World War II Airborne Warfare Tactics
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Gordon L. Rottman / Peter Dennis
overview
Airborne warfare - the deployment of large numbers of troops by parachute and glider - reached its zenith during World War II - the only war in which its potential prizes ever justified its great costs, material and human. It required wholly new equipment and tactics; offered a new capability - to insert whole divisions behind enemy lines by surprise at great risks. This book will explain and compare the differences in doctrine, organization, equipment and employment of US, British, German and Soviet airborne forces as they developed during the war; and will examine one major operation by each.
contents
Origins of airborne forces · Early doctrine · Response to these lessons: formation of multiple battalions · Delivery to the battlefield · Weapons and equipment · Late war doctrine and organization · Execution of an airborne operation, step by step · Four representative airborne operations examined · Application of WWII lessons in postwar operations