Bibliography. Index. DJ has some wear and soiling and is price clipped. Colonel John Weeks began his long and distinguished military career with the Staffordshire Regiment before serving in the Parachute Regiment. A well respected author of military books and an instructor at the Royal Military College of Science, he was engaged for many years on the assessment of weapons and weapons systems. Men Against Tanks is the first complete history of the development of tactics and weaponry of anti-tank warfare developed to a sophisticated level of strategic importance. This book is the first history of that development. Beginning with the days when the Germans had little more than "K" bullets to use against tanks, the author proceeds to the hectic technological race between the Allies and the Axis powers during World War II, which saw Germany under Krupp develop a variety of weapons not seen in any other field of armament. A discussion of the Arab-Israeli War in 1973 affords a look at the future of missile and tank warfare. In this account of the combat between men on foot and men in bullet-proof machines, the author has simplified technical jargon and stressed the human side of modern warfare. In this account of the combat between men on foot and men in bullet-proof machines, the author has simplified technical jargon and stressed the human side of modern warfare. This straight-forward study, with photographs & diagrams, is a must for students of twentieth-century military strategy & tactics, including the growing body of wargamers. Derived from a review published in The New York Times review: A man who writes entertainingly—the word is selected carefully—about anti tank warfare is someone special. John Weeks can do it. By a self imposed restriction, he does not deal with armored vehicles or self propelled guns, but only with “weapons which are carried, pulled, or pushed by men on their feet.” If this seems unpromisingly grim material, you have not met the Smith Gun, a device issued to the British Home Guard in the dark days of 1940, which was fired by turning it on its side so that one wheel became the gun's base. Weeks is rich in such gadgets, many of them “more or less dangerous to the user, and all requiring a high degree of dedication to be effective.” Writing about how the innards of weapons work with clarity, he also deals with more significant equipment. Beginning with the tungsten carbide core “K” bullet with which the Germans countered the first British tanks of 1916, he moves through the anti tank guns of World War II and on to the missiles in use today. Along the way, it comes as a surprise to learn that the American Bazooka of World War II was originally fired by flashlight batteries and came to favorable official attention only by sneaking into a weapons demonstration at which it should not have appeared. Weeks cautiously suggests that anti tank warfare may be a thing of the past. Missiles are so effective against existing tanks and any new ones likely to appear, that the weapon that made blitzkrieg possible is in all likelihood ancient history in any affair between first class powers. Condition: Very Good / Good.
Keywords: Tanks, Anti-Tank, Armored Warfare, Missile, Smith Gun, K Bullet, Bazooka, Grenades, Rifles, Rocket-Launchers
[Book #82859]
Price: $37.50