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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.
This thesis examines the evolution of artillery tactics in World War II using General J. Lawton Collins’ U.S. VII Corps as a case study. This study first reviews artillery doctrine and tactics during World War I and during the 1920s and 1930s, in which time future leaders like General Collins were military students. In 1943, General Collins commanded an infantry division on Guadalcanal where he was one of the first American generals to implement the Army’s new doctrine of fire direction centers (FDCs) and massed fires using time on targets (TOTs). Collins then was selected to command the U.S. VII Corps for the invasion of Normandy and the subsequent breakout during OPERATION COBRA. From Normandy to the end of the war, Collins continued to hone his use of artillery based on his experience during the eleven-month campaign in Northwest Europe, contributing to his reputation as the best corps commander in World War II. This study looks at Army doctrine in 1944 to judge Collins’ artillery tactics and concludes that he used established doctrine and that his tactics are the foundation for today’s artillery tactics.
A native of New Orleans who graduated from West Point in 1917, General J. Lawton Collins was a division commander and later a corps commander in World War II, US Army chief of staff during the Korean War, and US special representative in Vietnam following the Geneva accords. “General Collins was one of driving forces in our military leadership during World War II and the postwar period. His autobiography, Lightning Joe, is a fascinating and dramatic account of those critical years, as well as a warm, personal story.” — W. Averell Harriman “The route to leadership in combat is long, tedious, competitive and difficult. General Collins’ splendid record indicates that he understood and mastered the challenge. Attaining the highest commands and acquitting himself in magnificent style, Joe Collins added brilliant pages to the already bright history of the United States Army.” — General Mark W. Clark “Lightning Joe is a remarkably interesting book. It is packed with statistics, dates, and places, and certainly will be an essential reference book for anyone interested in World War II in Europe and the years immediately following that war.” — General James M. Gavin “Anyone who has wondered how the small Army officer corps of the 1920s and 1930s was able to produce so many effective and often brilliant commanders in World War II will find an answer in this autobiography of General J. Lawton Collins. General Collins recounts his varied experiences in war and peace with exacting accuracy of fact and in an interesting and lucid manner, which makes his book most valuable reading both for the historian and the lay reader wishing to learn more about what it takes to make a successful modern general.” — General Maxwell D. Taylor “In this autobiography, General J. Lawton Collins exhibits the qualities of mind which won him the reputation as one of the brainiest of American combat commanders: clarity, judiciousness, incisiveness, and realism... a book which should prove valuable to both historian and the general reader... [an] admirable book.” — Ronald Spector, Military Affairs “[H]ere is a soldier-memoirist grappling earnestly to convey the possible benefits of his own tactical experience to future tacticians, as well as to contribute to the historian’s more forthright quest for as true as possible a reconstruction of the past. Collins is a candidly self-critical memoirist... As a memoirist, Collins has met a standard comparable to that of his exercise of command — which is saying a great deal.” — Russell F. Weigley, The Review of Politics “The picture that emerges from [the book]... is that of a man of extraordinary good judgment who as a combat commander was neither rash nor overly cautious, an officer who was at once modest and serenely confident of his skills, one who had no time for military posturing... in sum, here is a sharply written and fast-moving account of the life of a man who was intimately involved in some of the most important happenings and with some of the most important people of the present century. It is a book that will appeal to scholars and to general readers alike.” — John Edward Wiltz, The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society “J. Lawton Collins was one of the most important and influential American military leaders of the twentieth century... His descriptions of the fighting in France, the Battle of the Bulge, and the ultimate conquest of Germany offer important insights for anyone interested in the Second World War... Lightning Joe is the candid, thoughtful appraisal of world-shaking events by a man considered to be one of the most innovative, aggressive, and effective generals the United States has ever produced.” — Midwest Book Review
Chronicles the life and military career of Joseph "Lightning Joe" Lawton Collins, and details his efforts in the planning of D-Day, during the attack on Utah Beach on June, 6th, the Battle of the Bulge, and more in order to secure an Allied victory in World War II.
General George C. Marshall, chief of staff of the U.S. Army during World War II, faced the daunting task not only of overseeing two theaters of a global conflict but also of selecting the best generals to carry out American grand strategy. Marshall and His Generals is the first and only book to focus entirely on that selection process and the performances, both stellar and disappointing, that followed from it. Stephen Taaffe chronicles and critiques the background, character, achievements, and failures of the more than three dozen general officers chosen for top combat group commands—from commanders like Dwight Eisenhower and Douglas MacArthur to some nearly forgotten. Taaffe explores how and why Marshall selected the Army’s commanders. Among his chief criteria were character (including “unselfish and devoted purpose”), education, (whether at West Point, Fort Leavenworth, or the Army War College), and striking a balance between experience and relative youth in a war that required both wisdom and great physical stamina. As the war unfolded, Marshall also factored into his calculations the combat leadership his generals demonstrated and the opinions of his theater commanders. Taaffe brings into sharp focus the likes of Eisenhower, MacArthur, George Patton, Omar Bradley, Walter Krueger, Robert Eichelberger, Courtney Hodges, Lucian Truscott, J. Lawton Collins, Alexander “Sandy” Patch, Troy Middleton, Matthew Ridgeway, Mark Clark, and twenty-five other generals who served in the conflict. He describes their leadership and decision-making processes and provides miniature biographies and personality sketches of these men drawn from their personal papers, official records, and reflections of fellow officers. Delving deeper than other studies, this path-breaking work produces a seamless analysis of Marshall’s selection process of operational-level commanders. Taaffe also critiques the performance of these generals during the war and reveals the extent to which their actions served as stepping stones to advancement. Ambitious in scope and filled with sharp insights, Marshall and His Generals is essential reading for anyone interested in World War II and military leadership more generally.
The Lost Soldier offers a perspective on World War II we don’t always get from histories and memoirs. Based on the letters home of Pete Lynn, the diary of his wife, Ruth, and meticulous research in primary and secondary sources, this book recounts the war of a married couple who represent so many married couples, so many soldiers, in World War II. The book tells the story of this couple, starting with their life in North Carolina and recounting how the war increasingly insinuated itself into the fabric of their lives, until Pete Lynn was drafted, after which the war became the essential fact of their life. Author Chris J. Hartley intricately weaves together all threads—soldier and wife, home front and army life, combat, love and loss, individual and army division—into an intimate, engaging narrative that is at once gripping military history and engaging social history.
Discusses the first Army headquarters in the European theater, from its activation in October 1943 to V-E Day in May 1945. Shows the Army headquarters of World War 2 as a complicated organization with functions ranging from the immediate supervision of tactical operations to long-range operational planning and the sustained support of frontline units. CMH Pub 70-60.
The Battle of the Bulge lives in history as the U.S. Army's largest and bloodiest battle of World War II. This innovative study of American military leadership in action during the battle examines the performance of six generals in the days and weeks after the German attack in December 1944.
The definitive chronicle of the Allied triumph in Europe during World War II, Rick Atkinson's Liberation Trilogy is now together in one ebook bundle From the War in North Africa to the Invasion of Normandy, the Liberation Trilogy recounts the hard fought battles that led to Allied victory in World War II. Pulitzer Prize-winning and New York Times bestselling author Rick Atkinson brings great drama and exquisite detail to the retelling of these battles and gives life to a cast of characters, from the Allied leaders to rifleman in combat. His accomplishment is monumental: the Liberation Trilogy is the most vividly told, brilliantly researched World War II narrative to date. WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE AND NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER