American Military Vehicles of World War I: An Illustrated History of Armored Cars, Staff Cars, Motorcycles, Ambulances, Trucks, Tractors and Tanks

Albert Mroz

Oct 2009 · McFarland

About this ebook

In World War I the American motor vehicle industry was tested by the sudden appearance of vast transport challenges. The nation's immense manufacturing capabilities and abundant natural resources combined with increased standardization and mass production to enable the industry to meet the military's needs. Motor vehicles and aircraft were quickly cemented as the most influential military tools of the early twentieth century.

This book both describes the development and use of a wide range of specialized motor vehicles during World War I and analyzes how their advent indelibly altered modern warfare and transportation.

Ratings and reviews

I cannot speak with any authority on the references to American equipment in this book. However, when it comes to Mr. Mroz's account of the development of the Tank during WW I, have in 30-odd years of studying the subject rarely encountered such an ill-informed and inaccurate work. It is no exaggeration to say that it is garbled to the point of being almost funny. To substantiate the above: Mr. Mroz states that the USA military and the Holt Tractor Company collaborated with the British designers to produce the protoype "Little Willie" in 1915. That is completely untrue. I cannot begin to imagine how he has come to that conclusion. Great Britain used Holts to tow artillery, and the British Tank designers were influenced by the principle of caterpillar tracks, but the USA and the Holt Company knew nothing of this until years later, nor were they present at any of the trials of the first machines. A photograph of an Austro-Hungarian Holt tractor with accompanying Austrian soldier becomes a Britsh Holt in German hands. He identifies an American M1917 Tank as a French Renault FT. He incorrectly states that the US Tank Corps Depot was manned by Chinese labourers, whereas it was the British who employed them. The involvement of the US admirals Sims and Mayo is a figment of Mr. Mroz's imagination. He might be confused by the fact that the British Tank programme was, at first, nominally directed by a department of the (British) Royal Navy. The USA briefly contemplated taking part in the building of the Tank Mk VI, not the Mk IV, which already existed. He claims that Colonel Albert Stern deliberately omits US involvement prior to 1917 from his autobiography, whereas there simply was none. Parts of this section of the book are so mangled as to defy analysis. Anyone thinking that they will learn something from it is mistaken. If Mr. Mroz can have the temerity to publish unchallenged such misinformation as fact, how much store can be set by the rest of his assertions?

About the author

The late Albert Mroz was a author, artist, photographer, and musician. He was employed as a machine designer in Silicon Valley for more than 20 years. He was a member of the Military Vehicle Preservation Association, the Society of Automotive Engineers, the Society of Automotive Historians, and the American Truck Historical Society, and was on the advisory board of the Hays Truck Museum.