American Armored Funnies: US Special Armored Vehicles in Combat 1942-1945

The use of specialized armored vehicles by the US Army in the European Theater of Operations (ETO) in World War II is not well known, particularly compared to the famous British "Funnies" of Hobart's 79th Armoured Division. Yet the US Army made extensive use of a variety of specialized armored vehicles, some based on British designs, but many of its own conception. This photo book concentrates on the types that actually saw combat use in Europe in World War II, though some pilots that played a critical role in development are also sbown. These specialized armored vehicles fall broodly into two categories: tank recovery vehicles and armored engineer vehicles, though other specialized types such as flamethrowers, rocket launchers, and amphibious types were also used in combat.