HISTORY

** Mounted in armored cars, jeeps, light tanks, and self-propelled howitzers, the US Army’s Cavalry Groups (Mechanized) were intended to perform classic cavalry tasks on the drive from Normandy to Berlin. The cavalry groups were some of the Allie’s most versatile assets, forming the core of many temporary task forces with attachments from other arms. The troopers were in fact committed to a much wider range of tasks than those for which they had originally been structures and equipped: not only screening, security, liaison, and pure reconnaissance in the spearhead, but also taking and holding of ground – a type of fighting for which they were not properly organized, trained, or equipped. **
** Author’s words quoted from the back cover of the book.

THE BOOK

Osprey Publications Ltd has released World War II US Cavalry Groups European Theater by author Gordon L. Rottman as Number 129 in their Elite series. It is a paperback book with 64 pages. Included with the text are black and white photographs, color illustrations and maps, informational charts, and detailed captions. It has a 2012 copyright and the ISBN is 978-1-84908-797-1.

CONTENTS

- Introduction
- The Pre-War Cavalry Regiments
- Regiments, squadrons, and troops
- The Cavalry Group (Mechanized)
- Organization: Headquarters and Headquarters Troop
- Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadrons (Mechanized)
- Troops
- Cavalry Group armament and vehicles
- Cavalry Group Missions
- Doctrine and practice
- Group and squadron tactics
- Task organization for combat
- Cavalry Group Deployments
- The Test Of Battle
- Representative examples of cavalry groups in action: 113th Cavalry Group reconnaissance mission
- 4th Cavalry Group screening mission
- 113th Cavalry Group in the defense
- 6th Cavalry Group in the offensive
- 2nd Cavalry Group in defense of a river
- 2nd Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron in a river assault
- 316th Cavalry Brigade in the offensive
- 101st Cavalry Group, miscellaneous missions
- 3rd Cavalry Group in the pursuit
- Conclusions
- Assessments
- The post-World War II mechanized cavalry
- Select Bibliography
- Index

THE TEXT

The text in the book is well written and extremely detailed. Gordon L. Rottman covers the World War II US Cavalry Groups European Theater nicely and with great depth. Rottman covers the make-up of the cavalry units, the numbers of officers and enlisted men as well as the small arms issued to the cavalry units. Rottman goes into specifics on the various vehicles used by the cavalry units such as armament, rounds (ammunition) carried, and the dates the vehicles were issued to the various units. Rottman also covers various combat actions and details the cavalry units involved, the dates of the fighting, the actions taken by both the allies and axis forces and the outcome of the battles. Another area that Rottman covers is the European cavalry units, the dates of activation, the specific states they were deployed from, the area or areas where they were deployed and saw combat and what became of the units after the hostilities in Europe had ended. I didn’t notice any spelling or grammatical errors as I read through the text. Grammar and spelling might not be an important factor to everyone however it is something that I take notice of and pass on my findings. Please refer to the scans that I have provided so that you can judge the text for yourself.

THE PHOTOGRAPHS

There are a total of 49 black and white photographs featured throughout the book. There are no color photographs featured in this volume. Most of the photographs are nice and clear, however there are some that have an out of focus look to them and some appear to be too dark. However this is typical for this period of history and consideration needs to be given to the fact that some of the photographs are several years old. With that said the quality of the photographs is of no fault of the author and do not take anything away from the book and provide a visual guide for the actions described in the book. They will also prove valuable to the military vehicle, figure and diorama modelers as well as the cavalry historian and enthusiast. Please refer to the scans that I have provided so that you can judge the photographs for yourself

ARMOR AND VEHICLES

There are several different types of vehicles and armor shown throughout this volume. Some of various vehicles and armor shown are:

- Harley-Davidson motorcycle
- White M3A1 scout car
- M8 armored car
- US ¼ ton Jeep
- M3A1 halftrack
- M8 Howitzer Motor Carriage
- M5A1 Stuart tank
- M20 armored utility car
- M24 Chaffee light tank
- Caterpillar D-4 light bulldozer
- Fargo Motors 1 ½ ton cargo truck
- M36 tank destroyer
- German staff car
Please refer to the scans of the photographs that I have provided to see some of the vehicles and armor I have mentioned.

