Book Review: Bren Gun Carrier, Robert Jackson

Fantastic! I'm a little surprised at how I've grown to love, or perhaps rather become fascinated by the 'umble Universal Carrier. I can't deny that seeing YouTuber Lindybiege choose it as his second favourite tank (!?)* has been an influence. Prior to that I'd always rather cocked a snook at this little vehicle.

2/7th Middlesex Regt, Anzio, 21 February 1944. [1]

In this, the third of the Land Craft series from Pen & Sword, Robert Jackson elucidates the history in brief of this funny little runt of a vehicle. The story starts in WWI, with the fabulously Frenchified sounding British Major Giffard le Quesne Martel. I won't recapitulate what Jackson imparts very well here. But it's an interesting subject, covered in a brief but comprehensive and highly enjoyable way.

As well as black and white photos of old and current surviving examples, there are eight 3-D renderings and eight pages of colour profiles. The latter aren't the best of their type in the Land Craft/Tank Craft series, but they convey the necessary info. Within all this the book covers numerous variants. There are also the usual segments, Model Showcase and Model Products. Three of the four showcased models are 1/35, the fourth (presented first) is 1/72, my own favoured scale.

Timothy Neate's amazing 1/72 RA OP Mk II.

All four showcased builds are stunning examples of the modelmakers arts. I'm particularly in awe of Timothy Neate's splendid 1/72 Mk II Royal Artillery OP (observation post vehicle), a heavily modified IBG models kit. I've included an image of Neate's model above. I'll be getting/building some of these IBG kits as soon as the occasion presents itself. I may also try adapting some of the chunkier PSC kits as well.

There's quite a bit of useful info on model products in various scales as well. But the book as a whole returns to narrative text and images about the service history of these highly useful and adaptable vehicles, ending with a brief look at a selection of Contemporary Light Tracked Vehicles of the 'tankette' type, such as were based on or influenced by the UC, such as the Polish TK-3, the Russian T-37 and the Japanese Type 94.

A great view into the interior spaces of a UC.

For my money this is an example of this often very useful series at its tip-top best. Reading it and perusing the images is inspiring me to build some more of these interesting little vehicles (I recently built the re-issued Airfix 1/76 kit, with 6pdr gun), whilst simultaneously inspiring and informing on the subject. Highly recommended.

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* Okay, so it's not a tank and he knows it, nevertheless, the charmingly manic Lindybiege chooses the Universal Carrier as his #2 'tank' in his very entertaining 'Top 5 Tanks' video for The Tank Museum on YouTube. The whole thing is worth watching. But if you want to get to the Bren Gun Carrier segment, it's about 17 minutes in.

NOTES:

[1] Photo by Sgt. Dawson, No 2 Army Film & Photographic Unit (source, IWM).

Book Review: Arras, Counter Attack, 1940 - Tim Saunders

I've just finished reading this book, which I thoroughly enjoyed. 

Reeling from the speed of the German advance, French and English command and control was, by mid-May 1940 coming apart at the seams. As a consequence, what was intitially supposed to be the northern part of an Allied pincer movement, aimed at cutting through the corridor the Panzers had so rapidly opened up, became instead an ill-starred and half-baked operation, ultimately more about defence and retreat than the supposed or intended attack.

Tim Saunders, ex-military himself, has written an engaging account of this doomed action. Chapters 1-4 set the scene, starting with reflections on WWI and the birth of tank warfare, and the development of these ideas in the interwar years, and showing how, despite Britain and France having lead tank development early on, they were to be outpaced by Germany, when Hitler rode roughshod over the Versailles treaty, characters like Guderian championing a new form of all-arms warfare, spearheaded by tanks and mobile armoured troops, that would come be known as Blitzkrieg.

The caption of this pic says it shows 7th Pz Div, France, 1940.

Rommel and staff, France, 1940.

This photo was allegedly taken by Rommel himself, near Arras.

Further scene setting is developed in chapters concerning the planning of of Fall Gelb, the invasion of France, and the constitution and depolyoment of the BEF in France, along with the Allied plan, to strike East into Belgium, that wound up playing directly into the German's 'Sickle-Cut' strategy. Chapters then cover the new Allied plans, ostensibly to now attack south instead, and meet a northward attack by French forces. But these plans, over ambitious to begin with, were subject to constant revision, as the French will to attack evaporated, and even as the BEF forces deployed for the attack itself.

I'll leave my synopsis of the contents there, saying only that the following chapters follow the action of May 21st, the actual Arras Counter Attack, confused and fragmented as that is, with admirable clarity. And the evolving story is liberally peppered with quotes from primary sources on both sides, albeit weighted somewht more to the British perspective. I read another review on Amazon UK in which the reviewer calls into question the authenticity of 'Gun Buster', a source Saunders quotes at some length and on numerous occcasions. On the German side he quotes Rommel a lot, but in this instance acknowledging Rommel's own talent for self-publicity and exaggeration.

