Military Model Scene

Title: Polish Armoured Trains 1921-1939 - Volume 1
Author: Adam Jonca
Publisher: Stratus
ISBN: 978-83-6727-35-3

Volume 1 on the subject of Polish Armoured Trains, a 118-page landscape format soft-cover book covering in detail the history of the use of armoured trains by the Polish military, with this one tackling the period of 1921 through to 1929. There are 2 further volumes (so a total of 3 to cover the subject) with the rest of the story up to 1939.
This one opens with a helpful introduction that gives the background from WW1 through to a Polish-Ukrainian conflict almost immediately after the end of WW1, when the use of train became a valuable tool in their war, with no front lines but offering mobile artillery support which could be readily moved around the territory under dispute. The opening sections give some basic details about the assortment of armaments that could be found on the various trains which were used. There were apparently over 80 trains in operation, some more 'armoured' than others. Before getting to the trains themselves, there are sections on the development of the Draizine, a purpose built wagon to carry an armoured vehicle. These included both the FT-17 and the different variants of the Polish made TKS tankettes. These could be pulled in a train as a simple wagon, or the vehicle's own tracks could propel it along the rails. There are also a number of utility vehicles made, using adapted road vehicles as rail patrol equipment. It then gets into the meat of the subject, going through the history and make up of the individual armoured trains. In this volume it deals with train numbers PP 1 through to 12. It gives the basic details of the locomotive (which was not armoured in every case), the artillery wagons and accompanying assault wagons. Every chapter is illustrated with some fascinating archive photos, along with a lot of colour artwork showing specific wagons and locos, with colouring that varies from a pale grey to others with an elaborate multi-colour camouflage.
The author has clearly spent many years researching his topic, and finding the detail of each one, along with the wide selection of archive photos. Add the artwork to give us the colour and detail of these unusual railway wagons, some large, some small. This will interest the 29th century military historian, the military modeller and in this case potentially the railway modeller as well, as with 2 more volumes still to come showing a fantastic reference source for a themed collection.
Stratus/MMP books are distributed by Casemate UK, who kindly provided our review copy.

Robin