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This volume, part of a series of reference books illustrating American uniform development, covers U.S. Army clothing and equipment items employed during World War II. The work focuses on the combat uniform's evolution and its utilization in battle. Selected individual and organizational equipment is also included.
Despite the number of books already written on Army uniforms of World War II, this book covers much new ground. For example, extensive research in the Quartermaster Board records provided data on the vital M1943 experimental combat uniform, as well as many components of female soldiers' field attire. Both areas were only briefly discussed in the Army's official historical studies and, despite their tremendous importance to wartime and further development of uniforms, virtually overlooked by other uniform books. Most of the photos included in this volume have never before been published.
The American military effort of the second world war was truly gargantuan, and to meet the needs of troops throughout the world, the Quartermaster Corps procured all sorts of clothing in lavish quantities. From 1940 through 1945, for instance, the Army acquired over 175 million coats and jackets, 235 million pairs of trousers, nearly 146 million pairs of boots and shoes, and hundreds of thousands of other items ranging from wet weather parkas to head toques. In order to fairly portray such diversity in this volume, a broad approach to material description and categorization was used. This differs somewhat from the method used in the first volume of this series, US. Army Uniforms of the Vietnam War, which focused on the relatively narrow subject of tropical clothing in a limited conflict.
Military uniform development is an evolutionary process. The impact of that development during World War II on the uniforms and equipment used in Vietnam can be clearly seen. The parachute jumper's suit determined design choices for the Vietnam-era combat uniform, and experimental tropical apparel directly influenced later fabric choices for a jungle environment. Appendix B (Tests of the Tropical Uniform) details developmental work during World War II that led to clothing selections for Southeast Asian warfare.
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