Tanks

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30947, 31 December 1965, Page 4

Tanks

Tanks in Battle. By Colonel 11. C. B. Rogers. Seeley, Service & Co. 233 pp.

Illustrated with Index.

This volume, being the eighth in the Imperial Services Library series, is devoted to the history of the tank. Throughout military history armies have been composed of three main types of fighting troops: cavalry. Infantry and artillery. The tank of course is the modern version of the heavy cavalry of old. In considering the development of the tank. Colonel Rogers begins with a very brief but lucid history of earlier mounted battle. For the general reader it is a great pity that this section of the book is so condensed, for it is by far the most interesting. It is evident that two short chapters covering the 2500 years from the invasion of Egypt by the Hyksos to the age of Charlemagne and from there to the 19th century can only skim the highlights. Nevertheless, they do serve to link the ages of the cavalry arm from chariots, through horses, elephants and camels, to the armoured car and modern tank.

The bulk of the book is devoted to an exhaustive discussion of the relative merits of tanks and the battles in which they have fought during two World Wars. The technical design of each tank is fully illustrated and specifications of armament, armour and engines are dealt with m detail. This is the sort of stuff for experts who will no doubt enthuse over the author’s obviously profound knowledge of his subject. The general reader would learn much by merely browsing through the book.