The Gi Offensive in Europe: The Triumph of American Infantry Divisions, 1941-1945 (Modern War Studies (Paperback))

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing Book
Review: This was the first book I read about the US Infantry in WWII. Being a German, I had concentrated on the German Army before. I give it two stars because I learned a lot about the US mobilization and the replacement system, both of which seemed to have failed in providing enough frontline divisions and enough welltrained infantry replacements. The frontline GI had to pay the bloody price. I wonder how the US replacement system would have handled heavier losses and a longer war when it already ran into such difficulties after only a few months of fighting on the ground...

I second Mr. Zetterling for the poor analysis of Mansoor regarding the combat effectiveness of the US Infantry. Mansoor doesn't seem to know much about the Wehrmacht. He ignores the fact that although most infantry divisions had many veterans from the Eastern front, none actually had any combat experience as a unit. Many of the german soldiers were not fit for duty on the Eastern front, overage, many were recruits. The majority of the divisons were not fit for mobile warfare. The later formed Volksgrenadierdivisions had only a few weeks of training and then went into battle. The German equipment was generally (there were exceptions)not on par with the US.

I don't see the point of Mansoor when he praises the US of learning by doing. Every army does that. When the war started, the german infantry had to learn and paid its toll, the British and the Russians too. There is nothing special in that. I was in fact astonished how green and badly prepared many divisons were in Summer 1944. The war had been waging on for a long time then and the US command could IMHO have prepared the infantry much better.

Summary: The US infantry was certainly better than many people believe but in no way as good as it could and should have been. The German infantry divisions the US forces engaged were usually only a shadow of the 1941-43 units and therefore can hardly be compared to their US counterparts. The vastly superior firepower of the excellent allied tactical air force and artillery, the better logistical system, the better equipment and the strong numerical superiority not only in the air were IMHO much more responsible for the allied victory against the German Army than the quality of the frontline infantry.

Rating:
Summary: Taming Private Ryan
Review: Tom Hanks' movie will seem tame after you've digested Colonel Mansoor's detailed illustration of how normal everyday young men advanced across the ETO in the early 1940's against what most thought was a far better trained army under NAZI control. Read this book and dispel many of the myths you've probably grown used to from watching the screen - that German soldiers were unreliable; American GI's had an unlimited supply of material and replacements; and finally, that the Allied general staff were frequently on the same page in their estimation on how the war should be conducted.