Download or read book Searching For Competence The Initial Combat Experience Of Untested US Army Divisions In World War II written by Major Benjamin L. Bradley and published by Pickle Partners Publishing. This book was released on 2015-11-06 with total page 86 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The initial combat experience of the 90th Infantry Division in World War II demonstrates the leadership and training problems faced by many new divisions throughout the war. Like all newly activated World War II Divisions, the 90th had a turbulent two-year training period fraught with problems of resources and personnel. During the interwar years, the Army’s readiness was allowed to stagnate below such an acceptable level that when crisis called there was little to build upon. Consequently, the larger priority of rapidly fielding 90 divisions outweighed considerations for how well those divisions were trained. Thus, the 90th Division was forced into combat by the exigencies of war with many factors working against it: untested officers, unfamiliar doctrine, limited training on advanced combat skills, and the detrimental effects of constant personnel turnover, including commanders. As the 90th went ashore on Normandy, a period of ineffectiveness ensued as soldiers were forced to learn the lessons of training under fire and unsuccessful leaders were replaced. Furthermore, the 90th Division’s period of ineffectiveness seemed extraordinary because it occurred under the spotlight of the Normandy invasion where insufficient planning for the difficulties of hedgerow combat severely slowed the expected pace of advance. Undoubtedly, the performance of the 90th Division’s senior leadership was abysmal, but its uncoordinated attacks were the product of training deficiencies experienced by all new divisions. Additionally, critical evaluation reveals the 90th’s early contribution much higher than historically credited and far from the total failure some have labeled it.

Download or read book Searching for Competence The Initial Combat Experience of Untested U S Army Divisions in World War II A Case Study of the 90th Infantry Division June July 1944 written by and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 70 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The initial combat experience of the 90th Infantry Division in World War II demonstrates the leadership and training problems faced by many new divisions throughout the war. Like all newly activated World War II Divisions, the 90th had a turbulent two-year training period fraught with problems of resources and personnel. During the interwar years, the Army's readiness was allowed to stagnate below such an acceptable level that when crisis called there was little to build upon. Consequently, the larger priority of rapidly fielding 90 divisions outweighed considerations for how well those divisions were trained. Thus, the 90th Division was forced into combat by the exigencies of war with many factors working against it: untested officers, unfamiliar doctrine, limited training on advanced combat skills, and the detrimental effects of constant personnel turnover, including commanders. As the 90th went ashore on Normandy, a period of ineffectiveness ensued as soldiers were forced to learn the lessons of training under fire and unsuccessful leaders were replaced. Furthermore, the 90th Division's period of ineffectiveness seemed extraordinary because it occurred under the spotlight of the Normandy invasion where insufficient planning for the difficulties of hedgerow combat severely slowed the expected pace of advance. Undoubtedly, the performance of the 90th Division's senior leadership was abysmal, but its uncoordinated attacks were the product of training deficiencies experienced by all new divisions. Despite the need to rest and reset after its bloody battle for Monte Castre, the 90th Division was tasked to eradicate a salient centered in the town of St. Germain. The result was disastrous and forever marked the division as a less well-trained and lead outfit than any other. However, the experience of many other divisions shows the 90th was not the only one that endured the failures of training and leadership on the battlefield.

Download or read book Texas and Texans in World War II written by Christopher B. Bean and published by Texas A&M University Press. This book was released on 2022-08-24 with total page 412 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Texans in World War II offers an informative look at the challenges and changes faced by Texans on the home front during the Second World War. This collection of essays by leading scholars of Texas history covers topics from the African American and Tejano experience to organized labor, from the expanding opportunities for women to the importance of oil and agriculture. Texans in World War II makes local the frequently studied social history of wartime, bringing it home to Texas. An eye-opening read for Texans eager to learn more about this defining era in their state’s history, this book will also prove deeply informative for scholars, students, and general readers seeking detailed, definitive information about World War II and its implications for daily life, economic growth, and social and political change in the Lone Star State.

