Author Description

A history of the Second World War with a focus on supply, transport, and other crucial operations—includes photos. Logistics, though less dramatic or glamorous than other aspects of war, nevertheless play a decisive role in the outcome of campaigns and battles. This book focuses on the role of logistics in World War II, marshaling some astounding facts and figures to convey the sheer scale of the task all belligerents faced to equip vast forces and supply them in the field. Military historian John Norris also draws on firsthand accounts to illustrate what this meant for the men and women in the logistics chain and those depending on it at the sharp end. Many of the vehicles, from supply trucks to pack mules, and other relevant hardware are discussed and illustrated with numerous photographs. Numerous topics are covered—for example, how Hitler’s panzer divisions were kept rolling in the Blitzkrieg (a German division in 1940 still had around five thousand horses, requiring hundreds of tons of fodder) and the British army’s disastrous loss of equipment at Dunkirk. This is a fascinating and valuable study of a neglected aspect of World War II.