This is the second volume of Guideline's armor camouflage and markings series.  This one concentrates on British and Canadian forces during the Normandy campaign and is the first part on this campaign. Most of the literature and movies concerning Overlord have concentrated on the American part of the Normandy campaign and its subsequent breakout after months of slogging through the hedgerows of northern France.

This one focuses on the British side of things. The British were led by Montgomery, who has come under considerable criticism over his style of command. It has often been said that he was overly cautious, not willing to attack until he had overwhelming superiority in the field. Even then he would concentrate his offenses in a vary narrow area, gain some ground, then stop and regroup before repeating the sequence at some other location.

The book offers up a reason for this seemingly over-cautious approach. Above all, Montgomery's major concern was over the morale of his troops. Apparently he felt that if there were a lot of casualties, morale would be such that they would not fight at the level he wished. Certainly, the morale of troops should be a consideration as those who have low morale will not put up as fierce a fight as those whose morale is highter. Secondly, by this stage of the war, the British were literally running out of eligible troops. Even with the huge influx of Commonwealth forces and those of Allies (not all of whom were given the respect they deserved), there were not enough to provide fresh replacements. Often Montgomery would disband weakened units to fortify others.

Then there was the issue of armor. The truth be told, until the introduction of the Centurion and the Pershing late in the war, the Allied tank force was under-gunned and under-armored. It was felt that the main battle tank, the Sherman, was at a major disadvantage in these regards, but so were all the British tanks in the field. It wasn't until the British 17 pounder was installed in the Sherman to produce the Firefly that the Allies had a first rate gun in a tank. That still did not fix the armor situation and despite the addition of more plates, sandbags, and spare tracks (which were little more than psychological armor), Allied tanks were destroyed or disabled at a rather fierce rate by German tanks and anti-tank guns. It was fortunate for the Allies that most of the fighting took place at relatively close range where their 'weaker' guns would have more effect on the Panthers and Tigers.

The bocage was a superb defender's environment and caused havoc with attackers regardless of which side was attacking which. Where the Allies did have a major advantage was in the ability to quickly replace destroyed or damaged equipment. The Allies were also able to more easily retrieve disabled vehicles whereas the Germans usually had to abandon them. The British and Canadians also had to face more German armor than did the US forces farther to the west. Much of this was due to the closeness of German supplies, however, these supplies were limited to travelling at night for such was Allied air superiority that nothing moving during the day could expect to travel unscathed.

In line with other books in the series, this one combines an excellent history, well chosen period photographs, superbly drawn color profiles and a relatively in-depth look at the camouflage of the vehicles that operated during the campaign. This one concentrates more on British operated equipment as it should for the German side of things was covered fairly well in the previous issue.

In all, it makes for an outstanding book on the subject that is highly readable, easy to understand and provides the sort of photos and illustrations that simply make a read like this more enjoyable. Even if you are not an armor builder, you'll find a lot in this one. Highly recommended.

May 2016.

My thanks to www.guidelinepublications.co.uk for providing the review copy. Visit your local bookstore for availability.

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