Osprey- Tanks in the Philippines 1944-45

Book Specifics

Author: Steven J. Zaloga

Illustrator:  Felipe Rodríguez

Price: $20

ISBN: 978-1-4728-5940-2

Paperback, 48 pages with 40 photos and 8 pages of color illustrations

What's Inside

When you look into armored conflicts in the Pacific Front, you really need to detach yourself from all you've learned on armor tactics and operations of the Western and Eastern Fronts. What works in the forests, deserts, and plains of France, Belgium, Africa, Italy, and Germany aren't going to apply in the tropics and the vast rain forests of the Pacific Islands. In fact, there really aren't loads of examples of armored clashes during the time period. The Philippines saw the most extensive operations for IJA and U.S. armored forces and while small scale in many cases-- they weren't any less brutal. While Japanese tanks weren't evenly matched to Shermans, the Allied stalwart tank was susceptible to Japanese infantry tactics like banzai charges with satchels of explosives and improvised roadside bombs created from aircraft and artillery bombs and shells.

Steven Zaloga is an armor expert known to pretty much any tank modeler and his work here on this small Osprey volume is packed with excellent research and analysis of the role of armor in Philippine actions. In most cases, the photos that accompany the text are one to two to a page. In some cases, the photos are pretty small to see much detail- but all that I see here are new to me and provide great references for those looking to model examples from this setting. In some instances (including the one color photograph in the book), there are examples of Allied tanks captured and reclaimed by the Japanese to be used in combat. The text is also accompanied by full color artwork from Felipe Rodríguez (Rodna). These include twelve excellent profiles of Japanese and U.S. tanks and a two-page piece illustrating tank actions on the approaches to the San Jose Mountain Redoubt in January of 1945. Seven informational charts full of great data are also interspersed throughout the book.

Tiny photo

While there is a Table of Contents, the text is continuous throughout the book with no real breaks for chapters. While this is not the usual for the books I have reviewed from Osprey, I can imagine it is to keep the size of the book down under 50 pages. This is just an observation- there is no shortage of information here to be sure. The book is broken down as:

• Introduction
• Doctrine and Organization
• Technical Factors for both Japanese and U.S. Army tanks and AFVs
• The Campaign- including two operations: King-2: Leyte and Mike-1: Luzon
• Analysis
• Further Reading 
• Index

Captured Stuart

Conclusion

These New Vanguard series of books pack a lot of information into a small package-- at 48 pages, this won't take a load of space on your shelf. However, there is no lack of information here and with Zaloga's text and Rodna's detailed artwork, there is something for everyone here. Some interesting schemes on these profiles have me looking at my stash feeling inspired to build a Chi-Ha or Pacific Sherman from the stash or to find the Dragon Type-2 Ka-Mi as that one looks particularly interesting...and that is never a bad thing. Well worth picking it up when it becomes available in a few days!

Highly Recommended for Beginner to Advanced builders.

Thanks goes out to Osprey Publishing for this review sample.

Reviewed by Michael Reeves, AMPS Albany

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