Ranger Force: Darby's Rangers in World War II

by Robert W. Black

One of the most famous units of World War II and all of military history First Americans to see active combat in the European theater Expands on events described in Rick Atkinson's An Army at Dawn and The Day of Battle In this gripping companion to his acclaimed The Battalion (978-0-8117-0184-6), which told the story of the 2nd Ranger Battalion in World War II, Robert W. Black turns his attention to the 1st, 3rd, and 4th Ranger Battalions, otherwise known as Darby's Rangers. These elite soldiers accompanied British commandos on the failed Dieppe Raid in August 1942, participated in Operation Torch in North Africa three months later, battled across Sicily the following summer, and ended the war in Italy, where they landed at Salerno in September 1943 and Anzio in January 1944 and were decimated at the Battle of Cisterna.

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

400 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1992

Reviews

[Jake · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was very difficult to get through. I love everything WW2 whether it's big picture or personal on the ground accounts. This book did neither well. It's written from date to some movement or action a ranger battalion did to the next date....for a majority of the book. Nothing but dates to dates with no deep detsul. Didn't expand to much of the big engagements we all know. Giving it 3 stars because the Dieppe raid and the Italian campaign sections were interesting enough.

[Martin Koenigsberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thorough and well researched book, and easy to read with lots of maps and diagrams. I had thought this was a complete history of all the US Army Ranger forces in WWII, but instead it is focused on the 1st, 3rd and 4th Ranger Battalions and their development, combat and eventual disbandment after the Battle of Cisterna in the Anzio Campaign. Col. Darby, the founder of America's imitation of the British Commandos is a central character energizing the text at all times. The anecdotes are always interesting as are the descriptions of tactical techniques. It is clear that Col. Black has spent a lot of time with the most voluble vets, and then pored over unit records and German sources. From Scotland training to action in North Africa, Sicily, and then the two landings in Italy, the book rockets along. This is a real gem for the Military Enthusiast/modeller/Gamer for there are loads of pictures, maps and diagrams, as well as specific action reports (how many tanks and spgs in a particular village and how arranged, for instance) that will make for better scenarios/dioramas. Perhaps too technical for some junior readers, but all ages will appreciate the straightforward style. The over arching theme of the misuse of elite units in semistatic urban warfare may resonate with others.

[Joe Holman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish I had read this book prior to attending Ranger School. It gave me great insight into so much of what we did in Ranger School and why. The author did a superb job of telling the story in easy to understand chronology and a format that made it fast pace. Those first Rangers definitely set a high bar for all who followed. They certainly led the way.

[Richard · Rating 2 out of 5]

Educational, but dry for my liking.

[Deborah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great to read some of the history of my grandfather who was a Darby's Ranger.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book. Kept you on the edge of your seat.

[Kirk · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm just starting this book, and flipping through it it seems like an updated version of Black's 1992 book, Rangers in World War II, albeit with more pictures scattered throughout. Does anybody know differently?

Like many other readers, I have a personal interest in this part of history: my grandfather was in the 3rd Battalion. He's always been reluctant to talk about it, for which I don't blame him, but we recently came across his discharge papers and it made me want to dig into things a little more without making him have to relive it through discussion.

Update: Just finished the book and eager to read more about the different units, especially what happened to them in 1944 after Italy and before most were disbanded in August. I know that Rangers were involved in the Normandy invasion, but I think that was just the 2nd and 5th Battalions, of which very little is mentioned in this book. I was surprised that so many typos and alternate spellings of people's names, sometimes in the same paragraph, appeared in this book. That sort of thing always makes me cringe when reading, and my enjoyment of the book suffers for it.

Col. Black's book is full of details and brief anecdotes that give you a sense of the experience. I wouldn't have minded a longer book with more of the same. The numerous pictures scattered throughout help to break up the text better than just having one picture section in the middle.

Now onto James Altieri's
Spearheaders: A Personal History of Darby's Rangers.

[John Nevola · Rating 5 out of 5]

Robert W. Black compiled an essential and important book in Rangers In World War II! He has documented all of the major battles as well as provided complete rosters of those who served, were wounded and killed in action. He also describes the Rangers Table of Organization and Equipment as well as every weapon a Ranger was trained to use.

Black eloquently traces the Ranger lineage back to pre-Revolutionary War days with the formation of Roger's Rangers. A truly uniquely American concept, the Rangers embody the spirit and ethos of America. Those who qualify to become Rangers are simply ordinary men who are superbly trained to a razor's edge. If the have one attribute missing in other men, it's their determination to endure the pain and struggle of the hard training. This spirit, which morphs into a tremendous pride on unit and country, carries them through the difficult times and horrendous experiences of war. They learned quickly that they could accomplish anything because "it is all in the heart and in the mind".

This book is fully indexed, well sourced and has adequate maps. A must read for World War II buffs and those interested in Special Operations.

[Paul Childs · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book about the Rangers was very much at the tactical level. What Companies where were, when they were moved and at what time/date that the move happened. Numbers of killed Germans, amount of prisoners and the like play are very reoccurring role. Often an individual event that occurs to a group of soldiers is mentioned, but you may never hear anything about that soldier again.

Sometimes he would start to tell of an event and you would get interested in what would be an interesting tangent, but then he just stops and moves onto another matter or he doesn't mention the names of the individuals that are a part of the story.

Overall it was OK book, but I think I find the ones that follow the soldiers stories more at the individual level to be more interesting. This one read like a report about how the battle went.

[Kyle · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book starts with some interesting stuff- the creation of the various Ranger batallions and the refining of what exactly they were and did. Once combat operations are covered, especially after the North African campaign, the book becomes highly repeitive. It is clear that the author relied heavily in places on nothing but the war diaries and logs of the various batallions, as whole chunks of chapters read "then the next night B company went out on patrol and killed two enemy and captured three, suffering one killed and four wounded. The night after that...)
There's some interesting stuff about developing tactics and doctrine, but precious little of it, and one has to wade through so much other marginal stuff to get there.