Company Commander: The Classic Infantry Memoir of World War II [Paperback]

Charles B. Macdonald (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 19, 1999

As a newly commisioned Captain of a veteran Army regiment, MacDonald's first combat was war at its most hellish—the Battle of the Bulge. In this plain-spoken but eloquent narrative, we live each minute at MacDonald's side, sharing in all of combat's misery, terror, and drama. How this green commander gains his men's loyalty in the snows of war-torn Europe is one of the great, true, unforgettable war stories of all time.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Memoirs of politics and wars usually become less interesting with the passing of time. 'Company Commander' is an exception...It speaks to the younger generations with almost the same immediacy as it did to the generation of the Second World War." (Ronald H. Spector, from his Introduction )

"Nowhere is there a more honest, unassuming portrayal of the hopes and dreams and fears of a young infantry captain..." (Saturday Review )

"Impressive." (The New York Times )

About the Author

The late Charles B. MacDonald also wrote A Time for Trumpets and other books. After the war (in which he was awarded the Purple Heart and the the Silver Star) he became and official Army Historian, retiring as Deputy Chief Historian in 1979. He died in 1990.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Burford Books; 1 edition (October 19, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1580800386
• ISBN-13: 978-1580800389
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 0.6 x 6.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #82,755 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #67 in Books > History > Military > United States > Veterans

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

59 of 64 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a riveting account of my Father's WW2 experience . February 21, 1999

By E. S. Compton III

Format:Mass Market Paperback

On the day of my Father's funeral last month , a long-time friend of his gave me this book and explained that it was about my Father's WW2 experience .My Dad was a very gentle man , and a pillar of our community . He never mentioned the awful details of what he had gone through . When he spoke of the war , he would recall certain events that were not too awful . My siblings and I grew up with a healthy respect for the truth he spoke , that "WAR is Hell " , that it was "Tough" . I can see his contorted expression as he emphasised these words . Now I know the "real" story . My Dad was the First Lieutenant directing 81MM mortar fire , as described on page 301 . His real name was Ernest S. Compton Jr. of Greenwood , SC . As a 1942 graduate of Clemson Military College , he was also a "green" Officer in The 23rd Infantry . After VE Day , he was an Assistant to The Train Commander , Captain Macdonald , that brought the men home . This book is extremely accurate and matches my Father's records and photographs . My everlasting gratitude and respect go to these Combat Infantry-men that answered the call . I highly reccomend this book to children of WW2 Veterans or anyone else interested in the day-to-day activities of "The Footsloggers"

74 of 82 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Classic War Memoir September 14, 2001

By R. A Forczyk TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

Captain Charles B. MacDonald first commanded I Company, 3-23rd IN, 2nd ID from October 1944 to January 1945 and later G Company, 2-23rd IN from March to May 1945. This memoir was written a few years after the war when recollections were still sharp and resulted in a very detailed account of what it was like to take command of a line infantry company and lead it into battle. This book is a must-read for all army officers who seek to command at company-level and it is also informative for military historians as well.

In comparison to the more recent Band of Brothers, ostensibly a company-level account of E Company, 506th PIR's actions during the same period, Charles MacDonald's book is clearly superior. In fact, Company Commander is everything Band of Brothers is not: accurate, objective and informative. Unlike BOB, MacDonald does not claim that the companies he commanded were anything special or that he demonstrated heroic leadership (he did win the silver star in the Battle of the Bulge). Instead, the author is very honest, admitting his apprehension and anxiety about commanding infantry on the front line. Although there is some tension with battalion and regimental headquarters, mostly about ill-considered orders and creature comforts, there is not the character assassination that is so prevalent in BOB; Macdonald was career army and he wasn't going to make points by ridiculing superiors.

MacDonald arrived as a replacement and took command of I Company just as the unit was conducting a relief-in-place of another US unit in some captured positions in the Siegfried Line in the Ardennes. While civilian readers may find the first 100 pages devoted to this "quiet time" to be dull, military readers will not. MacDonald does a superb job describing the nuts-and-bolts of a relief-in-place in a difficult position that is under enemy observation and then the daily grind to improve the position. Readers who believe that US units in the Ardennes in the fall of 1944 had it easy should reconsider. MacDonald's unit was under constant mortar and sniper fire, poor weather caused much sickness among the troops and supplies were limited. On 17 December 1944, MacDonald's battalion was hastily shifted to blunt the massive German Ardennes offensive but the 12th SS Panzer Division overran his company. Fortunately, losses in MacDonald's company were relatively light and when the unit was reformed it helped to stop the northern German pincer on the Elsenborn Ridge. In January 1945, the author was wounded while participating in the counterattack to retake St. Vith and spent two months recovering.

