Training and equipment testing was mostly done at Camp
Hale in Colorado, which was blessed with a lot of cold and snow and still is. It
took time to not only train a sufficient number of troops, but also to test and
evaluate any special equipment used by this division. Portions of the division
were deployed for the Attu and Kiska operations, but that was a fairly brief
sortie. The entire division was then sent to Italy (which has a lot of
mountains) where it fought until the end of the war in one of the lesser-known
parts of the Italian campaign.
The book briefly covers the 10ths development and war
fighting. Most of the book is on the specific equipment used by the division.
While much of their gear is fairly generic and used by other army units of the
time, some of it is specialized. The major chapters are on clothing, equipment
for moving over snow, mountaineering equipment, weapons used by the division,
vehicles adapted or tested, and finally on vehicles used from other units.
Typical of other books in the series, there are small vignette articles, and a
lot of both modern and period photographs. Since this is an illustrated series,
there are a lot of photos. It is
another great addition to Casemate's Illustrated Special series and one I know
that you will like.
November 2025
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Contributors.
This is
another nicely done Casemate Illustrated Special editions and it covers the US
10th Mountain Division during WWII. Prior to the war, the US Army did not have a
specialized unit that was trained to fight in cold and mountainous situations.
The 1940 winter war between Finland and the USSR showed that it would be useful
to have a unit that was capable of operating on skis and so several special ski
patrol groups were formed. This eventually morphed into a full division along
with their specialized equipment. Thus was born the 10th Muntain Division.