US Army Handbook 1939-1945

238 Pages·1999·65.82 MB·English

by  George Forty

US
ARMY
A DBOOK
1939-1945
'Old Glory' is raised once again on Corregidor, three years after theJapanese tore it down,
while paratroopers of503rd Para InfRegt salute. Gen MacArthur (arrowed) said: 'Hoistthe
StarsandStripesandletnoenemyeverhaulthemdown.'
USARMY
HANDBOOK
1939-1945
GEORGE FORTY
SUTTONPUBLISHING
FirstpublishedbyIanAllanin 1979
Firstpublishedinthis editioninthe UnitedIZingdomin 1995 by
Alan SuttonPublishingLimited, an imprintofSuttonPublishingLimited
PhoenixMill· Thrupp .Stroud· Gloucestershire
This paperbackeditionfirstpublishedin 1998bySuttonPublishingLimited
Copyright© George Forty, 1995
All rights reserved. No part ofthis publicationmaybe reproduced, storedin
a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means; electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior
permission ofthe publishers and copyrightholder.
BritishLibrary CataloguinginPublicationData
A catalogue record for this bookis available from the BritishLibrary.
ISBN 0 7509 2050 5
Cover illustration: Front) top: US Army assault troops wade ashore; bottom:
cleaningpersonalweapons (Real ~rPhotosA284).
Endpapers: front: the start ofthe loading drill of an AA gun; back: a Truck
amphibious 2~ton 6 X 6 DUIZW.
~TM
ALAN SUTTON™ and SUTTON™ are the
trade marks ofSutton PublishingLimited
Typesetin 10/12 PlantinLight.
Typesettingand originationby
SuttonPublishingLimited.
Printedandboundin GreatBritainby
Butlerand Tanner, Frome, Somerset.
CONTENTS
Introduction Vll
Introductionto SecondEdition IX
Glossary X
1 HistoricalBackground 1
2 Mobilisation and Training 8
3 Higher Organisation 17
4 Non DivisionalUnits, Headquarters andthe Staff 27
5 The CombatArms 36
6 The Services 48
7 Divisional Organisations 67
8 The Soldier 98
9 Weapons, Vehicles and Equipment 124
10 Tactics 173
11 VehicleMarkings and Camouflage 180
12 Women's Army Corps 186
Appendices
Abbreviations 193
2 Military Symbols 200
3 General OrderFormfor a CompleteWrittenField Order 204
Vl US ARMY HANDBOOK 1939-1945
4 CompleteAdministrative Order 206
5 Numbers ofEngineers 208
6 Compositionofthe Third Army, 10November 1943 210
7 Ground Radios 212
8 Divisional ShoulderPatches 214
Bibliography 220
Introduction
The building ofthe American Army in World War II from a tiny, outdated
and ill equipped force, into one of the mightiest armies in the world, was
rightly described by the late Sir Winston Churchill as being a 'prodigy of
organisation'. Its value to the Allied cause was immeasurable and it had a
fine fighting record all over the world. It was a marvellously well equipped
army, thanks to American inventiveness, 'know-how' and technical prowess.
And of course America generously supplied billions and billions of dollars
worth of military equipment and supplies to the other Allied nations
throughoutthe war.
The catalogue ofsuperlatives could go on and on, so perhaps it is a good
thing that this book is written by an Englishman, or the reader might well
considerthatthis was notanunbiased study! However, one cannotfail butbe
impressed by the things which were achieved and the speed in which they
were all done. It is difficult not to become overawed by the sheer size ofboth
the problems faced andthe solutions found to them. As onemightexpect, the
recording of these achievements was a monumental task in itself and the
resultinghistoryoftheUnited StatesArmyinWorldWarIIis averylarge and
detailedwork, runninginto some 80volumes andwrittenbythemosteminent
Americanmilitaryhistorians. Forme to compress all theirworkinto this small
book has meant leaving out an enormous amount of material. I have, for
example, had to concentrate upon the Army Ground Forces and to virtually
ignoretheArmy ServiceForces andArmyAirForces. EventhenIhavehadto
focus upon the divisional level and below, mentioning only briefly the all
importantnon divisionaltroops, whichmadeup overhalfthe tacticalforces of
the US Army. This has been inevitable, butI do hope that anyone who wants
to delvemore deeplywillfind the selectbibliographyofvalue.
It may be of interest if I explain how I, a retired British Army officer,
came to write a handbook on the US Army in World War II. The simple
answer is because one did not exist, so even my puny efforts are better than
nothing at all. Although there are many excellent books which cover
specialised segments- such as insignia, dress, weapons and vehicles, there is
no compact handbook which draws them all together with organisations,
tactics etc. on sale in the UK. I found this particularly frustrating when I
was researching for my book Patton's ThirdArmy at Ular (Ian Allan, 1978),
so I decided that I would write one at the earliest opportunity. I hope that
the result will be ofuse to all wargamers, modellers and all those who, like
me, find a special fascination in the 'nitty gritty' about the forces of any
nation.