Italian Soft-Skinned Vehicles of the Second World War Volume 1

The importance of land transport vehicles within an armed force is often underestimated by the average reader, attracted by more 'martial' subjects such as tanks and artillery. Nevertheless, it was thanks to motorcycles, cars, trucks and tractors that – since the early years of the twentieth century – men, weapons, ammunition, provisions, fuel, equipment, orders were transported, all elements without which AFVs, guns and infantry are unable to fight. In this book we focus on the means of transport in force in the Italian Royal Army (and, in some cases, also in the Italian Royal Air Force and Navy) from the 1930s to the end of the Second World War. Little has been said about them in recent years, even in Italy, with some exceptions such as the Guzzi Alce motorcycle, the Fiat 508 CM car, the Fiat 626/666 and Lancia 3Ro trucks, and a few light and medium tractors. It is common opinion that the Italian Army was beaten above all because of the poor quality of its combat vehicles. Actually, impartial and in-depth studies made since shortly after the end of the war, have revealed that the main problem was the shortage of vehicles, as well as an entirely insufficient logistics chain. The tank crews were able to compensate with bravery and experience for the fact that their tanks were, from a certain point on, inferior to those of their enemies, but the inadequate number of AFVs and other material was impossible to remedy. The same problem plagued the entire sector of military soft-skinned vehicles, a sign of Italy's limited industrial capacity (and rather of procurement of raw materials and components) compared, for example, to its ally Germany. There were too few factories, too few skilled workers and poor management skills within the armed forces. However, if quantity was lacking, the same cannot be said for quality. Many models of efficient, robust and resistant vehicles were produced, especially in the sector of the so-called 'standardised' motor vehicles, such as those mentioned at the beginning and others that we will see. These vehicles allowed the Italian troops to move and fight in the large and difficult territories of North Africa, the Balkans and the Soviet Union and which brought home what was left of the defeated soldiers. This is the first English-language study describing the soft-skinned vehicles of the Italian Armed Forces, starting from the 1930s, in which Mussolini's Italy faced some colonial conflicts and participated - albeit unofficially - in the Spanish Civil War, until throughout the Second World War. For each vehicle there is a file describing its evolution and the main technical aspects, accompanied by one or more photographs and, for the most significant examples, line drawings. The work is enriched by a historical introduction, various appendices and colour profiles. 334 b/w photos & illustrations, 7 colour photos & illustrations, 6 colour profiles

"Very solid wartime photos of some quite rare vehicles, terrifically well done drawings, loads of technical data, informative and easily read text."-- "AMPS"

Mario Pieri is an Italian engineer, born in 1962 in Florence and currently resides in Rome. Always a military history researcher, focused on the military technology, Mario has used scale modelling primarily as an associative and educational medium. Actively publishing since the 1980s, his current pursuits are research, editing, and translations. Ralph Riccio was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut and is a retired US Army officer who has been interested in military history and military equipment since his youth. He has written and co-authored a number of books on Italian small arms, armor and artillery, as well as several books on aspects of Irish military history. He has also written numerous magazine articles both in English and Italian dealing with a broad spectrum of military subjects. He has a native Italian language fluency, speaks several other languages as well, and is active in translating books and magazine articles from Italian into English for Italian authors who specialize in military affairs. In 1981 he was awarded an honorary Italian knighthood. He lives with his wife Charlene in a rural community in Pennsylvania.

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