I picked up Kiwi Armour #5 mainly because of my interest in the M113 and it's featured prominently on the front cover. I was not disappointed in regards to M113 coverage and it's a great read of post-WWII to modern day NZ armour.
The Basics
The book starts with J-Force, or when New Zealand supplied forces for the British Commonwealth occupation force in Japan. Then it's on to K-Force in Korea and smaller deployments in Malaya and Rhodesia/Zimbabwe. The sections on the more recent deployments to Bosnia-Herzegovina and East Timor, due to their good action and detail pictures of the NZ M113s, is particularly well done.
Each section gives a background to the deployments and then a history of what happened during the deployment with some personal commentary by soldiers involved. Included also are a few organization charts.
A very nice added feature is the section on Modelling NZ Armour and 7 pages of scale drawings located at the end of the book.
Conclusion
Overall a usefull reference, the only downside is that it would have been nice to have some color photos and the plain paper printing impacts the sharpness of the photos a little but it's still a great reference book.
A good quality study of New Zealand armour in action from just after the end of WWII to the present day. Contains a good mix of historical background and photos. Recommended to those interested in modern New Zealand armor and also to those interested in non-US use of the M113. 56 pages A4 with black and white photos and scale drawings. By Jeffrey Plowman and Malcom Thomas.
About Paul Truhe (ptruhe) FROM: TEXAS, UNITED STATES
Built military models in my youth but didn't pick it up again until a few years out of college. Served in a mortar platoon in the 2nd Armored Division from 1986-1990 at the end of the Cold War. I only build armor now with primary interests being M113s, CVR(t)s and Leopards.