Download or read book Draftee Division written by John Sloan Brown and published by University Press of Kentucky. This book was released on 2021-10-21 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The involuntary soldiers of an unmilitary people such were the forces that American military planners had to pit against hardened Axis veterans, yet prewar unpreparedness dictated that whole divisions of such men would go to war under the supervision of tiny professional cadres. Much to his surprise and delight, Army Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall found that the 88th Infantry Division, his first draftee division, "fought like wildcats" and readily outclassed its German adversaries while measuring up to the best Regular Army divisions. Draftee Division is at once a history of the 88th Division, an analysis of American unit mobilization during World War II, and an insight into the savage Italian Campaign. After an introduction placing the division in historical context, separate chapters address personnel, training, logistics, and overseas deployment. Another chapter focuses upon preliminary adjustments to the realities of combat, after which two chapters trace the 88th's climactic drive through the Gustav Line into Rome itself. A final chapter takes the veteran 88th to final victory. Of particular interest are observations concerning differences connected with mobilization between the 88th and less successful divisions and discussions of the contemporary relevance of the 88th's experiences. Draftee Division is especially rich in its sources. John Sloan Brown, with close ties to the division, has secured extensive and candid contributions from veterans. To these he has added a full array of archival and secondary sources. The result is a definitive study of American cadremen creating a division out of raw draftees and leading them on to creditable victories. Its findings will be important for military and social historians and for students of defense policy

Download or read book A Nation Forged in War written by Thomas A. Bruscino and published by Univ. of Tennessee Press. This book was released on 2013-05-12 with total page 361 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: World War II shaped the United States in profound ways, and this new book--the first in the Legacies of War series--explores one of the most significant changes it fostered: a dramatic increase in ethnic and religious tolerance. A Nation Forged in War is the first full-length study of how large-scale mobilization during the Second World War helped to dissolve long-standing differences among white soldiers of widely divergent backgrounds. Never before or since have so many Americans served in the armed forces at one time: more than 15 million donned uniforms in the period from 1941 to 1945. Thomas Bruscino explores how these soldiers' shared experiences--enduring basic training, living far from home, engaging in combat--transformed their views of other ethnic groups and religious traditions. He further examines how specific military policies and practices worked to counteract old prejudices, and he makes a persuasive case that throwing together men of different regions, ethnicities, religions, and classes not only fostered a greater sense of tolerance but also forged a new American identity. When soldiers returned home after the war with these new attitudes, they helped reorder what it meant to be white in America. Using the presidential campaigns of Al Smith in 1928 and John F. Kennedy in 1960 as bookend events, Bruscino notes a key change in religious bias. Smith's defeat came at the end of a campaign rife with anti-Catholic sentiment; Kennedy's victory some three decades later proved that such religious bigotry was no longer an insurmountable obstacle. Despite such advances, Bruscino notes that the growing broad-mindedness produced by the war had limits: it did not extend to African Americans, whose own struggle for equality would dramatically mark the postwar decades. Extensively documented, A Nation Forged in War is one of the few books on the social and cultural impact of the World War II years. Scholars and students of military, ethnic, social, and religious history will be fascinated by this groundbreaking new volume.

Download or read book America s School for War written by Peter J. Schifferle and published by University Press of Kansas. This book was released on 2010-04-05 with total page 310 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When the United States entered World War II, it took more than industrial might to transform its tiny army—smaller than even Portugal's—into an overseas fighting force of more than eight and a half million. Peter Schifferle contends that the determination of American army officers to be prepared for the next big war was an essential component in America's ultimate triumph over its adversaries. Crucial to that preparation were the army schools at Fort Leavenworth. Interwar Army officers, haunted by the bloodshed of World War I's Meuse-Argonne Offensive, fully expected to return to Europe to conclude the "unfinished business" of that conflict, and they prepared well. Schifferle examines for the first time precisely how they accomplished this through a close and illuminating look at the students, faculty, curriculum, and essential methods of instruction at Fort Leavenworth. He describes how the interwar officer corps there translated the experiences of World War I into effective doctrine, engaged in intellectual debate on professional issues, conducted experiments to determine the viability of new concepts, and used military professional education courses to substitute for the experience of commanding properly organized and resourced units. Schifferle highlights essential elements of war preparation that only the Fort Leavenworth education could provide, including intensive instruction in general staff procedures, hands-on experience with the principles and techniques of combined arms, and the handling of large division-sized formations in combat. This readied army officers for an emerging new era of global warfare and enabled them to develop the leadership decision making they would need to be successful on the battlefield. But Schifferle offers more than a recitation of curriculum development through the skillful interweaving of personal stories about both school experiences and combat operations, collectively recounting the human and professional development of the officer corps from 1918 to 1945. Well crafted and insightful, Schifferle's meticulously researched study shows how and why the Fort Leavenworth experience was instrumental in producing that impressive contingent of military officers who led the U.S. Army to final victory in World War II. By the end of the book, the attentive reader will also fully comprehend why the military professionals at Fort Leavenworth have come to think of it as the "Intellectual Center of the Army."

