Sherman Tank

by Gavin Birch

Published 9 February 2005
A brilliant and prolific collection of rare photographs celebrating the war-winning qualities of arguably the most important tank of the Second World War. Many of the marvellous images have never been seen before but thanks to the author, who has special access to the IWM archive they are now available with full authoritative captions.

Motorcycles at War

by Gavin Birch

Published 20 July 2006
Motorbikes were widely used by all sides in WW2 due to their agility, adaptability and speed. A precious few survive today as rare collectors' items. The author, who is the Photo Archivist at the IWM has unearthed images of all the major marques. Famous British names (Triumph, Norton, Matchless, BSA, Velocette, James and Rudge) feature along with the bigger American machines from Indian and Harley-Davidson. German bikes have their own chapter with classics such as NSU, Zundapp and BMW and include hybrid tracked motorcycles known as Kettengrad ' with some shots actually taken by General Erwin Rommel himself. Also covered are rare experimental prototypes photographed during trials and later in combat, the 'funnies' of the wartime biking world such as the Airborne forces Excelsior Welbike (British) and the Cushman parascooter (US).