Engineering Equipment - Germany: Books - History, Types and Construction

Der Strabokran : German Gantry Crane 1942-45

The road gantry cranes were an indispensable tool for maintaining the new Tiger and Panther heavy tanks and Elefant tank hunter near to the front line. An exceptional use for the gantry crane was from 1944 onward with the Division z.V. for loading and unloading of delivered A4 (V2) rockets onto the 'Vidalwagen' or 'Meillerwagen' launching trailers.

For the first time this fascinating gantry crane's development history is documented, with patent applications, as well as its use in action with the Panzer-Werkstattkompanien, engineering units and Division z.V., based on original documents and a lot of pictures.
Seen for the first time is a complete series showing the removal and replacement of a Panzer turret and other usage.

By drawings and close-up pictures a comparison of 15t and 16t Strabokran shows the differences of both gantry crane types. Also included for modellers a detailed set of drawings of all Strabokran variants in 1/35 scale. 256 pages, more than 240 images, contemporary and close-up pictures of survivors, mostly printed in large format, tables, patents, K.St.N., and scale drawings.

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German Combat Engineers in World War II: A Photo Chronicle

The German engineer troops developed out of a branch that only developed into a fighting service arm by World War II. Thus, along with the special engineers, there were also names like Assault Engineers, Armored Engineers.
Out of this wide field, this new volume of photo documentation shows some 300 photos, mostly never before published, including rare pictures of bridgelaying tanks in action, mine operations, and the construction of makeshift bridges.

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German Pioneer Equipments and Vehicles - The Amphibious Vehicles

The fruit of the seven years' research, this book is devoted to the vehicles and crossing equipment used by the German pioneers during World War Two, a theme neglected by military specialists until now.
It now fills the gap, tracing the development of amphibious vehicles from the initial hesitations in the thirties to the secret projects at the end of the war which remained on the drawing board.

Illustrated with thirty or so colour profiles and more than 200 black and white period photographs, of which a hundred or so are as yet unpublished, this book is the new reference for as yet relatively unstudied subjects such as:
- The Trippelwagen amphibious cars and how they evolved.
- The Land-Wasser-Schleppers in all its forms
- The L.W.S. II Panzerfähre
- The Skoda LWS III Project
- Amphibious trailers.

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Véhicules et équipements des pionniers allemands - Les engins amphibies : Trippelwagen, Land-Wasser-Schlepper, Panzerfähre

German equipment and vehicles of the Second World War have been the subject of countless publications, yet some of them have hardly ever been studied. Among the subjects unexplored by military historians, prominent among them are the vehicles and equipment of German pioneers, yet they were widely used and without which the Blitzkrieg could not have had such formidable effectiveness.

The result of seven years of research, this book fills a gap. It traces the evolution of amphibious vehicles developed for the Wehrmacht Pioneers from the first steps of the 1930s to the secret end-of-war projects that remained at the drawing board stage.

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Heeresfeldbahnen im Zweiten Weltkrieg - 1939 bis 1945

Army field railways were used primarily for supply, but also for transporting troops and the wounded. They were particularly important in the East during the Second World War.
But their history also includes peaceful times. Numerous vehicles have survived to this day and delight narrow-gauge fans all over Europe.

Using a wealth of official documents, authentic photos and personal accounts, Alfred B. Gottwaldt illuminates in this book all the significant details in the history of these small railways.

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