Artillerie Zugmaschinen - German Wheeled Artillery Tractors.

[Great War truck]

I am thrilled with the latest arrival in the Tankograd Imperial German Army Weapons and Soldiers of the Great War 1914-1918 series – No. 1014 Artillerie Zugmaschinen (German Wheeled Artillery Tractors).

Published in English it has 215 photographs and 10 drawings within its 96 pages. Almost all of the photographs are previously unpublished and cover an incredibly unusual group of vehicles. While the Allies primarily relied either upon the well known Holt gun tractor or steam traction engines for moving heavy artillery, the Germans drew upon their knowledge of massive internal combustion engine agricultural vehicles and a small number of manufacturers who developed what must be some of the most impressive vehicles of the Great War. The book covers the manufacturers of Büssing, Dürkopp, Lanz, Podeus, Pöhl, Daimler, Benz, Standard-Motorpflug (Arator), Fürstlich Stolberg'sches Hüttenamt (Ilsenburg), Kaelble, Horch, Sendling, Hanomag, Stock and Ehrhardt, some of these names being perhaps better more familiar than others.

When our interest in Great War vehicles first started we were recommended to obtain Bart Vanderveens “Army Vehicles to 1940 Directory” (published in 1974) which at the time was the only source of photographs and information on trucks from World War One. Within it I was fascinated to see photographs of these immense artillery tractors and since then have sought photographs and information on these immense machines, but generally without much success. It seems that with the passage of time the available information and photographs held on these machines has diminished as the manufacturers disappear and archives are disposed of. The author has obtained a remarkable range of photographs and access to source information which has enabled him to produce what is the definitive work on this subject.

The cost of the book directly from Tankograd

Artillerie-Zugmaschinen<br>German Wheeled Artillery Tractors - TANKOGRAD Publishing - Verlag Jochen Vollert - Militärfahrzeug

 

is 25 Euros, but can be obtained from other specialist bookshops.  

The book has a softcover and is number 14 in the series of these German World War One books which cover a wide range of subjects. The next one is the series is on German vehicle mounted Anti-Aircraft guns and there will be more to follow in the series.   

[Citroman]

Lot of interesting vehicles.