September New Release - Us Amphibious Tanks of World War II

Title: US Amphibious Tanks of 
 World War II

             

Series: New Vanguard (NVG192)

                  

Author/s: Steven J. Zaloga

RRP: $19.99

ISBN: 9781849086363

Format:  Paperback, 48 pages

Dimensions: 248mm x 184mm

Publisher: Osprey Publishing

Aust. Release Date: Sept 2012

Book Description/Synopsis:

The advent of combined arms operations in World War II created the need for specialised armoured vehicles. In the case of amphibious attacks, the issue arose of how best to land tanks on a beach. Although a variety of specialised landing craft were developed, the Dieppe raid in 1942 encouraged the development of tanks that could be deployed from further off-shore to limit the vulnerability of the LCT craft. The deep-wading equipment that they developed was first used during Operation Husky on Sicily in July 1943, and subsequently for Operations Avalanche (Salerno, September 1943), Shingle (Anzio, January 1944) and Overlord (Normandy, June 1944). The US-manufactured DD tanks were used during Overlord by both US and British forces and again in 1945 during the Rhine crossings. Initially, developments in the Pacific Theatre were separate from those in Europe. The Marines learned from the Tarawa landings in 1943 that unprepared tanks could not be safely landed even in shallow water. DD tanks were never seriously considered for the Pacific, so other solutions were sought.