World War II Order of Battle: An Encyclopedic Reference to U.S. Army Ground Forces from Battalion through Division, 1939-1946 (REVISED EDITION) (Stackpole Military Classics) [Hardcover]

Capt. Shelby L. Stanton (Author), Russell F. Weigley (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 18, 2006

An illustrated, encyclopedic data reference to all U.S. Army World War II ground combat force units from battalion through division, 1939-1946

Weapons, equipment, vehicles, and combat photographs

Thoroughly updated with newly uncovered unit data collected over the twenty years since publication of the original Order of Battle, U.S. Army, World War II

Includes:

Units

Overseas Service

Ports of Embarkation

Insignia

Combat Narratives

Organizational Charts

Campaigns

Stateside Service

Post, Camps, & Stations

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A remarkable achievement! An invaluable compilation of data derived entirely from original sources. Nothing like it has been done before." --Charles MacDonald, author of A Time for Trumpets: The Untold Story of the Battle of the Bulge

About the Author

Capt. Shelby L. Stanton served as an infantry officer in Vietnam, Thailand, and Laos during the Vietnam War. A recipient of the Purple Heart, he is an attorney and author of several books on military affairs. He resides in Bethesda, Maryland.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 640 pages
• Publisher: Stackpole Books; 2 Rev Upd edition (April 18, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811701573
• ISBN-13: 978-0811701570
• Product Dimensions: 12.1 x 9.2 x 2.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #719,887 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Full of data on every regiment and battalion in US Army, September 9, 1999

By 

Robert E. Duchesneau - See all my reviews

This review is from: World War II Order of Battle (Hardcover)

This book is a "must-have" for those who wish to have a comprehensive resource for the organization of the US Army Ground Forces, 1939-1946. Unfortunately, despite the title, the book's information is strictly limited to Army Ground Forces, and it has nothing on Army Service Forces, Army Air Forces, or any other service. However, all the Engineer units are included, even the General Service Regiments. What the book does provide is a way of tracing the theaters of service of every battalion or higher unit covered by it. A brief narrative history is provided for each division. Often, two division organizations are listed to show changes over time, such as the National Guard's switch from "square" to "triangular" divisions 1940-42. The level of information decreases with unit size, and for battalions only the startup date, ship date, return date, disbandment date, and campaigns served in are provided. Dates of attachment to and detachment from higher headquarters are provided for regiments and divisions, and units temporarily attached to a division are listed with it. Unit awards are not addressed at any level, except to list campaigns served in. The book makes a valiant effort to track the numerous times that units were re-organized or converted from regiments to battalions, but I have detected at least one case where the book "lost" a unit. Despite the book's cover, unit patches are provided only for regiments, and the patches shown are often not the ones used in most of the war. Tables of equipment and personnel are provided for divisions, regiments, and selected battalion types. In summary, this book is a must for the data-hungry, but will probably just gather dust at a VFW post due to lack of unit award and unit patch information.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Slightly flawed revised edition of a useful reference work, May 5, 2006

By 

Stephen Graham (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: World War II Order of Battle: An Encyclopedic Reference to U.S. Army Ground Forces from Battalion through Division, 1939-1946 (REVISED EDITION) (Stackpole Military Classics) (Hardcover)

The revised edition of Stanton's work is primarily a straight reprint of the 1984 edition. It's worthwhile to have such a reprint, as the original edition was invaluable to someone interested in tracing Army Ground Force units during the Second World War. The new material in the Revised Edition is the Front Matter and an addendum at the end correcting those errors found in the original addition and adding such additional information as has been found over the years. There is no indication in the main text of those entries that have errata or additions. It would have been preferable had the entire text been reset or some simple indicator been placed alongside entries with material in the addendum.

Still, if the topic interests you, I would recommend purchase of the Revised Edition.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Indispensable research tool, May 12, 2007

By 

R. Gholston "Military Accumulator" (Mid-America USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: World War II Order of Battle: An Encyclopedic Reference to U.S. Army Ground Forces from Battalion through Division, 1939-1946 (REVISED EDITION) (Stackpole Military Classics) (Hardcover)

This book is just what many have been needing to research units, and their subordinate components, and units attached for varying amounts of time, whether in the Pacific Theater or the European Theater. Now it is much easier to catalog patches and DI's according to the Command and Theater, and to do the research on the smaller units, often overlooked in other material.