CAVALRY GROUPS

There are several cavalry groups mentioned and discussed in great detail. Some of these cavalry groups are:

- 2nd Cavalry Group
- 3rd Cavalry Group
- 4th Cavalry Group
- 6th Cavalry Group
- 11th Cavalry Group
- 14th Cavalry Group
- 15th Cavalry Group
- 16th Cavalry Group
- 101st Cavalry Group
- 102nd Cavalry Group
- 106th Cavalry Group
- 113th Cavalry Group
- 115th Cavalry Group
- 316th Cavalry Brigade (Provisional)
- 91st Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron
- 117th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron
As I live in Wyoming I enjoyed reading about the 115th Cavalry Group “Powder River” due to the fact that it was a Wyoming National Guard unit that was inducted in 1941 and started out as horse-mechanized unit and then became a mechanized unit.

THE ILLUSTRATIONS

There are 8 color illustrations by illustrator Peter Dennis that are very well done and nicely detailed.

The color illustrations are of:

- The Mechanized Cavalryman’s Mounts
- The Reconnaissance Platoon
- Formations – Reconnaissance Teams
- Cavalry Troop Conducting Reconnaissance
- Formations – Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron
- Cavalry Squadron In Defense – September -November 1944
- Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop In Dismounted Attack
- Fire Support

Please refer to the scans that I have provided so that you can judge the illustrations for yourself.

MAP

There is 1 color map provided that is also one of the color illustrations. It is:

- Cavalry Squadron In Defense – September -November 1944

INFORMATIONAL CHARTS

There are 4 informational charts provided in this volume. They are:

- Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron (Mechanized) T/O&E 2-25, Sept 15, 1943
- Cavalry and infantry unit firepower comparison, 1945
- Examples of cavalry group task forces
- Cavalry groups and separate reconnaissance squadrons

THE CAPTIONS

The captions are well written and are very detailed and explain the accompanying photographs well. They cover things such as the units shown, as well as the vehicles, armor, equipment, weapons, dates, and locations shown. As with the text I didn’t notice any spelling or grammatical errors as I read through the captions. As I stated before, grammar and spelling might not be an important factor to everyone however it is something that I take notice of and pass on my findings. Please refer to the scans that I have provided so that you can judge the captions for yourself.

CONCLUSION

All in all I am very impressed with the book. It details the World War II US Cavalry Groups in the European Theater very well and in depth with specifics given to the various cavalry units involved. This volume will be of great use to the military vehicle and figure modeler as well as anyone interested in World War II European combat and obviously the cavalry enthusiast and historian. I would have no hesitation to add other Osprey Publishing LTD titles to my personal library nor would I hesitate to recommend this book to others.
This book was provided by Osprey Publishing Ltd. Please be sure to mention that you saw the book reviewed here when you make your purchase.

REFERENCES

The US Army Jeep at War
Armor At War Series
Steven J. Zaloga
Concord Publications Company

U.S. WWII M8 Light Armored Car M20 Armored Utility Car
Tankograd Publications Technical Manual Series Number 6021
Verlag Jochen Vollert and edited by Michael Franz
Tankograd Publications

Standard Catalog of U.S. Military Vehicles 1940-1965
Thomas Bernt
Krause Publications

The Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Worlds Tanks and Fighting Vehicles
Christopher F. Foss
Chartwell Books, Inc.

U.S. Armored Cars in action
Jim Mesko
Squadron/Signal Publications

Walk Around – M2/M3 Half-Track
Jim Mesko
Squadron/Signal Publications

Walk Around – M5/M5A1 Stuart
Jim Mesko
Squadron/Signal Publications

Walk Around – M3A1 Scout Car
David Doyle
Squadron/Signal Publications


Walk Around – U.S. Military Motorcycles of WWII
David Doyle
Squadron/Signal Publications

WWII Jeep in action
David Doyle
Squadron/Signal Publications

M3 Half-Track in action
Jim Mesko
Squadron/Signal Publications

Stuart U.S. Light Tanks in action
Steve Zaloga
Squadron/Signal Publications

M24 Chaffee in action
Jim Mesko
Squadron/Signal Publications

World War 2 Combat Uniforms and Insignia
Squadron/Signal Publications, #6013
Published in 1977
Martin Windrow with color illustrations by Gerry Embleton

World The Military Book Club Encyclopedia of Infantry Weapons of WWII
Saturn Books Ltd.
Ian V. Hogg


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Osprey

Amazon's Website where you can take a look inside the book and buy the Kindle edition:
Amazon