Download or read book The 84th Infantry Division in The Battle of Germany written by Lt. Theodore Draper and published by Pickle Partners Publishing. This book was released on 2019-12-06 with total page 472 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 84th Division in the Battle of Germany, November 1944 – May 1945, first published in 1946, is the account of the combat experiences of the noted “The Railsplitter Division” of the U.S. Army in the later days of World War II. Based on numerous interviews conducted immediately after each movement or encounter with the enemy, the book provides an in-depth look at the experiences of U.S. infantrymen as they moved into Germany in the face of often fierce resistance and muddy and freezing conditions. The Division fought at the Battle of the Bulge, was in the lead to cross the Roer and Rhine Rivers and the taking of the large city of Hannover, quickly followed by the successful crossing of the Elbe River. Along the way, the Division captured more than 70,000 German soldiers, liberated several concentration and internment camps, and met-up with Russian forces advancing from the east to form a critical part of the Allied victory. Included are 18 pages of maps and nearly 80 photographs and illustrations.

Download or read book A Study In Leadership The 761st Tank Battalion And The 92d Division In World War II written by Major Lenora A. Ivy and published by Pickle Partners Publishing. This book was released on 2015-11-06 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This thesis evaluates leadership in the 761st Tank Battalion and the 92d Division, two black units during World War II. Leaders in each unit were evaluated on their ability to use the following leadership model: technical skills (job experience, technical competence, and the ability to correlate facts into meaningful information); conceptual skills (vision and the ability to task organize to accomplish the mission); and interpersonal skills (job related standards and the ability to foster mutual trust and respect) to influence combat effectiveness. The analysis showed that the leaders in the 761st Tank Battalion demonstrated skills in the leadership model effectively and especially were successful in demonstrating interpersonal skills. Its successful combat record supports that its leaders were effective. On the other hand, the leaders in the 92d Division failed to properly demonstrate the skills of the leadership model. The lack of interpersonal skills used by leaders in the division (developing trust and mutual respect) was the major cause of the unit’s combat failures. This study showed that despite negative beliefs about Negro soldiers there were some leaders who effectively applied interpersonal leadership skills in the interest of mission accomplishment.

Download or read book Breathes There a Soldier written by Lawrence G. Heatley and published by iUniverse. This book was released on 2001 with total page 442 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: World War II, the most desperate stuggle ever endured by mankind, changed the world forever and those who fought in its battles. Sergeant Robert Heatley, a U.S. Army infantryman, put pen to paper recording history as it was made. Breathes There A Soldier, the compilation of his journals, brings to life the experiences, both humorous and horrific, of an American soldier in the Pacific Theater. From the grind of combat training, to the agony of the battlefield, Sergeant Heatley's first person account of the 81st Infantry Division in World War II is a welcome addition to the genre of the U.S. Army's contribution to American history.

Download or read book The U S Army GHQ Maneuvers of 1941 written by Christopher Richard Gabel and published by . This book was released on 1991 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Busting the Bocage written by Michael Dale Doubler and published by Fort Leavenworth, Kan. : U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. This book was released on 1988 with total page 92 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Danger Forward written by and published by . This book was released on 1980 with total page 504 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 2. Verdenskrig. Den Nordamerikanske 1 divisions historie, 1. DIV (US)

Download or read book Combat History of the Second Infantry Division in World War II written by , U.S. Army and published by Pickle Partners Publishing. This book was released on 2018-09-03 with total page 588 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First published just a year after the end of the war, this is the story of the Second Infantry Division in World War II. It is the story of innumerable acts of fortitude and courage, of individual sacrifice and devotion to duty under fire, by a fighting division which has served with honor in two world wars. “Closely following actual combat operations, brief editions of our participation in World War II were published. With the passage of time, the need for a more authentic and comprehensive history of this period has become evident. This book is designed to meet that need. “This history shows that from D+1 to V-E Day our Division, in the face of repeated fanatical enemy action, was employed constantly as a spearhead shock division, and that in this role it maintained unblemished its proud record of never having failed to take its objective nor of having relinquished ground so gained. During operations we were concerned with our immediate task. Now in the light of subsequent events and broader perspective, the importance to the nation and to our army of our successes becomes increasingly evident.”—W. M. Robertson, Major-General, U.S. Army

