Customer Reviews

The Guards Divisions 1914-45 (Elite)

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Some background: The British Guards Divisions are two- An infantry division in WWI and an armored division in WWII. In both cases, they were organized from existing guards regiments (Coldstream, Welsh, Scots, Grenadier, Irish, and for WWI Machine Gun). After each war the divisions were disbanded but the regiments remain. The reason I was curious about the subject was that the Guards Armored were a signficant part of Operation Market-Garden (A Bridge Too Far).

This book is an excellent guide for the modeler of WW I&II. I for one plan to add a touch of distinction to otherwise dull and usual figure uniforms with the "All-Seeing"/"Ever-open" eye, which the photos and illustrations show very well. On tanks, on flags, on uniform sleeves, on trench signs...The modeler's possibilites are endless!
The book's greatest shortcoming is length, despite being extended into the longer "Elite" series. For a subject with so much material, 64 pages just doesn't cut it. They probably should have given two books, one for each World War. The book is slightly more focused on WWI, be aware. It tries to give an account of each of the battles the divisions were involved in, and the shortness gives amusing results. For Market-Garden's failure it says "Despite ever effort the armour of the Guards was stopped six miles short of the beleaguered paratroops..." Um, after the Guards pushed through Nijmagin, the last stop before the airborne at Arnhem they stopped to drink tea while the last paratroopers were overwhelmed. Whether they could have reached them in time is debatable, but that's not "every effort".
Overall, a recommended volume for modelers especially, but the lack of detail due to length is a disapointment.