Military Model Scene

Title: Vehicles of the Long Range Desert Group
Author: Gavin Mortimer
Publisher: Osprey Books
ISBN: 978-1-4728-4215-2

One of the most famous special forces units of WW2 is the topic for New Vanguard 291 from Osprey. The LRDG was the brainchild of Ralph Bagnold, a British Army Officer who, after fighting in the trenches of the Western Front in WW1, went to North Africa where he was something of an explorer, who learned how to navigate and look after himself in the vast deserts of North Africa. The work he did then became the invaluable groundwork for the very existence of the LRDG in WW2.
After an Introduction that sets out the background, the 48-page book is split over 5 main sections, covering Bagnold Blazes a Trail: The LRDG and the North African Campaign: The Heavy Section & the Mack NR4: Ancillary & Support Vehicles: and Tricks of the Trade. Most of these are sub-divided, covering the individual vehicle types used by the LRDG throughout the campaign in North Africa and factors such as the use of a Sun Compass and Sand Channels. As ever, the book is illustrated throughout with numerous archive images and some fine colour artwork. Just one rare error I noticed was the the captions for the artwork of the Jeep and the Chevrolet truck have been mixed up but that isn't a significant problem. The main trucks used by the units over the course of the campaign include the early Ford Pilot trucks, later replaced by Jeeps, and from the Ford F30 to the Chevrolet 1533 x 2 as their main patrol vehicles. Surprising perhaps that their most famous truck, covering thousands of miles in the desert, was only 2-wheel drive. They established links with the SAS, assisting those teams in navigating their way behind enemy lines to sites where they made their raids.
The focus of this one is very much on the equipment used by the LRDG rather than a history of everything they did, and I am sure that many modellers will like this in particular.
Thanks to Osprey Publishing for the review copy.

Robin