Paratrooper! The Saga Of Parachute And Glider Combat Troops During World War II

by Gerard M. Devlin. Foreword by William P. Yarborough, William P. Yarborough (Contributor)

Book by Devlin, Gerard

Genres: History, Military Fiction, World War II, Nonfiction, Military History

1 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 1979

Reviews

[Jorge3]

Great historical chronology

A very detailed and complete history of the WW2 Airborne forces. The book provided in depth knowledge from conceptual foundation right through to the last units participation in the war.

[ED Anthony]

A magnificent book,especially if you ever wanted to know how airborne units were formed and developed into the special units they are today. A long read but very,very informative. A must read for
anybody qualifed to wear jump wings. This old paratrooper of the 173rd Abn Bde (SEP) will win many bar bets with this knowledge in hand!

AIRBORNE......ALL THE WAY !!!!!!!!!

[Nick Boldrini]

Good overview of all theatres

[Richard A.]

this is my 3rd time reading this book. I never tire, reading the history of our US Airborne history. 16 years on Jump status.

[Kyle]

It begins rather well. I'm most fascinated with the stories of how special types of troops were developed and initially organized. Without any idea about how such troops were to be employed, training, doctrine and equipment had essentially to be developed in a vacuum. Devlin does good justice to this story, particularly of the original Parachute Test Platoon.

Once the Airborne divisions are deployed, however, the book becomes much more of a survey of general Second World War history, with several annoying excursions into entirely non-airborne related politics. Devlin certainly tells a good story, but the book is called 'Paratrooper', not 'Negotiating with the Italians.' Market-Garden and other later ETO drops also seem to get less treatment.

The book does remain much more focused when dealing with the rather more limited role of paratroopers in the PTO, bringing up the more philosophical question: how far do you cover the actions of Airborne or Glider units that never dropped, but fought entirely as leg infantry?

Worth a good skim, especially in the beginning, but you'd be better off reading “A Bridge Too Far” and some of Ruggero's new books.