[Includes 33 maps and 97 illustrations] The campaign in the summer of 1944 related in this volume included some of the most spectacular ground action of the U.S. Army during World War II. It began with the slow and costly hedgerow fighting against determined German efforts to contain the Normandy beachhead; it entered its decisive stage when the breach of German defenses permitted full exploitation of the power and mobility of U.S. Army ground troops; and it reached the peak of brilliance with successive envelopments of principal German forces and the pursuit of their remnants north and east to free most of France, part of Belgium, and portions of the Netherlands. By late Aug. the war in the west appeared to be almost over, but the tyranny of logistics gave the enemy time to rally at the fortified West Wall and delay surrender for another eight months. Covering the period 1 July to 11 Sep. 1944, Breakout and Pursuit takes up the story of the European campaign at the time when the Allies considered their cross-Channel beachhead well established on the Continent. How the Allies exploited the initial success of their landings and drove from the shores of Normandy to the German border is the subject of the volume. The events of the period comprise a rich variety of military experience. Virtually every sort of major operation involving co-ordinated action of the combined arms is found: the grueling positional warfare of the battle of the hedgerows, the breakthrough of the main enemy position, exploitation, encirclement, and pursuit, as well as a number of actions falling under the general heading of special operations--an assault river crossing, the siege of a fortress, and night combat, among others. In their variety and complexity, these operations frequently bring into sharp focus the delicate problems of coalition warfare.

The U.S. Army and World War II is an anthology of selected papers from three international conferences held in 1990, 1992, and 1994 on the Army's role in the war. Taking the best from those meetings, Judith L. Bellafaire has organized the various presentations into four thematic categories--prewar planning, the home front, the European theater, and the Asian-Pacific theaters--reflecting the diversity of both the war and the interest of those seeking to understand its many facets. In these carefully edited papers, one will find the more conventional treatments of doctrine, strategy, and operations side by side with those focusing on military mobilization and procurement, race and gender, psychological warfare, and large-scale advice and assistance programs. Despite significant changes in military technology and the geopolitical landscape of the world since those desperate times, the human problems highlighted by the authors are not much different from many of those facing Army leaders today. Although the past can never provide the specific recipes needed for the future, experience has shown that both the basic ingredients and the manner in which they are prepared and processed have remained remarkably constant. Those grappling with the challenges of stability operations and other contingency missions in support of the Global War on Terrorism will find this collection of readings invaluable.

CMH Pub. 10-22. By Alfred M. Beck, et al. Describes in detail the role of the Army Corps of Engineers in various military campaigns throughout North Africa and Italy, as well as in Western and Central Europe, from 1941 through 1944. L.C. card 84-11376. Item 345. Related Products: United States Army in World War 2: The Quartermaster Corps, Operations in War Against Japan is available here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/008-029-00047-4 United States Army and World War II: Set 5 of 7, The Technical Services, Pt. 2 (Corps of Engineers, Quartermaster, and Medical) -CDROM format is available here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/008-029-00434-8 United States Army and World War II: Set 4 of 7, The Technical Services, Pt. 1 (Chemical, Ordnance, Transportation, and Signal) CDROM format is available here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/products/sku/008-029-00396-1 World War II resources collection can be found here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/catalog/world-war-ii Other products by the U.S. Army, Center of Military History (CMH) can be found here: https://bookstore.gpo.gov/agency/1061

This monograph examines General J. Lawton Collins' career and argues that his command style was characterized by technical and tactical competence, the practical ability to lead from the front and sound judgment. This monograph examines these key factors in three subsections. General Collins gained his technical and tactical competence by theoretical preparation as a student and instructor. He first demonstrated the ability to position himself at the critical point on the battlefield as the commander of the 25th Infantry Division during the Guadalcanal Campaign in January 1943. As the commander of the VII Corps during the Allies' Campaign in northwest Europe from 1944 to 1945, he refined this ability. Finally, he developed sound judgment while performing key postings both during the interwar period and during the Second World War. This monograph shows how General J. Lawton Collins' command style translated into action and made him such an effective combat leader.