Gordon L. Rottman – författare

An illustrated guide to the defences beset by prolonged and bloody fighting for control of the Japanese occupied Pacific islands in World War II.No two islands were alike in the systems and nature of their defensive emplacements, and local improvization and command preferences affected both materials used and defensive models. This title details the establishment, construction and effectiveness of Japanese temporary and semi-permanent crew-served weapons positions and individual and small-unit fighting positions.Integrated obstacles and minefields, camouflage and the changing defensive principles are also covered.

From its very inception the United States Army Special Forces has been enmeshed in controversy, its mission misunderstood to varying degrees, and its very existence opposed by some of the Army hierarchy.Nevertheless it continues to serve in a highly specialised role in all manner of differing conditions. There can be few better qualified to chronicle the history of this unique organisation than former Special Forces Group weapons specialist Gordon Rottman, whose expert knowledge is clearly evident in this authoritative text.This volume also contains 12 full page colour plates by one of the world's most respected military artists, Ron Volstad.

While much has been published on the armed forces of the USSR during the 1980s, surprisingly little is available on the forces supplied by the other member nations of the Warsaw Pact.Rivalling the size of the United States Army, the combined ground forces of the six non-Soviet Warsaw Pact countries totalled over 775,000 active troops, with almost two million ground forces reserves. This book examines the history, organization and uniforms of the often overlooked DDR, Czechoslovak, Polish, Bulgarian, Hungarian and Romanian forces at the end of the Cold War.

Ranger - the very word conjures up visions of small, highly trained units executing lightning-fast raids on an unexpecting enemy. It is also synonymous with high esprit de corps and excellence at arms.The US Army Rangers provide units of well-disciplined soldiers who possess the knowledge and courage to operate on their own, deep behind enemy lines. Gordon L. Rottman explores the history of these unique troops, starting with the original 'Rogers' Rangers' company of 1756, whose daring operations and deep penetrations of enemy-held country laid down the pattern for all subsequent Ranger units to follow.

Whether referred to as web gear, TE-21, TA50, LBE or LCE, the American soldier's individual combat equipment was seldom praised – except by its developers.Nevertheless, it has always been, and will continue to be an essential part of the fighting man's burden. With the aid of plenty of contemporary photographs, diagrams, and eight full page colour plates by Osprey veteran Ron Volstad, Gordon Rottman's text unearths a wealth of information on the changing nature of US combat equipments from 1910-1988.

When conscription was eliminated in the early 1970s, the US Army found itself with a very different kind of soldier.While the personality of the Army remained the same, the organization of its higher levels of command and combat formations, and the internal structure of its units underwent major changes under the 'Army of Excellence' program of the 1980s.This book explores the US Army of the late 80s, including the training methods, weapon systems, Reserve Components, organization and uniforms of one of the world's most potent fighting forces. The text is illustrated with numerous photographs and eight colour plates.

There exists among the world's armies a proliferation of special forces groups.Today's smaller armies, especially those of developing nations, demand maximum efficiency in force structure and employment. Mountain, jungle, arctic and desert areas require special purpose units trained, conditioned, and equipped to master these environments.This volume by ex-weapons specialist in the US 7th Special Forces Group, Gordon L. Rottman, details the insignia of a myriad of special forces groups from all parts of the globe, from Portugal's Commando Regiment to the North Yemen 'Al Mithalaat' Brigade. A wealth of illustrations and photographs accompany the text, including 12 full page colour plates by Simon McCouaig.

The first 50 years of the US Army airborne arm is a story of continuing battles with the nation's enemies, of battles within the Army's hierarchy, of change, and of adaptation.This comprehensive, illustrated volume tracks this history, highlighting the airborne soldier's uncanny ability to adapt and be flexible over the years. Focusing on the motivation and ésprit de corps this attitude fostered within these units, this is an engaging survey of how the airborne army changed in the years between 1940 and 1990.The first class pairing of Gordon L. Rottman and Ron Volstad bring to life the history of these remarkable troops.

