Introduction:

Various Land Rover models have been used in a military capacity in number of armies around the world. The Australian Army received their first Land Rover in 1949 and the versatile vehicle soon became the Australian military workhorse. Although it is slowly being replaced by Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon since 2012, the Land Rover continues to supply what the Australian Army needs and wants, and is expected to remain in the service fulfilling a critical capability shortfall until at least 2021.

Review:

Tough Truck! Australian Army Land Rovers 1949 – 2012 by Michael K. Cecil is a 276-page A4-format hardcover book from Trackpad Publishing, which chronologically covers the history of Land Rovers in Australian Army. The detailed account starts with Series 1 vehicles and continues with extensive testing and choosing Land Rover Series 2 vehicles to replace the vintage WWII jeeps as the ¼-ton truck in the late 1950s. After describing the adoption of ¾-ton 109-inch wheelbase Land Rover Series 2 trucks, the title provides amazing detail on various Land Rover variants introduced to Australian Army and gives a broad pictorial overview of range of activities involving Land Rovers in Australian Army service. Deployment of Land Rovers to Vietnam is tackled next, followed by trials of Series 3 vehicles in 1970s and Toyota Land Cruiser short use in the 1980s. The 1-tonne and 2-tonne Land Rover 110 4x4 and 6x6 vehicles entered Australian Army through Project Perentie in late 1980s and the multitude of variants of these trucks are extensively covered. Of particular interest for me were information and images showing specialized Special Forces variants 4x4 SRV(SF) and 6x6 LRPV in detail. This too is followed by comprehensive pictorial overview of Perentie Land Rovers in service with the Australian Army, as well as overseas deployments to UN missions and combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan in the 2000-2010s.

Conclusion:

Tough Truck! Australian Army Land Rovers 1949 – 2012, a truly colossal work from Michael Cecil, provides an amazing collection of testing ground anecdotes, detailed information on various Land Rover variants and over 1000 images and diagrams covering over 60 years of continuous service in the Australian Army. The book is a real masterpiece and well worth the price. I highly recommend this book to modelers, Land Rover enthusiasts and all those interested in the history of Australian Army.

The book retails at £49.75 and is available directly from the publisher at:
https://www.trackpadpublishing.com/

A huge thank you to Michael Shackleton of Trackpad Publishing for this review sample.