IMPERIAL GERMAN MOTORISED TROOPS 1914-18

DISPONIBILE FINE OTTOBRE 2025

The First World War marked the dawn of mechanised warfare, and while Germany entered the conflict with limited experience in armoured vehicles, by 1918 it had fielded some of the most ambitious innovations of the age. Imperial German Motorised Troops 1914–18 Volume 2 continues Jacek Zabielski’s authoritative study, focusing on the combat arms that pushed the boundaries of technology: anti-aircraft artillery, armoured cars, and tanks.

Drawing on German-language sources, wartime records and rare photographic archives, the book traces the emergence of self-propelled anti-aircraft batteries, beginning with experimental truck-mounted guns and culminating in the pioneering tracked Flakpanzer conversions. It charts the establishment of Germany’s armoured car platoons, from improvised vehicles in 1914 to the purpose-built Daimler, Ehrhardt and Büssing machines that fought on the Western, Eastern and Romanian fronts. The evolution of tactics, organisation and technical design is covered in detail, alongside the combat record of these early mechanised formations.

Central to the volume is the story of the Sturm-Panzerkraftwagen-Abteilungen—the assault tank detachments that operated both Germany’s own A7Vs and a range of captured Allied tanks. Although the A7V was produced in only small numbers, these machines, together with the repurposed British and French vehicles pressed into service, symbolised Germany’s late-war attempt to rival and adapt to Allied armoured innovation. The book examines their development, training and battlefield employment during 1918, as well as the formidable challenges of maintaining and integrating such diverse machines within an army still largely reliant on horse-drawn transport and traditional artillery.

Beyond the machines, Zabielski explores the human dimension: the uniforms, equipment and personal weapons of the motorised and armoured troops, illustrated with unique photographs that capture both the technical details and the daily realities of service. Appendices provide valuable reference material, including technical specifications of key vehicles and a development timeline of German mechanised projects from 1914–18.

Richly illustrated with hundreds of rare and previously unpublished images, Volume 2 offers the most complete portrait yet of Germany’s motorised and armoured forces in the Great War. Together with Volume 1, it forms a definitive two-part history of a formative but neglected branch of the Imperial Army. Essential for military historians, researchers, and enthusiasts of early armoured warfare, it reveals how Germany’s mechanised troops helped shape the future of twentieth-century combat.