The field equipment of the German Army in World War II was closely related to that used throughout World War I and earlier.It was of relatively light weight, ruggedly constructed, well designed, functional, and generally of a high quality, though this deteriorated in the later war years. A high degree of design standardisation was maintained in most categories of equipment, though materials and their colours often varied widely. There were also many different specialisations for the various arms of service as well as theatres of combat, such as the Afrikakorps in the Western Desert.This thorough and illustrated guide investigates all manner of German combat equipments throughout World War II, from belt buckles to magazine pouches.

The brutal fighting between US Marines and Japanese infantry on the island of Guadalcanal in many ways came to typify the island-hopping war in the Pacific.This book not only explores the differing tactics and equipment used by the two combatants but also shows how the challenges of fighting in inhospitable tropical jungles impacted on soldiers on the ground, as combatants had to deal not only with their determined opponents but also the twin issues of disease and stretched supply lines.Written by a former special forces veteran with extensive knowledge of jungle warfare, this fully illustrated book lifts the veil on one of the most pivotal and ferocious close combat duels of World War II.

On August 17–18, 1942, 211 men of the US Marine Corps’ 2nd Raider Battalion conducted a daring amphibious raid on the Japanese-occupied Makin Island in the South Pacific.This ambitious but flawed operation was intended to divert Japanese reinforcements bound for Guadalcanal, over 1,000 miles to the southwest, in the wake of the US landings there ten days earlier; the Raiders were to destroy the seaplane base and radio station, take prisoners, and collect intelligence. Although yielding limited results, it was to be an invaluable test of the innovative training and tactics employed by the Raiders, and a crucial boost to national morale at this difficult stage in the war.Featuring specially commissioned full-colour artwork and expert analysis, this gripping account of the fateful Makin Raid tells the whole story, from the plan’s conception to its troubled execution and aftermath.

Since 1915 the lethal, portable and reliable hand grenade has become an essential and ubiquitous weapon in the infantryman’s armory. Allowing the user to inflict damage on his opponent within throwing range without leaving cover, the portable, lethally efficient hand grenade is a ubiquitous weapon of modern warfare, and has now found its way into law-enforcement arsenals too.Featuring specially commissioned full-colour artwork and an array of revealing photographs of grenades in use and in close-up, this engaging study explores and assesses the origins, development, combat use, and lasting legacy of the formidable military hand grenade.

Even when Western Allied troops gained a foothold in Normandy, World War II in Europe was far from over. The route to Germany’s interior and the Nazis final surrender was long, arduous and blood-stained.The Wehrmacht’s stubborn resistance and the shocking losses suffered by US, British, Canadian and ‘Free European’ troops meant that the Allies had to adapt and refine small-unit tactics, battle-drills, and their use of weapons and munitions. The troops who finally met up with the Red Army in Germany were a very different fighting force to the one that struggled up the beaches of northern France. This book offers a comprehensive guide to the late-war Allied troops, exploring their uniforms, equipment, organization and tactics.With emphasis on lessons learned since D-Day, detailed description and accurate colour pictures illustrate the means by which the Allied troops on the ground evolved to the point of winning the war on the Western Front.

Belts, ammo pouches and bags, weapons holsters and cases, canteens, mess and first aid kit, packs, tools and bivouac equipment - a comprehensive illustrated guide to exactly what the World War II GI carried on the battlefield.A soldier’s “web gear” is as important to his ability to live and fight on the battlefield as are his clothing and weapons. In World War II the US Army issued equipment items that had originated in 1910, though modified and augmented in the 1920s and 1930s, and again during the war itself as a result of combat experience.This book describes and illustrates the great majority of the personal equipment provided for infantry riflemen, GIs armed with other weapons and their ammunition-bearers, officers, and medics. In addition to the web gear itself it covers canteens, mess kit, and first aid items; weapons-related and other specialist items; the long struggle to produce a practical backpack; bivouac and shelter gear, and the most commonly carried tools. The text also explains the basics of materials, colors, markings, nomenclature, and weights for the guidance of collectors.It is illustrated with wartime photos and color close-ups, and the wide-ranging color plates specially prepared for this book offer more than 130 images.

