Men-At-Arms 407: The German Army in World War I (2) 1915-17

by Nigel Thomas, with color illustrations by Ramiro Bujeirio

Soft covers, 7.25 x 9.75-inches, 48 pages, 39 B&W photos, one map, one rank chart, eight pages of color art, glossary and index. MBI order number 136852AO. Price: $14.95 USD.

Naturally, this book picks up where the previous title leaves off, at the end of September, 1915. It is broken down into three main segments, the first of which gives a status report of the ìGerman Empire and Army in 1915î. This segment discusses changes in the Army High Command and the organizations of higher formations such as Army Groups, Armies, Corps and Divisions.

The next segment is devoted to ìStrategy and Tacticsî as implemented on the Western, Eastern, Italian, West Balkan, and Rumanian Fronts, as well as in the Middle East. A map is supplied to compliment this segment.

The last and most lengthy segment of the book, deals with the newer M1915 and M1916 uniforms. It details the uniforms as used by Line Infantry, Second-line Infantry, Light Infantry, Machine Gun Troops, General Officers and Staff, Artillery, Technical, Supply and Communications Troops, members of the Air Service, Medical Corps and Veterinary troops, Military Police and labor units. A rank insignia chart is supplied to accompany this segment.

As with the first book, the photos are well reproduced and extensively captioned. There are a few more photos of crew-served weapons such as machine guns and artillery. Also to be seen are more and more soldiers wearing the now famous “Coal Scuttle” helmet, which has since come to symbolize the German infantryman. There is also a blurred photograph of that notorious Bavarian Corporal, Adolf Hitler, upon which the color plate mentioned in the first book is obviously based. Again, all photos are well reproduced (within reason) and have excellent and informative captions.

The color plates are very well done and are presented by the artist in a more “technical” style. I believe this makes them more useful to figure modelers than the style of the plates in the first book, but again I must stress that this is all a matter of individual taste.

So, there you have it. This second book in this trilogy continues the high standard set by the first and is sure to be of help to those who wish to model figures of this era.

Highly recommended.

Frank De Sisto

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