United States Army in World War II

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United States Army in World War II is the official history of the ground forces of the United States Army during World War II. The 78-volume work was originally published beginning in 1946. [1]

Contents

Overview

The work describes and to a degree evaluates the ground operations of the Army in 21 volumes. Additional volumes address grand strategy; recruitment, organization, and training; the service forces; the technical services; and special studies; again almost exclusively those of the ground forces. Three additional volumes provide a pictorial account. (Air operations, logistics, and training are presented in a separate seven-volume series, The Army Air Forces in World War II .) Different authors or teams wrote most of the accounts, though some authors wrote more than one. Most of the authors were serving or retired officers though enlisted personnel and professional historians also contributed.

The volumes devoted to operations are grouped by theater and campaign. (See the list of titles below.) Battles are described at a unit level appropriate to the size of the engagement. In some cases authors detail the actions of units as small as an infantry company, though most battles are presented at the battalion or regimental level. Many accounts of individual heroism are included, especially actions which resulted in the award of the Medal of Honor.

Each volume includes some photographs. Operations volumes include small maps within the text and larger fold-out maps attached inside the back cover. All operations volumes include bibliographical notes, a glossary, a list of code names, and a list of military map symbols. Some include additional features such as a table of equivalent U.S. and German, Italian, or Japanese ranks.

More than two-thirds of the volumes of the history are devoted to subjects other than actual operations. (See the list of titles below.) These provide information which is not appropriate for a purely operational history but is important for an understanding of the Army's activities as a whole during the war.

Contents

THE WAR DEPARTMENT

TitleAuthor(s)Year Published
Chief of Staff: Prewar Plans and PreparationsMark Skinner Watson1950
Washington Command Post: The Operations Division Ray S. Cline 1951
Strategic Planning for Coalition Warfare: 1941–1942Maurice Matloff and Edwin M. Snell1953
Strategic Planning for Coalition Warfare: 1943–1944Maurice Matloff1959
Global Logistics and Strategy: 1940–1943Richard M. Leighton and Robert W. Coakley1955
Global Logistics and Strategy: 1944–1945Robert W. Coakley and Richard M. Leighton1968
The Army and Economic MobilizationR. Elberton Smith1959
The Army and Industrial ManpowerByron Fairchild and Jonathan Grossman1959

THE ARMY GROUND FORCES

TitleAuthor(s)Year Published
The Organization of Ground Combat TroopsKent Roberts Greenfield, Robert R. Palmer, and Bell I. Wiley1947
The Procurement and Training of Ground Combat Troops Robert R. Palmer, Bell I. Wiley, and William R. Keast1948

THE ARMY SERVICE FORCES

TitleAuthor(s)Year Published
The Organization and Role of the Army Service Forces John David Millett 1954

THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE

TitleAuthor(s)Year Published
The Framework of Hemisphere DefenseStetson Conn and Byron Fairchild1960
Guarding the United States and its OutpostsStetson Conn, Rose C. Engelman, and Byron Fairchild1964

THE WAR IN THE PACIFIC

TitleAuthor(s)Year Published
Strategy and Command: The First Two YearsLouis Morton1962
The Fall of the PhilippinesLouis Morton1953
Guadalcanal: The First OffensiveJohn Miller1949
Victory in PapuaSamuel Milner1957
CARTWHEEL: The Reduction of RabaulJohn Miller1959
Seizure of the Gilberts and MarshallsPhilip A. Crowl and Edmund G. Love 1955
Campaign in the MarianasPhilip A. Crowl1960
The Approach to the PhilippinesRobert Ross Smith1953
Leyte: The Return to the PhilippinesM. Hamlin Cannon1954
Triumph in the PhilippinesRobert Ross Smith1963
Okinawa: The Last BattleRoy E. Appleman, James M. Burns, Russell A. Gugeler, and John Stevens1948

THE MEDITERRANEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS

TitleAuthor(s)Year Published
Northwest Africa: Seizing the Initiative in the WestGeorge F. Howe1957
Sicily and the Surrender of ItalyAlbert N. Garland and Howard McGaw Smyth1965
Salerno to CassinoMartin Blumenson1969
Cassino to the AlpsErnest F. Fisher, Jr.1977

THE EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS

TitleAuthor(s)Year Published
The Supreme Command Forrest C. Pogue 1954
Cross-Channel AttackGordon A. Harrison1951
Breakout and Pursuit Martin Blumenson 1961
The Lorraine Campaign Hugh M. Cole 1950
The Siegfried Line Campaign Charles B. MacDonald 1963
The Ardennes: Battle of the BulgeHugh M. Cole1965
Riviera to the RhineJeffrey J. Clarke and Robert Ross Smith1992
The Last OffensiveCharles B. MacDonald1973
Logistical Support of the Armies, Volume IRoland G. Ruppenthal1953
Logistical Support of the Armies, Volume IIRoland G. Ruppenthal1959

THE MIDDLE EAST THEATER

TitleAuthor(s)Year Published
The Persian Corridor and Aid to RussiaThomas Hubbard Vail Motter1952

THE CHINA-BURMA-INDIA THEATER

TitleAuthor(s)Year Published
Stillwell’s Mission to ChinaCharles F. Romanus and Riley Sunderland1953
Stillwell’s Command ProblemsCharles F. Romanus and Riley Sunderland1956
Time Runs Out in CBICharles F. Romanus and Riley Sunderland1959

