Today we're showing three pieces of artwork from our June 2024 series books! Let us know in the comments which books you'd like to see featured in our July 2024 Artwork Reveal!

 

Tanks on Iwo Jima 1945

By Romain Cansière

Illustrated by Felipe Rodríguez

 

1. TYPE 95 HA-GO (EARLY), 26TH TANK REGIMENT
This vehicle most likely belonged to the original 1st Company that safely reached Iwo Jima in the
summer of 1944. The tank shows the pre-1942 jungle camouflage made of grass green and brown
colors, with a yellow disruptive stripe. The original unit symbol, called “the Blue Spear,” was
designed in mid-1943 by the Reconnaissance Unit of the 1st Armored Division and later inherited
by the 26th Tank Regiment. It was painted on tank turret sides. Highly visible, the unit symbol was
usually painted over to avoid detection on Iwo Jima. This tank was captured in running condition
by the US 3rd Tank Battalion.


2. LVT(A)-4, 3RD PLATOON, D COMPANY, 2ND ARMORED AMPHIBIAN BATTALION
US amphibious tanks were heavily camouflaged with navy gray, red-earth, and olive drab
(sometimes black) splotches. Tactical markings consisted of a white letter-number code. The letter
indicated the company and was followed by two digits: the first indicated the platoon and the
second the vehicle’s position within the platoon. A name was also painted in white on the forward
part of the side pontoons. One or two colored stripes were painted vertically on the sides, front,
and rear of the tank, which indicated the beach (Green, Yellow, or Red) and beach number: a single
green stripe indicated the vehicle was scheduled to land on Green Beach 1.

 

Artwork requested by Daniel Figueroa Giraldez.

 

Jamestown 1622: The Anglo-Powhatan Wars

By Cameron Colby

Illustrated by Marco Capparoni

 

Attack on initial Jamestown encampment, May 1607

After establishing a beachhead and small encampment on what would become the Jamestown Peninsula, Captain Newport and other leaders of the Virginia Company sailed north to explore upriver, leaving the Godspeed and Discovery moored at the shoreline. English adventurers continued to establish the campsite. No fortifications had been constructed and no permanent structures completed when, suddenly, 200 Paspahegh Warriors emerged from the tree line and began unleashing arrows toward the Englishmen. The Englishmen struggled to reach weapons as most firearms remained packed inside “dry fats,” or wooden shipment chests. As the attack unfolded, a few men on board the moored vessels loaded the small deck cannons of the two ships and opened fire on the warriors. The cannon fire launched several shots into the formation, but when a cannonball struck a tree, dropping it in front of the warriors, the massed formation withdrew.

 

Operation Allied Force 1999: NATO's airpower victory in Kosovo

By Brian D. Laslie

Illustrated by Adam Tooby

 

The shooting-down of Vega-31

First used during the invasion of Panama in 1989, but to greater effect during Operation Desert Storm, the F-117 proved itself by flying into dangerous and heavily defended enemy territory and surviving. The aircraft was oddly shaped, multifaceted, and covered in nearly black radar-absorbent material (RAM). The shaping and coatings allowed radar waves to bounce off and away from the aircraft instead of back toward the ground. All of this rendered the F-117 very difficult to track and engage.

Lieutenant Colonel Dale Zelko, a veteran F-117 pilot from Operation Desert Storm, flew on the opening night of strikes for both Desert Storm and Allied Force. He was flying again on the evening of March 27, 1999, in aircraft 82-0806, and had just finished his bombing run near Belgrade, when the 250th Air Defense Missile battery stationed at Simanovci launched a pair of SA-3 missiles.

This particular F-117 had the nickname “Something Wicked” painted inside of the weapons bay doors, and the missiles from the 250th certainly indicated that “something wicked this way comes.” The F-117 had just released two EGBU-27 against the Strazevica command center. During his bomb run, the radar operators below used their P-18 radar to track Zelko’s F-117. It is possible that Serbian radar received a solid radar return when the F-117’s weapons bay doors were open.

Lt Col Zelko watched the two S-125 Neva (SA-3 GOA) missiles as they arched over and headed directly for his aircraft. He later remembered, “You know what? This is bad. I don’t think I’m going to skinny through this one.” He was right. The first missile passed above the F-117 but did not proximity fuse, and this might have saved Zelko’s life. The second missile continued on its flight path directly at the F-117. Zelko had enough time to think, “It’s going to run right into me.” The missile impacted or exploded directly under the left wing of the F-117 and sent it into a violent uncontrolled spin. The Serbian IADS operators had done the impossible: shot down a stealth fighter.