Read n' Reviewed: "Nuts & Bolts vol 42 Einheitsdiesel: The Standard 6x6 Cross Country Lorry of the Wehrmacht"

Paul is always keen to see a new issue of "Nuts and Bolts" when it is released, and today he submits his review of the latest issue - no #42, which features the workhorse of the German forces on the roads in WWII "Einheitsdiesel: The Standard 6x6 Cross Country Lorry of the Wehrmacht" is featured in today's review...

Read n' Reviewed: "Nuts & Bolts vol 42 Einheitsdiesel: 
The Standard 6x6 Cross Country Lorry of the Wehrmacht"
Authors: Heiner F Duske, Tony Greenland, Detlev Terlisten
Softcover A4 Portrait format
208 Pages
English and German text 
Available from www.nuts-bolts.de

For lovers of German vehicles, Nuts & Bolts hits volume 42, and does not disappoint with its latest Germanic tongue twister, the Einheitdiesel, L.gl.Lkw., off. Mit Einheitsfahrgestell für l.Lkw. Which is roughly translated into the standard cross country lorry of the Wehrmacht. For those familiar with the series, volume 42 follows the same basic formula as the ones before it, so I’ll just give a basic rundown of the contents. 

Unsurprisingly, the book starts with the rationale for the vehicle, and then its development covering every aspect of the vehicle including the chassis, engine, suspension and even how it received its designation. The information provided is very comprehensive also covering the different versions, varying equipment, number plates etc. 

The composition of the book is fairly nice balance of pictures and text, with at least one photo or chart per page, on average. The photos are generally of very good quality, and also some charts showing how the truck was used in various units of the Wehrmacht, although with all things German, I’m sure these weren’t always universal. 

I must admit that my knowledge of German trucks is very limited so the next section and its variety of photos are a great resource and really do help illustrate how widely used this truck was, and the multitude of different variants.

Some I found particularly interesting was the snowblower, several different radio vehicles, and even an amphibious version. 

The next section gives you some line drawings of the base chassis, and then quite a few different variants of the truck, giving you the standard profile views, and also some angled drawings. However, a lot of the variants look fairly similar with main differences in the equipment fit-out, but nonetheless, useful. 

One of the most often quoted reasons for the popularity of German vehicles as opposed to allied ones is the sheer amount of schemes the Germans used on their vehicles, as opposed to the general uniform green of the allied side. The schemes range from the early war grey, then to the dark yellow with two or three-tone camouflage, and also some whitewashed vehicles. These profiles include pictures of the real trucks next to them so you can see how they looked back during their service.

There are apparently about thirty surviving examples of the Einheitsdeisel, although they are all in Europe and the USA, with eleven of the surviving vehicles in Norway alone. The book gives you a very comprehensive walkaround of several of these vehicles, including a recovery variant.

With such a comprehensive book, it is almost a shame that only IBG has made a kit of this vehicle, but we are treated to some builds by the usual suspects, Tony Greenland and Vinnie Branigan, but also one of a vac-form kit by David Nickels on the inside of the front cover. 

It’s issue 42 of Nuts & Bolts, so it’s really not too much of a surprise about what you get in the book, but as usual, another high quality tome on this widely used German vehicle. An almost un-kitted German vehicle - who would have thought those existed?

Paul Lee

Thanks to Nuts & Bolts for sending this book to read and review