Introduction

This introduction is as supplied by Tankograd:
The TM truck range is a family of all-wheel-drive logistics trucks manufactured for the British Armed Forces by Bedford Vehicles in the final decade of the Cold War era. It contains the TM 4-4 fleet of 8-tonne and TM 6-6 fleet of 14-tonne payload-class vehicles. The range includes 4x4 and 6x6 cargo truck variants with or without a self-recovery winch, those with or without a Crane Attachment Lorry Mounted (CALM), a 4x4 tipper model and a couple of special-purpose models. From the time the vehicles entered service in the early 1980s, TM trucks provided the British Army’s main logistics transportation means in the first, second and third lines. During their service life, TM trucks saw operational service with the British Army worldwide. This publication shows the technology, the service life but first and foremost the variants of the TM truck family in many hitherto unpublished exercise photographs.

Review

The Bedford family of trucks served for many years with the British Army and earned a good reputation during that service. The author of this particular title is Carl Schulze who has been the author of a huge number of titles from Tankograd Publishing. This is a soft backed book having a robust card cover and containing 64 pages. This offering from Tankograd is one of their duel language offerings having German text on the left and English on the right side of each page and that aspect also includes the captions that accompany each photograph.

The contents of this title are broken down in the following sections:
The Last Bedford Trucks of the British Armed Forces (Text)
1. The Requirements for Increased Load Carrying Capabilities
2. Pallets and New Payload Classes
3. Mobility Classes
4. 8 Tonne Medium Mobility Load Carrier
5. Unipower Invader
6. Selection of the TM

Prototypes (Photographic)

Bedford TM 4-4 Series Production Vehicles (Text)
1. Fielding
2. Refurbishment
3. Performance
4. Chassis
5. Cab
6. Engine, Cooling System, Fuel System, Exhaust System and Air Cleaner
7. Clutch, Transmission and Transfer Case
8. Suspension, Steering System and Brakes
9. Electrical System
10. Cargo Body
11. Winch
12. Crane Attachment Lorry Mounted (CALM)
13. Tipper
14. Unit Bulk Refuelling Equipment

Truck, Cargo, 8t, 4x4, Left Hand Drive, Bedford (Photographic)

Truck, Flat Platform, with 2t Crane, 8t, 4x4, Left Hand Drive, Bedford (Photographic)

Bedford TM 6-6 Series Production Vehicles (Text)
1. Fielding
2. Vehicle Performance
3. Technology
4. TM 30-30

Truck, Cargo, 14t, 6x6, Dropside with Canopy, Left Hand Drive, Bedford (Photographic)

Truck, Cargo, 14t, 6x6, Left Hand Drive, Bedford (Photographic)

Truck, Cargo, 14t, 6x6, Dropside with Winch, Left Hand Drive, Bedford (Photographic)

Truck, Flat Platform, 14t, 6x6, Left Hand Drive, Bedford (Photographic)

Truck, Flat Platform, 14t, 6x6, with 1.5t Crane, Left Hand Drive, Bedford (Photographic)

Phoenix, All-Weather, Day or Night, Real Time Surveillance System (Photographic)

Multidrive (Text and Photographic)

Service End for TM 4-4 and TM 6-6 Trucks (Text)

Trucks are not the sexiest of vehicles for military Modellers, but without them the whole system breaks down and so I feel that trucks deserve the attention that publications such as this from Tankograd Publishing provide. This offering from Tankograd Publishing looks at the series of Bedford Trucks from the early 1980’s on into 2010’s as they are replaced by MAN trucks which began in 2007. This offering on the Bedford Truck family in British Army use has an excellent mix of text and photography; I feel the balance in this title is perfect from my point of view as a modeller.

The text in the book covers the back story that saw the introduction of the Bedford truck in the early 1980’s, and briefly covers the needs of the military for their new fleet. The many aspects of this new truck fleet are then covered in good detail for a title of this size. The breakdown covers the various versions of the Bedford utilised by the British Army and then goes into the oily parts through to the cab of the truck. I am well aware that not all of this will appeal to everyone, but if the odd information is required you will find something about it here. The text ends with a short piece on the demise of the Bedford and its replacement. It is worth remembering that the Bedford truck family went everywhere the British Army went and that includes war zones such as Iraq and Afghanistan.

The photographic sections cover the trucks very well as the images have been well chosen by the author for what they show and the quality of the image. Most of the photographs are full colour offerings with 106 colour photographs and 14 black & white, Colour photographs from the early 1980’s always concern me as they have a habit of being fuzzy looking, but I am glad to say that issue has not occurred here. A very big plus with the photographs provided is that Tankograd Publishing has provided excellent written captions for each and every photograph in both German and English.

Conclusion

I suspect many of you are thinking “it’s a truck”; well I thought that initially as well, but after reading the title and taking in the images provided I feel that this is a must have for any modern military modeller. While the truck is of course the centre of attention the different roles it carries out make for an interesting subject. The photographs covering the trucks interacting with other equipment such as ammunition transfers give this title a lot of appeal and put the truck front and centre, after all it would be next to impossible to conduct modern warfare with mechanised support.