As infantry units advanced across Europe the only support they could rely on from day to day was that provided by the heavy weapons of their own units.While thundering tanks struck fear into the hearts of their enemies it was the machine guns, mortars and light cannon that proved to be most important, causing the majority of casualties suffered during World War II. Common principles were shared across units but the wide variety of weapons available to the different armies altered the way they were used in battle.Focusing on the US, British, German and Soviet troops, this title offers a comprehensive guide to infantry fire support tactics used through World War II. Combat reports are complemented by specially commissioned artwork to show the way in which tactics varied, and highlight how developments obliged opposing armies to review their own methods.

A complete illustrated guide to everything that Vietnam-era American GIs and their allies carried into battle including all the belts, pouches and packs.Over the eight years of the Vietnam War, US forces used three major types of equipment sets, with numerous modifications for particular circumstances. Different equipments were also used by Special Forces, the South Vietnamese, and other allied ground troops. Written by a Special Forces veteran of the conflict, Vietnam War US & Allied Combat Equipments offers a comprehensive examination of the gear that US and allied soldiers had strapped around their bodies, what they contained, and what those items were used for.Fully illustrated with photographs and artwork detailing how each piece of equipment was used, this book will fascinate enthusiasts of military equipment and is an ideal reference guide for re-enactors, modellers and collectors of Vietnam War memorabilia.

In the early hours of June 6, 1944, the first of over 150,000 Allied soldiers stormed five beaches in Normandy against fierce German resistance.They were specially trained and task-organized in a range of different landing teams depending on their means of transport, their tasks, and the resistance they anticipated. The first assault infantry were accompanied by tankers, combat engineers, and other specialist personnel, to breach German obstacles, knock out defensive positions, and to defend and prepare the beaches for the follow-on waves. On some beaches the plans worked, on others they were disrupted by bad weather, faulty timing, or enemy fire, with consequences that varied from survivable confusion to absolute carnage. This is an in-depth study of the uniforms, equipment, weapons, passage, landings, and tactics of US, British and Canadian assault units during the period from before H-Hour on June 6 to dawn on June 7.

In an effort to provide the US infantryman with more firepower to cover the range gap between the hand grenade and the light mortar, the 40mm M79 grenade launcher – a shoulder-fired, single-shot weapon – entered service with US forces in 1961.Reliable, easy to use, and lethally effective, the M79 soon became an iconic symbol of the Vietnam War and had a profound influence on small-unit tactics. As the Vietnam conflict continued, it was joined on the front line by experimental models such as the magazine-fed T148E1, as well as two launchers intended to be fitted under the barrel of the new M16 assault rifle: Colt’s XM148 and AAI Corporation’s M203. The M203 remains in limited service today, while the US Marine Corps now also fields the M32 multiple grenade launcher – like the M79, a standalone weapon.Featuring full-colour artwork, this is the story of the rugged and formidable grenade launchers that equipped the United States and its allies in Vietnam and beyond, from the 1960s to date.

From Guadalcanal to Okinawa, US Marines formed the tip of the spear as Allied forces sought to push the Japanese back to their Home Islands.The United States Marine Corps came into its own in the Pacific Islands campaign against Japan in World War II. This fascinating study tracks the deployments of the various Marine divisions throughout the war and explains their composition, but also goes deeper, to detail the individual regiments – the focus of the marines' identity and pride. It explains the organization of the Marine infantry regiment and its equipment, and how they evolved during the war.The marine infantryman's evolving uniforms, field equipment and weapons are illustrated throughout using specially commissioned artwork and detailed descriptions to produce a fitting portrait of the US military’s elite fighting force in the Pacific.

