Review of "World War II Infantry in Color Photographs," by Laurent Mirouze

 Review of

World War II Infantry in Color Photographs, by Laurent Mirouze, ISBN 1872004156

Five out of five stars

Complete description of the personal effects of the ground troops

 When a soldier in the major nations fighting in World War II were outfitted, they were given a standard uniform for their type of unit as well as other personal equipment such as a mess kit, tools, weapons, ammunition, water bottle and gasmask.

 This book contains front and back photos of infantrymen outfitted in their full personal gear. The nations represented are Poland, Germany, France, Scottish, Belgium, Italian, Britain, Soviet Union, Japan and United States. When the soldiers for a nation were in different climates or roles, different images are used. For example, for the Germans there are the infantryman in the initial campaign in France, in the Libyan campaign, the light machine gunner on the Soviet front, the Waffen-SS infantryman on the Soviet front, the mountain soldier on the Italian front, the infantryman in Normandy in 1944, the Waffen-SS NCO in Normandy, the Waffen-SS soldier in the Ardennes in December 1944 and the German infantryman in Berlin in April-May 1945.

 In all cases, each of the items in their attire is numbered and described. It is very thorough, with the explanations including the reasons for the changes in uniform due to different battle conditions such as weather and terrain. They are nearly complete explanations of what each type of infantryman for each country carried into battle. This includes their weapons and how much ammunition they carried.

 If you have an interest in this data, this is a book that will bring you up to speed very quickly.