Returning to the 23rd Infantry in March 1945, MacDonald was given G Company and he led this unit in the final dash across Germany to Leipzig. MacDonald ended the war in Czechoslovakia. The final three weeks of the war seem a bit blurry here, compared to the earlier slow pace in the defense, and this is the only aspect of the author's narrative which is a bit choppy. There is a tremendous amount of combat wisdom in this account, although the author admits mistakes. During the first day of the Bulge, MacDonald's unit - which had very little ammunition, limited fire support and no information on the friendly or enemy situation - was ordered to launch a hasty attack to relieve a trapped US unit. MacDonald's account of his briefing to his lieutenants in the dark with a wet map is striking: "I wondered if I could have drawn any worse conditions under which to issue my first attack order." The attack was cancelled, but then MacDonald's company was ordered to hold off the advance guard of the 12th SS Panzer with only 3 bazooka rounds and no mines. The result was inevitable.

This account offers some tactical points about US ground operations in 1944-5 of interest to historians. First, US units often seemed to move to contact the enemy with minimal regard for reconnaissance and US commanders seemed to prefer hasty over deliberate assaults. Many US losses seemed directly attributable to this tendency to launch hasty, poorly coordinated attacks with inadequate forces. Second, US units often did not make good use of terrain. In the defense, MacDonald's company often had to occupy non-key terrain that lacked cover and concealment. Occupying such exposed positions merely to maintain contact with the enemy resulted in unnecessary casualties. US units would have been better off to occupy key terrain further back from the line of contact and leave only small covering units in direct contact. Interestingly, MacDonald's unit did not use LP/OPs at night. Finally, the decimation of US infantry units in the Second World War as portrayed by modern author's such as Stephen Ambrose is demonstrably false. Although MacDonald's company suffered many wounded and sick during the fall of 1944, he did not have one soldier killed in action in his first two months on the front line. Even in the Battle of the Bulge, the number of infantrymen actually killed in combat was relatively small. Soldiers were far more likely to be wounded or evacuated for pneumonia than to be killed outright, and those men usually returned in weeks or months. American infantry units were never "bled white" by combat losses as some accounts imply by exaggerating the body count. Overall, Company Commander is a class of its own as a memoir, since a capable historian who actually experienced the events described wrote it.

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best 1st person descriptions of the Bulge January 18, 1999

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

Charles MacDonald's "Company Commander" is one of the classic books of WW2. MacDonald's wartime memoirs were originally published in 1949, so his recollections were still fresh, and it does read better than most of the WW2 vet's stories written 30, 40 or more years after the fact.

MacDonald was a 19 year old OCS graduate Captain when he took over a Infantry company in the 2nd Infantry Division. This was a veteran formation in Sept '44, it's not hard to imagine the difficulties faced by a green 19 or 20 year-old CO. MacDonald doesn't cut himself or those he leads slack, however and he honestly describes his accomplishments and screw-ups. By October his unit is poised on the Seigfried line and participates in the attempts to seize the Roer river damns. This is where he is when Hitler's Ardennes offensive breaks out, for me this was the heart of the book. You read in crushing detail as his command is smashed, steamrolled by German Panthers and panzergrenadiers outside Krinkelt-Rocherath. (Go to those towns in Belgium today and you will find a sad line of foxholes where MacDonald describes them-made all the more sad by knowing what took place there.) MacDonald describes the fighting retreats and pitched battles well-a WW2 company commander was never far from the front.

He was eventually wounded, and after recovery commanded a different company in the 2nd ID. The 2nd half of the book details the Spring offensives and eventual destruction of the Reich. There are some great combat descriptions there also such as when his company takes a battery of German quad 20mm guns.

This book is often described as a company commander's textbook, it may be that, but don't run away because you aren't a CO or planning on being one, this is, primarily in my book, excelent 1st person history. I can't believe this is out of print, don't know how much longer my Bantam "Combat Series" paperback will hold up...