Download or read book Unsung Valor written by A. Cleveland Harrison and published by Univ. Press of Mississippi. This book was released on 2009-09-28 with total page 381 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of the 2001 Forrest C. Pogue Prize from the Eisenhower Center for American Studies When drafted into the army in 1943, A. Cleveland Harrison was a reluctant eighteen-year-old Arkansas student sure that he would not make a good soldier. But inside thirty months he manfully bore arms and more. This book is his memoir about becoming a soldier, a common infantryman among the ranks of those who truly won the war. After the Allied victory in 1945, books by and about the major statesmen, generals, and heroes of World War II appeared regularly. Yet millions of American soldiers who helped achieve and secure victory slipped silently into civilian life, trying to forget the war and what they had done. Most remain unsung, for virtually none thought of themselves as exceptional. During the war ordinary soldiers had only done what they believed their country expected. Harrison's firsthand account is the full history of what happened to him in three units from 1943 to 1946, disclosing the sensibilities, the conflicting emotions, and the humor that coalesced within the naive draftee. He details the induction and basic training procedures, his student experiences in Army pre-engineering school, his infantry training and overseas combat, battle wounds and the complete medical pipeline of hospitalization and recovery, the waits in replacement depots, life in the Army of Occupation, and his discharge. Wrenched from college and denied the Army Specialized Training Program's promise of individual choice in assignment, students were thrust into the infantry. Harrison's memoir describes training in the Ninety-fourth Infantry Division in the U.S., their first combat holding action at Lorient, France, and the division's race to join Patton's Third Army, where Harrison's company was decimated, and he was wounded while attacking the Siegfried Line. Reassigned to the U.S. Group Control Council, he had a unique opportunity to observe both the highest echelons in military government and the ordinary soldiers as Allied troops occupied Berlin. This veteran's memoir reveals all aspects of military life and sings of those valorous but ordinary soldiers who achieved the victory.

Download or read book The World within War written by Gerald Linderman and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2013-10-16 with total page 508 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Gerald Linderman has created a seamless and highly original social history, authoritatively recapturing the full experience of combat in World War II. Drawing on letters and diaries, memoirs and surveys, Linderman explores how ordinary frontline American soldiers prepared for battle, related to one another, conceived of the enemy, thought of home, and reacted to battle itself. He argues that the grim logic of protracted combat threatened soldiers not only with the loss of limbs and lives but with growing isolation from country and commanders and, ultimately, with psychological disintegration.

Download or read book Doctor Danger Forward written by Allen N. Towne and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2014-04-24 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As a combat medical aidman of Company B, 1st Medical Battalion, First Infantry Division, Allen N. Towne experienced some of the pivotal events of World War II. "Doctor B," as his unit was known, was attached to the 18th Regimental Combat Team and moved with them, providing continuous close medical support. Covering both little-known engagements, and such historic moments as the campaign in Sicily and the D Day landings at Omaha Beach, this book is both a memoir and a history of one of the war's most impressive units. The text is based on both official "morning reports" and the author's personal notes, providing accuracy as well as human insight. In Doctor Danger Forward ("danger forward" was the code name of the First Division headquarters), Towne, who received the Bronze Star and Oak Leaf Cluster for his heroism at Omaha Beach and Normandy, chronicles events both epic and intimate, profoundly serious as well as humorous. There are numerous maps and photographs, including many taken by the author.

Download or read book A Combat Engineer with Patton s Army written by Lois Lembo and published by Savas Beatie. This book was released on 2020-06-09 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “An engaging and often frightening story” of a member of the 305th Engineering Battalion of the 80th Infantry Division (Andrew Z. Adkins III, coauthor of You Can’t Get Much Closer Than This). A Combat Engineer with Patton’sArmy is the untold story of Frank Lembo, one of George Patton’s men who helped move the American command in the battle of Argentan in the Normandy Campaign, in the high-speed pursuit of the German Wehrmacht eastward across France, and in the brutal battles waged during the Battle of the Bulge and during the final combats along the borders of the collapsing Reich. Throughout his time in Europe, Lembo maintained a running commentary of his experiences with Betty Craig, his fiancée and future wife. This extensive correspondence provides a unique eyewitness view of the life and work of a combat engineer under wartime conditions. As a squad (and later platoon) leader, Frank and his comrades cleared mines, conducted reconnaissance behind enemy lines, built bridges, and performed other tasks necessary to support the movement of the 317th, 318th, and 319th Infantry Regiments of the Blue Ridge Division—Patton’s workhorses, if not his glamour boys. Frank’s letters go beyond his direct combat experiences to include the camaraderie among the GIs, living conditions, weather, and the hijinks that helped keep the constant threat of death at bay. His letters also worked to reassure Betty with hopeful dreams for their future together. Including dozens of previously unpublished photographs, A Combat Engineer with Patton’s Army offers the rare perspective of what day-to-day warfare at the ground-level looked like in the European Theater through the eyes of one of the men spearheading the advance.