German Combat Equipment 1939-45

Osprey Men at Arms #234

by Gordon L. Rottman, Ronald Volstad (Illustrator)

The field equipment of the German Army in World War II was closely related to that used throughout World War I and earlier, yet it was of relatively light weight, ruggedly constructed, well designed, functional, and generally of a high quality, though this deteriorated in the later war years. A high degree of design standardisation was maintained in most categories of equipment, though materials and their colours often varied widely. There were also many different specialisations for the various arms of service as well as theatres of combat, such as the Afrikakorps in the Western Desert. This title investigates all manner of German combat equipments throughout World War II, from belt buckles to magazine pouches.

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

48 pages, Paperback

First published April 25, 1991

About the author

Gordon L. Rottman served for 26 years in the US Army in Special Forces, airborne infantry, long-range reconnaissance patrol, and military intelligence assignments in the Regular Army, Army National Guard, and Army Reserve. He has worked as a Special Operations Forces scenario writer for 14 years at the Army's Joint Readiness Training Center, Fort Polk, Louisiana where he developed training exercises for Special Forces.
Gordon began writing military history books in 1984 and is currently a full-time author. He has written 50 books for Osprey. He is married with four children and lives in Cypress, Texas.

Reviews

[Erika · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a very thorough description of the equipment used by the German army during World War 2, although there are some mentions of items that remained in use since years before the war started.

Affordable and interesting looking as this book is, I would say it's not for everyone. I had some issues going through it myself, getting tired every now and then of the detailed yet bland listing of items. If I could have had it my way I would have loved to read some comments or anecdotes by actual WW2 soldiers regarding the equipment. However, that's just me being jaded by watching too many documentaries... such an approach was clearly not on the author's agenda, who's main audience target must be collectors. I could imagine this being useful for someone wanting to make accurate illustrations of the period or maybe someone working on a costume (I wonder if people making movies do so much research on the subject).

The illustrations were nice and well organized. The photographs I didn't like so much since the quality wasn't the best for today's standards (this is a 90s book, after all) and I couldn't really tell apart all the items mentioned on the pictures' captions. I would have liked to see a photograph with a detailed description like the one used on the illustrations. Maybe a picture, then a color illustration of the same picture on the side and then the list of items displayed. But, as usual, I know I ask too much.

Among the things I did learn and take with me after reading this little book was that there's a whole lot of thinking going into uniforms and equipments. It was interesting to read how this or that item was consistently modified as the war went on for either make it more efficient, less costly or to be used in different environments (like mountains, desserts or snowy terrain). Also, you learn that soldiers had a bunch of stuff on themselves at all times, most of them unrelated to any kind of weaponry, going from mending tools to shovels and rations. According to the author, regular equipment weighted around 9 kilograms. Can you imagine walking around with 9 kilos on your back all day long? I guess those soldiers' abs didn't come for free.

[Michael Dorosh · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book with clear illustrations by the master, Ron Volstad. Terrific text, and a nice concise, affordable volume. If you can afford only one book on German equipment, this is the one to get.

While you won't be able to assemble a set of full gear using this as a reference, this is an unbelievably good primer on the basics of German field equipment. Covers all basic items of kit very well, and gives dates of introduction, common colour shades, and extent of issue (ie to whom the items were issued and for what purposes).

Illustrations and colour plates top notch - clear and well laid out, rich with detail. Photos very good also, many unpublished ones, and of a uniformly high quality. Equipment and artifact photos a little poorly done, obviously taken outside in bright sunlight, making for harsh shadows and poor detail.

Overall, possibly the best basic guide out there, certainly for the money. Next step up would be Lee's SOLDAT series, which is more of an investment and lacks the clarity of Volstad's colour plates, but goes into more detail from a collector's point of view regarding variants and how to tell fakes from real items.