The BEF relied heavily on 'Carriers' like these.

An abandoned Matilda Mk I, France, 1940.

More abandoned Allied materiel, Matilda Mk II.

At this point I'll note some of the good and bad points of the book structurally: the background and the action itself are well structured. And one thing very worthy of note to commend this book is the excellent deployment of maps [1] and photographs [2] in conjunction with the text. Other useful inclusions are, in the several Appendices, the OOB for the 7th Pz Div, the Battlefield tour stuff, for those wishing to visit the scenes of these actions, and the analyses of the Operation as a whole, and its influence in Hitler's 'Halt Order'. But there are no OOB for the BEF or other Allied troops, nor a glossary, bibliography, or notes on sources.

So, compared with some writing on WWII, this is a bit patchy from the scholarly apparatus point of view. But, for me, as someone with very limited knowledge of this aspect of the war, this was a fascinating and compelling read. A glossary, bibliography, and notes on sources would all improve the book. But in its favour, its use of maps and photographs help make it more vivid and easier to follow than many other books in the military history camp.

Overall I'd definitely recommend this to those with an interest in the period. 

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NOTES:

Having also recently read about a similar instance of attack as constantly shifting rearguard action in Jeffrey Plowman's Greece, 1941, quite how 'we'* won the war, getting off to such a shaky and badly managed start, is a mystery. As Saunders observes on p.101: 'all-arms tactics were almost non-existent in the British Army of 1940.' He also notes that this remained true even as late save the Normandy campaign, post D-Day!

* Well, with the combined weight of industry and numbers that first Russia, then the U.S., and not forgetting our own ability to draw on the manpower resources of the Commonwealth, that 'we' becomes significantly larger, and the outcome less mysterious.

[1] Although having said this, the maps are not standardised, and seem to have been lifted from a number of uncredited sources. And in a few instances there is the amusing typo whereby the settlement Warlus is rendered as Walrus!

[2] These photos appear, by and large, at pertinent points in relation to the text, and really help illuminate it. Occasionally however they might have benefitted from clearer descriptions, as for example when an SdKfz 222 from the Africa Korps is shown. It's better than no pic' of the vehicle. But the fact it's a photo from an altogether different theatre should probably be noted, even if only in passing. 

1/76 Airfix Bren Gun Carrier & 6pdr Gun

Crikey, it's been aeons since I've managed to do any model making at all. A shameful state of affairs! 

Anyway, on a recent trip into Ely my wife wanted to pop into the haberdashers, which is tucked away in the back of the Ely City Cycle Centre. This fab shop, a proper old-fashioned department store, also has a large model and railway section, up on the top floor. So I snuck in there and quickly and quietly bought me a few models!

Damn, such a cool looking beast!

My other Airfix 1/76 two-fer.

I got the Zvezda snap-fit Sd. Kfz. 184, or Ferdinand/Elefant. One of my favourite German armoured vehicles of WWII. I have versions by Fujimi (built, 1/76), Trumpeter (1/72, unbuilt), and now this'un (ditto). And then I spotted that they had a stack or two of the Airfix 1/76 'Vintage Classics' range of re-releases. I posted about these a while back, and mentioned that I might make some British stuff.

So I've made good on this promise to myself, and bought the 25pdr Field Gun & Quad, and the Bren Gun Carrier & 6pdr. Both kits have the added bonus of being two-fers, in that you get both a gun (& crew), and a vehicle. Today I started building the Bren Gun Carrier. In a fit of madness I decided to follow ye olde instructions to the extent of washing the sprues, and even painting the parts whilst still attached to the aforesaid.

Grey undercoat.

Olive drab base-coat.

After giving the sprues a wash and scrub in warm soapy water, and letting them dry, I undercoated and base-coated them all, first in grey, then olive drab. Khaki clothing, black boots and tires followed. It was then, alas, time for bed. So even now that I've clawed back a moments modelmaking, 'twas ever such a brief one!

Painting bits whilst still on the sprues, as per instructions!

Overcome with the urge to cut stuff of the sprues.

Amidst all the recent redecorating and DIY I reconfigured my mini-military workspace. It's not yet optimal, particularly in terms of lighting. I found painting this lot, even just blocking in basic colours, very difficult and draining, even with one of those magnifying headband doodads on... Well, until tomorrow... I must be patient!
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Well, back to the modelling workbench; I built the 6pdr gun. A fiddly little thing. I've also got a bit further with the Universal Carrier. The idea of painting the parts on the sprue? Which I've never done before...

Obviously when you remove parts from the sprue you wind up with an unpainted bit, where it was formerly connected. Then there's the way lots of the paint rubs off, as you handle the parts. And finally, any tight or ill fitting parts will fit even less well, or simply not fit at all, with the paint bulking things up. So, not a good idea, and I shan't be doing it again. Still, worth a try!