Men-at-Arms 406: The British Army in World War I (3) The Eastern Fronts

by Mike Chappell, illustrations by the author

Osprey Publishing Ltd, ISBN 1-84176-401-9, 48 pages

The third part of this set for WWI modellers deals with a lot more than you’d expect. Yes, the Far East is included – British forces were engaged alongside the Japanese in taking down the German holdings in China. We also get Gallipoli, Mesopotamia, Palestine, Syria, Salonika, Italy, German East Africa, German Southwest Africa (now Namibia), Togoland, the Cameroons, and Russia. This is not a book exclusively about the British forces, all the Imperial troops are included so ANZACs, Indian and African units are covered.

The text is mainly about the actual campaigns on these fronts, describing their actions and their problems. Uniform descriptions are given in a fairly short section, but the period photographs and Mike Chappell’s usual superb plates show that one picture really is worth a thousand words so don’t ignore the book on that account.

Missing Links readers will of course be mainly interested in the fronts where tanks and armoured cars were used – Russia, Palestine, and Syria. There are a few photos of them, but the real value here for armour modellers is the coverage of the hot climate clothing and equipment that their crews wore just as much as the troops that fought beside them. And of course if you want to set a vehicle in a diorama you need the accompanying infantry and artillerymen!

Highly recommended!

John PrigentMore details from Osprey Publishing

Read an extract at Osprey Publishing