Presents information from a wealth of contemporary World War II
training manuals and tactical documents.
The battle for Europe in 1943-45 was one of the greatest military
challenges in the history of the U.S. Army. Fighting against often
veteran German forces from the mountains of Italy to the beaches of
Normandy and the frozen forests of the Ardennes, hundreds of thousands
of US infantrymen had to move quickly beyond their training and acquire
real-world combat skills with extraordinary pace if they were to raise
their chances of survival beyond a few days. They fought in an age of
total war, in which the enemy deployed heavy armor, artillery, air
power, and their own infantry firepower in a battle of true equals.
Without the drive and blood of the U.S. Army infantry, the Allies could
not have defeated the Wehrmacht in Western Europe.
Extensive documentation was provided for the in-theater US Army
infantryman, from booklets rather misguidedly advising on how to behave
in foreign countries through to field manuals explaining core combat
tactics across squad, platoon, company, and battalion levels. This
pocket manual presents critical insights from many of these sources, but
also draws on a broad spectrum of intelligence reports, after-action
reports, and other rare publications. Together they give an inside view
on what it was like to live and fight in the U.S. Army infantry during
arguably the most consequential conflict in human history.
