While towed artillery is nice, it has the disadvantage of requiring a dedicated vehicle to haul it around and getting it ready for action is not an instantaneous thing as the piece needs to be unloaded and set up. When in action, if it has to be moved, it either requires manhandling, something most pieces are too heavy to do easily, or it needs set up for travel, hitched to the mover and hauled somewhere else.

It is not surprising that SPG, (Self Propelled Guns) became popular. In the US, this was first done by fitting 75mm guns into the back of half tracks. But this had the disadvantage of not being well armored and limited what it could carry. This led to using actual tank chassis to mount the guns. Initially it was the Lee/Grant chassis that was used, later moving to the Sherman chassis. The resulting M7 Priest (so designated due to the 'pulpit' in which the defensive machine gun was mounted, caried the 105mm howitzer as its main armament. This was very popular with the crews awas quite effective. If it had a drawback, then like the German StuGs, the firing angle was somewhat limited and the traverse was severely limited. This former was fixed but not in time for the war to end. However, they did prove to be quite useful in Korea.

This Walk Around by David Doyle covers a brief developmental history of the M7 Priest and then gets into the body of the book, which is a look at all the different systems, bits and pieces of the Priest. As the vehicle was made by several different manufacturers and underwent modifications through its life-span, several different extant vehicles are used that show these differences and changes. So many are so well preserved, that aside from a few opening photos and the full color profiles, all the images are from extant vehicles and in full color.

That makes this volume an excellent reference for the modeler and one that enthusiasts will want to add to their library. .

November 2009

My thanks to Squadron Products for the review copy. Get yours today at your favorite shop or on-line retailer.

If you would like your product reviewed fairly and quickly, please contact me or see other details in the Note to Contributors.