This edition from Osprey's "Elite" series covers the use of American armored infantry tactics during World War Two. When the US decided to utilize tanks as part of the Army back in the very late 1920s and early 1930s, there was considerable discussion on how these weapons were to be used. One camp wanted them to be mobile infantry support while the other saw the tank as a replacement for the horse in cavalry units, charging ahead to break through enemy lines. Of course, the correct use as a bit of both. However, it took quite a while to figure that out and tanks were placed in with infantry battalions and were also stand alone cavalry units.

It was eventually decided in about 1943, that having an armored infantry unit would be the best way to deal with the situation. In this sort of structure, there would be a combination of motorized infantry, using trucks and halftracks along with their various towed artillery and tank units, including gun motor carriages. Working together, they would be able to not only do a fast breakthrough of enemy lines, but also have the infantry support needed to hold the break open and to fight in the sort of terrain where just tanks alone would be at a disadvantage.

Of course, there seems to have never been enough infantry to satisfy commanders, and most unusually, there was no set doctrine until just a few months before the war was over. By that time, units had already learned on the job what was needed. I found it most interesting that when a unit had trained in the US, the Army pulled the cadre of most well trained soldiers to help form a new unit, sending the allegedly ready to go unit into combat with a large number of raw, and often untrained men to fill the ranks. It is a wonder that things went as well as they did.

Author Gordon L. Rottman covers the organization of these units, the weapons and equipment they used as well as what tactics, theory and capabilities were developed as these units were used in combat. Then there was the understanding and exploitation of the strengths and weaknesses of these units and how they performed in action. Bolstered by a well done selection of period photographs and the superb artwork of Peter Dennis, it makes into an excellent book on the subject. One in which I learned a lot and can easily recommend to you.

November 2009.

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