During the Vietnam War, the Viet Cong were frequently unable to hold their own in stand-up fights against US and allied forces who were superior in strength, firepower, mobility, and logistics.They relied instead on traditional guerrilla warfare tactics including small-scale hit- and-run attacks, ambushes, terrorist actions, and precision attacks against bases. These included one of the oldest of guerrilla weapons – the boobytrap.Booby traps could be made in large numbers in village workshops and jungle camps using locally available materials as well as modern munitions. The VC were adept at making booby traps ‘invisible’ in the varied terrain of Vietnam, often emplacing them in locations and surroundings totally unexpected by their enemies. Booby traps could be incredibly simple or startlingly complex and ingenious, ranging from pointed sticks to command-detonated submerged floating river mines. Besides a wide variety of booby traps, they also used land and water mines, both contact/pressure-detonated and command-detonated. Between January 1965 and June 1970 11 percent of US troop deaths in action and 17 percent of injuries were by caused booby traps and mines.This fascinating title explores not only the wide variety of booby traps employed by the Viet Cong, but also their various uses in halting, stalling, or locating an enemy, and the many evolutions these traps underwent in order to retain the element of surprise. Written by a Vietnam veteran with first-hand experience of such traps, this is an engaging look at one of the most frightening aspects of guerrilla warfare.

Private Henrik Hahnemann is an eighteen-year-old Missouri farm boy growing up in the hard scrabble times of the Great Depression. Known for his hunting skills, his close-knit family often depend on him to bring home dinner. Shaken and bitter by the attack on Pearl Harbor, he is fixated on revenge and chooses the Marine Corps as the means for his personal retribution. Granted an early high school graduation, "Handyman" Henrik struggled with the change from a peaceful famer's son, but his platoon come to recognize his shooting and hunting skills. When the chips were down he summons the determination necessary to survive against hopeless odds. Superior Private Obatia Yoshiro is an average twenty-year-old student expected to eventually take over his father's glassworks. To most an unassuming economics student, he has another side – a side shaped by long hours crewing an uncle's fishing boat where he is exposed to the physical and mental demands of the elements. His school plans suddenly undermined by a draft notice, he makes the best of a dismal and brutal life of absolute obligation and unquestioning obedience. Both will end up on a rugged and brutal South Pacific island called Guadalcanal, where, two determined nations pit all they could spare; committing every airplane, ship, and soldier they could funnel into the cauldron. Values and beliefs, discipline and obedience, massed firepower or skill at arms – what will prevail in this nightmare?

On the major European and Russian fronts throughout World War II, the challenge of crossing rivers under fire was absolutely central to any advance.The Panzers that crossed the Meuse at Sedan in May 1940 cut the French Army in two. The Wehrmacht’s ability to cross the great rivers of the western USSR was vital to the lightning advances of Operation Barbarossa in 1941, and in 1943–45 the Red Army had to drive the Germans back from a succession of river lines during their advance to the Reich, culminating in the Vistula and Oder lines.With World War II armies dependent on heavy mechanized equipment, the function which rivers played became essential for soldiers in all sides of the war. World War II River Assault Tactics details the methods, means and analysis of specific successes and failures.Featuring a wealth of wartime photos, particularly from German sources, and full-colour plates illustrating tactical scenarios, the subject is brought to life.

Two major Army units operated in the Pacific – the 11th Airborne Division and the 503rd Parachute Regimental Combat Team (PRCT).They launched small-scale operations on extremely difficult, if not, outright dangerous, terrain, while also conducting amphibious assaults, fighting on jungled hills, swamps and mud. The two units were very different, with the 503rd PRCT being reserved for special purpose missions and the 11th Airborne Division occupying a more traditional role.This title examines the background to these two units and their training, before detailing the specific equipment used in the theatre and, finally and most importantly, the combat experience at a personal level of the US Army Paratrooper in the Pacific.

