German Infantry in World War II (Order of Battle) [Paperback]

Chris Bishop (Author)

Book Description

Series: Order of Battle | Publication Date: March 15, 2008

Tanks and infantry working together made the German blitzkrieg as successful as it was. This book focuses closely on the infantry component of that powerful alliance, showing German infantry warfare as it evolved as such a powerful force beginning in 1939, only to fail and face defeat in 1945.

German Infantry in World War II examines the organization and strength of the German infantry forces that took part in each major German campaign launched during the war, from the first thrust into Poland through the Bulge to the last stand, the Battle for Berlin. In particular, veteran military historian Chris Bishop describes the great sieges: Stalingrad, Leningrad, Sebastopol, Budapest, and Berlin. He details the infantry forces used during each campaign, giving strengths and orders of battle for the formations involved, along with maps of the action and an assessment of the role of the infantry forces in each offensive.

Illustrated with photographs of the infantry forces in action, as well as detailed campaign maps, this book is an essential resource for anyone with an interest in the history of World War II in Europe.

Editorial Reviews

Review

WWII History, November 2008
"Following closely on the heels, or treads, of [German Panzers in WWII] is the equally impressive German Infantry in WWII. As with his previous book Bishop uses a lavish array of maps, charts and photographs to provide an overall history of the development and employment of Wehrmacht and SS combat units in every theater in which the German military fought...Illustrated with over 150 photos of German troops in action, this fact-filled book will be an essential resource for anyone with an interest in World War II in Europe, North Africa, and the Mediterranean."

Book Description

This illustrated volume examines the organization and strength of the German infantry forces that took part in each major German campaign launched during World War II, from the first thrust into Poland through the Bulge, to the last stand--the Battle for Berlin. In particular, the book describes the great sieges: Stalingrad, Leningrad, Sebastopol, Budapest, and Berlin. It details the infantry forces used during each campaign, giving strengths and orders of battle for the formations involved, along with maps of the action, and an assessment of the role of the infantry forces in each offensive.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Zenith Press; 1st edition (March 15, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0760331871
• ISBN-13: 978-0760331873
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 7.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #939,083 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Infantry review, July 21, 2009

By 

W. A. Samson "W.A." (Netherlands) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: German Infantry in World War II (Order of Battle) (Paperback)

This is as my review for German panzers in WWII.

It is not realy an order of battle in depth.
It deals with the campaings where German infantry divisions participated.
For that campaing the command structure is given as a beautifull colour map.
There are also beaitfull clour plates showing the standard infantry companies and platoons during the several periods of the war.
So you get insight to the company in the early, intermediate and late periods.
IT is a beautifull book with a good summary of the campaings, but not an in depth review of the german divisions. Something would expect refering to the title.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Sweat Saves Blood", June 7, 2010

By 

M. G Watson "Miles Watson" (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: German Infantry in World War II (Order of Battle) (Paperback)

So many books have been written about the Wehrmacht that for the interested reader, one suffers not from a lack but rather a wealth of choices. However, since books of this type are usually pretty expensive, the real question then becomes how, and where, to spend your money.

GERMAN INFANTRY IN WW2 (ORDER OF BATTLE)is -- despite its unimaginative and nerdy title -- is actually an enjoyable little read. I say "little" because the book is less than 200 pages and very light on text, centering mainly on maps, charts, graphs and a few pictures; but it would not be fair to call it superficial. Considering the brevity of the chapters, it does an admirable job of following the Reichsheer from its clandestine reconstruction after the Great War to the rearmament phase and the "bloodless conquests", and finally through all of the wartime campaigns right up to the bitter end in '45. The author, Chris Bishop, rightfully brings to light that while the panzers, Waffen-SS, paratroops and so forth get most of the attention from history buffs, it was the ordinary German infantry division, almost entirely without motor transport, inadequately supplied with food and equipment, and usually short on manpower -- which was the keystone of all German victories and successes in the war; and which, he adds, bore the brunt of the worst and most vicious fighting.

In addition to the campaign histories, the book shows the order of battle for the German armies throughout the conflict and the organization of typical divisions, which changed repeatedly as the war went on. It also includes brief, bullet-point biographies of key German generals, breakdowns of divisions deployed by theater, and so forth. The overall idea is to acquaint the reader not merely with the accomplishments of the infantry arm but the many challenges it faced, and the martial philosophy by which the leaders led and the troops fought (which can be boiled down to "train hard, fight easy"; or, as Rommel put it, "Sweat saves blood.")
Author Bishop, by no means a fan of Hitler, rightly gives the German soldier praise for his extraordinary discipline and toughness; actually he gives the Nazi system less credit than it deserves for motivating the ordinary German soldier to fight (even diehard antiNazis like Gotthard Heinrici admitted after the war that "like it or not, the resilience of the German soldier was largely due to his faith in Hitler and National Socialism"). This is balanced by praise for Germany's enemies, particularly the Soviets, who despite their dogmatism and clumsy, unimaginative approach to warfare were terrifyingly resilient and knew how to play to their strengths.

The main drawbacks of this book are the fact that Bishop buys heavily into the "official" view of the war, as posited by Guderian, Manstein, Mellenthin, et al, with the result that he gives the German generals too much credit, and Hitler too little, for the success of German arms during the war. Hitler certainly made his share of catastrophic blunders, but he was often let down by the unimaginativeness and moral flabbiness of his military leadership. Likewise, Bishop's statistics are occasionally a bit curious and, in attempting to cover so much ground so quickly (less than 200 pages), he necessarily bites off more than he can chew. But none of these criticisms really adds up to much: they are outweighed by the many useful facts which explain not only how the Germans were organized and deployed, but how they managed to keep the whole world at bay for six long years of war.