Buttoned Up : American Armor and the 781st Tank Battalion in World War II / Westin Ellis Robeson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Robeson, Westin Ellis, 1984- author.

Series:

Williams-Ford Texas A&M University military history series ; no. 157.

Williams-Ford Texas A&M University military history series ; number 157

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

United States. Army. Tank Battalion, 781st--History.

United States.

United States. Army--Armored troops--History--World War, 1939-1945.

World War, 1939-1945--Tank warfare.

World War, 1939-1945.

World War, 1939-1945--Regimental histories--United States.

Genre:

Electronic books.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

College Station : Texas A&M University Press, [2017]

Summary:

Independent tank battalions were small, self-contained armored units attached to larger infantry divisions as necessary during World War II. The United States Army believed this would provide infantry the firepower and protection it needed on an ever-changing battlefield. In Buttoned Up: American Armor and the 781st Tank Battalion in World War II , Westin E. Robeson explores the contribution of American armor to the Allied victory in World War II. Robeson first provides contextual background with a consideration of the history of the tank itself and the development of armor doctrine during the First World War and interwar years. He then addresses the rebirth of American armor in response to the German attacks in Europe. Finally, he focuses on a particular independent tank battalion, the 781st, as a case study of the effectiveness of armor in World War II. Buttoned Up introduces the reader to the application of American armored doctrine and provides a new understanding of the tank as a weapon.

Contents:

Origins through 1939

An introduction

Dawn of the tank

The Great War and its wake

American armor during the interwar years

Guderian and the German attack on Poland

Panzers in France

Summer 1940-Fall 1944

Creating the US armored force

African desert, British troops, American tanks

World War

El Alamein

Disaster in Tunisia

Lessons from the desert

The 781st Tank Battalion, Fall 1944-VE day

The Mediterranean and France

The separate tank battalion

Battalion operations, October-December 1944

Hunting tanks, improving tanks

Battalion operations, January 1945

Battalion operations, February-March 1945

Battalion operations, April-May 1945

Postwar and review.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

1-62349-567-9

OCLC:

1048290908