The parachute infantry regiments were among the most highly decorated US Army units of World War II, and between them they saw action right across the world.The elite nature of these units led to them being committed to action not only in the way that had been intended; their quality tempted commanders to keep them in the line longer than their light armament justified, and they were tested to the limit. This engaging study traces the story of each of the 17 regiments, from their creation and training in the USA, through their deployments overseas, to their combat jumps and all their battles.The book is illustrated with wartime photographs, many previously unpublished, and eight full-colour plates detailing the specifics of their uniforms, insignia, and equipment practices, which often differed from unit to unit.

First adopted in 1917, the rugged and reliable Browning .30-caliber machine gun remained in US service into the Vietnam era, and is still occasionally found in use elsewhere even today.Produced in both water-cooled and air-cooled versions, it has been employed in every imaginable role for a machine gun – antipersonnel, antiaircraft, mounted on aircraft as both defensive and offensive armament, defensive armament aboard vehicles (armored and soft-skin), mounted on watercraft, and others.Employing gripping first-hand testimony and featuring specially commissioned illustrations and detailed photographs, many in color, this lively study of the Browning .30-caliber machine gun reveals the origins, combat history and legacy of this versatile and dependable weapon.

Featuring specially commissioned full-color artwork, the story of the perilous glider assaults carried out by the men who sometimes led and sometimes followed World War II paratroopers onto their objectives.Military gliders came of age in World War II, when glider assault infantry were the forerunners of today’s helicopter-delivered airmobile troops. From the light pre-war sports and training machines, several nations developed troop-carrying gliders capable of getting a whole squad or more of infantry, with heavy weapons, onto the ground quickly, with the equipment that paratroopers simply could not carry. They made up at least one-third of the strength of US, British, and German airborne divisions in major battles, and they also carried out several daring coup de main raids and spearhead operations. However, the dangers were extreme, the techniques were difficult, the losses were heavy (particularly during night operations), and the day of the glider assault was relatively brief.This book explains the development and organization of glider troops, their mounts, and the air squadrons formed to tow them, the steep and costly learning-curve and the tactics that such troops learned to employ once they arrived on the battlefield.

Two of World War II’s most distinctive weapons, the Panzerfaust and Panzerschreck offered German and other infantrymen the ability to destroy enemy tanks singlehandedly at close ranges.While the Panzerschreck owed its origins largely to the US bazooka, the Panzerfaust was a revolutionary design that was unlike any previous weapon, and went on to influence anti-tank technology and tactics for decades after World War II. Allied troops, notably Soviet forces, made widespread use of captured Panzerfäuste, and they were also supplied to German allies such as Finland, Hungary and Bulgaria. Written by an expert on anti-tank warfare, this book reveals the fascinating development history of these two feared weapons and assesses the tactics that were employed by the soldiers using them.

A highly-illustrated examination of the controversial battle for Peleliu.Equalling Tarawa, Iwo Jima and Okinawa in scale and ferocity, Peleliu has long been regarded as the Pacific War’s “forgotten battle”, and perhaps one that should never have been fought. A massive carrier-based attack some weeks before the invasion destroyed all aircraft and shipping in the area and virtually isolated the Japanese garrison. 1st Marine Division commander, General Rupertus, made extravagant claims that the capture of Peleliu would “only take three days – maybe two.” But the Japanese fought a bloody battle of attrition from prepared positions and, in a struggle of unprecedented savagery, a whole Marine Division was bled white.

The outbreak of World War II set in motion a massive expansion of the United States Marine Corps, leading to a 24-fold increase in size by August 1945.This book is the first of several volumes to examine the Corps' meteoric wartime expansion and the evolution of its units. It covers the immediate pre-war period, the rush to deploy defense forces in the war's early months, and the Marines' first combat operations on Guadalcanal, New Georgia, and Bougainville. It focuses on the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Marine Divisions (MarDivs) and the provisional 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Marine Brigades (MarBdes).