THE TECHNICAL SERVICES

TitleAuthor(s)Year Published
The Chemical Warfare Service: Organizing for WarLeo P. Brophy and George J. B. Fisher1959
The Chemical Warfare Service: From Laboratory to FieldLeo P. Brophy, Wyndham D. Miles, and Rexmond C. Cochrane1959
The Chemical Warfare Service: Chemicals in CombatBrooks E. Kleber and Dale Birdsell1966
The Corps of Engineers: Troops and EquipmentBlanche D. Coll, Jean E. Keith, and Herbert H. Rosenthal1958
The Corps of Engineers: Construction in the United StatesLenore Fine and Jesse A. Remington1972
The Corps of Engineers: The War against JapanKarl C. Dod1966
The Corps of Engineers: The War Against GermanyAlfred M. Beck, Abe Bortz, Charles W. Lynch, Lida Mayo, and Ralph F. Weld1985
The Medical Department: Hospitalization and Evacuation, Zone of the InteriorClarence McKittrick Smith1956
The Medical Department: Medical Service in the Mediterranean and Minor TheatersCharles M. Wiltse1965
The Medical Department: Medical Service in the European Theater of OperationsGraham A. Cosmas and Albert E. Cowdrey1992
The Medical Department: Medical Service in the War against JapanMary Ellen Condon-Rall and Albert E. Cowdrey1998
The Ordnance Department: Planning Munitions for WarConstance McLaughlin Green, Harry C. Thomson, and Peter C. Roots1955
The Ordnance Department: Procurement and SupplyHarry C. Thomson and Lida Mayo1960
The Ordnance Department: On Beachhead and BattlefrontLida Mayo1968
The Quartermaster Corps: Organization, Supply, and Services, Volume IErna Risch1953
The Quartermaster Corps: Organization, Supply, and Services, Volume IIErna Risch and Chester L. Kieffer1955
The Quartermaster Corps: Operations in the War against JapanAlvin P. Stauffer1956
The Quartermaster Corps: Operations in the War against GermanyWilliam F. Ross and Charles F. Romanus1965
The Signal Corps: The Emergency (to December 1941)Dulany Terrett1956
The Signal Corps: The Test (December 1941 to July 1943)George Raynor Thompson, Dixie R. Harris, Pauline M. Oakes, and Dulany Terrett1957
The Signal Corps: The Outcome (mid-1943 through 1945)George Raynor Thompson and Dixie R. Harris1966
The Transportation Corps: Responsibilities, Organization, and OperationsChester Wardlow1951
The Transportation Corps: Movements, Training, and SupplyChester Wardlow1956
The Transportation Corps: Operations OverseasJoseph Bykofsky and Harold Larson1957

SPECIAL STUDIES

TitleAuthor(s)Year Published
Chronology: 1941–1945Mary H. Williams1960
Buying Aircraft: Matériel Procurement for the Army Air ForcesI. B. Holley1964
Civil Affairs: Soldiers Become GovernorsHarry L. Coles and Albert K. Weinberg1964
The Employment of Negro TroopsUlysses Lee1966
Military Relations between the United States and Canada, 1939–1945Stanlye W. Dziuban1959
Rearming the FrenchMarcel Vigneras1957
Three Battles: Arnaville, Altuzzo, and SchmidtCharles B. MacDonald and Sidney T. Mathews1952
The Women's Army CorpsMattie E. Treadwell1953
Manhattan: The Army and the Atomic BombVincent C. Jones1985

PICTORIAL RECORD

TitleAuthor(s)Year Published
The War against Germany and Italy: Mediterranean and Adjacent AreasJohn C. Hatlem and Kenneth E. Hunter1951
The War against Germany: Europe and Adjacent AreasKenneth E. Hunter1951
The War against JapanKenneth E. Hunter and Margaret E. Tackley1952

Publication history

The works were first published by the Historical Division, Department of the Army, from March 28, 1950 called the Office of the Chief of Military History and from June 15, 1973, the Center of Military History. They are in a large format, 7¼” x 10”, with green cloth covers and no dust jackets. The cover has only the eagle insignia of the Army; the title, author, and other data are on the spine. Many volumes have been reprinted by the Center of Military History in the same format beginning in the 1980s, and most are available as PDF downloads. [2]

The operations-oriented volumes and some others were reprinted by The National Historical Society during the 1990s in a 50th Anniversary Commemorative Edition series. They are 7” x 9” with a hard cover (without a dust jacket) whose face is a black-and-white photograph with the title superimposed. They omitted the original editions’ fold-out maps but instead printed them in two separate atlases.

Two volumes, ‘’Cross Channel Attack’’ and ‘’The Ardennes: Battle of the Bulge’’, were reprinted in the 1990s by Konecky & Konecky in a large 8½” by 11” format. They, too, omitted the fold-out maps. Other publishing houses have also reprinted selected volumes.

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References

  1. Adamczyk, Richard D. (1992). United States Army in World War II: Reader's Guide. Washington, DC: Center of Military History. pp.  173. ISBN   978-0160378171. OCLC   813914147. CMH Pub 11-9
  2. "U.S. Army in World War II Series". army.mil. U.S. Army Center of Military History. Retrieved 4 September 2016.