Ed Rotondaro
03-16-2009, 08:10 PM
Hi:
I recently finished reading Charles MacDonald's book "Company Commander" which is considered on the classic accounts of combat in WWII. The author (now deceased) wrote the book in 1947 based on the dairies he kept from 1944 to the end of the war. He served with the 2nd Infantry Division and was given command of a rifle company in the fall of 1944 at the young age of 21 (he would turn 22 that November). MacDonald eventually went on to become deputy historian for the US army and would pen "Crusade in Europe" and his classic "A Time for Trumpets", one of the best accounts of the Ardennes offensive ever written. The fact that the author was there when the brunt of the SS armor fell on the American forces adds to the versimiltude.
This book gives you a good insight into the daily life of a combat infantryman. The actual combat accounts are somewhat sparse compared to say "Band of Brothers". MacDonald's focus was on the job of commanding a company and how that was done. He gives the insiders look at how a company moves into position and relieves another company as well as the simple things that keep soldiers going in the middle of a war. Guides become very important just to prevent a unit from getting lost or out of position (an all too frequent occurance even with good maps). Communications were very highly stressed with land lines set up as soon as the company took up their positions. While radios did malfunction, one gets the feeling that the US Army probably had the best overall communications of any combatant during the war.
One is struck by the tiredness and sheer uncomfortable conditions that an infantryman was expected to endure. It was perhaps the rainiest year in 60 years in Europe and these soldiers spent most of it outside. That plus the winter was also exceeding cold and the US had not stockpiled winter clothing in adequate amounts. If the company was lucky it could rotate at least one platoon to the battalion rear areas for a shower once a week. Hot food varied. There were field kitchens to prepare it, but if combat was imminent or the company was being asked to advance, they were lucky if they had C-rations to tide them over. It seems like most of his men had colds or the flu throughout this time.
MacDonald seems to have been very lucky. He commanded two different companies and his overall casualties were neglible (maybe a half dozen in each unit). He himself was wounded by a submachine gun round while trying to rally his men in the opening days of the Battle of the Bulge. When he had recuperated he was assigned back to his battalion, but was given another company which he notes was slightly different in tone than his original command. He was also fortunate that his unit was a veteran formation and didn't require extensive training or acclimatization. He had good subordinates, especially in the form of his NCOs that could handle the day to day routine tasks.
Frequently, the battalion would requesition homes to allow the troops to sleep indoors away from the elements. Sometimes this meant displacing civilians and MacDonald stresses the fact that he was glad not to be able to speak German and had one his lieutenants break the bad news to the civilians. He candidly speaks about prisoners being shot and no questions were asked. He had the unique experience of helping to negotiate the surrender of Liepzig (at least the police garrison) in 1945. He is less than impressed by the battalion staff's willingness to expose itself to combat.
The final month of the war saw the unit in Czechoslovakia advancing from village to village usually several in one day. The Czechs were especially grateful to the US soldiers and showered them with gifts, food and other forms of affection.
All in all, "Company Commander" is a very straight forward look at how a young officer led his rifle company through some of the worst fighting of WWII. I highly recommend it.
I recently finished reading Charles MacDonald's book "Company Commander" which is considered on the classic accounts of combat in WWII. The author (now deceased) wrote the book in 1947 based on the dairies he kept from 1944 to the end of the war. He served with the 2nd Infantry Division and was given command of a rifle company in the fall of 1944 at the young age of 21 (he would turn 22 that November). MacDonald eventually went on to become deputy historian for the US army and would pen "Crusade in Europe" and his classic "A Time for Trumpets", one of the best accounts of the Ardennes offensive ever written. The fact that the author was there when the brunt of the SS armor fell on the American forces adds to the versimiltude.
This book gives you a good insight into the daily life of a combat infantryman. The actual combat accounts are somewhat sparse compared to say "Band of Brothers". MacDonald's focus was on the job of commanding a company and how that was done. He gives the insiders look at how a company moves into position and relieves another company as well as the simple things that keep soldiers going in the middle of a war. Guides become very important just to prevent a unit from getting lost or out of position (an all too frequent occurance even with good maps). Communications were very highly stressed with land lines set up as soon as the company took up their positions. While radios did malfunction, one gets the feeling that the US Army probably had the best overall communications of any combatant during the war.
One is struck by the tiredness and sheer uncomfortable conditions that an infantryman was expected to endure. It was perhaps the rainiest year in 60 years in Europe and these soldiers spent most of it outside. That plus the winter was also exceeding cold and the US had not stockpiled winter clothing in adequate amounts. If the company was lucky it could rotate at least one platoon to the battalion rear areas for a shower once a week. Hot food varied. There were field kitchens to prepare it, but if combat was imminent or the company was being asked to advance, they were lucky if they had C-rations to tide them over. It seems like most of his men had colds or the flu throughout this time.
MacDonald seems to have been very lucky. He commanded two different companies and his overall casualties were neglible (maybe a half dozen in each unit). He himself was wounded by a submachine gun round while trying to rally his men in the opening days of the Battle of the Bulge. When he had recuperated he was assigned back to his battalion, but was given another company which he notes was slightly different in tone than his original command. He was also fortunate that his unit was a veteran formation and didn't require extensive training or acclimatization. He had good subordinates, especially in the form of his NCOs that could handle the day to day routine tasks.
Frequently, the battalion would requesition homes to allow the troops to sleep indoors away from the elements. Sometimes this meant displacing civilians and MacDonald stresses the fact that he was glad not to be able to speak German and had one his lieutenants break the bad news to the civilians. He candidly speaks about prisoners being shot and no questions were asked. He had the unique experience of helping to negotiate the surrender of Liepzig (at least the police garrison) in 1945. He is less than impressed by the battalion staff's willingness to expose itself to combat.
The final month of the war saw the unit in Czechoslovakia advancing from village to village usually several in one day. The Czechs were especially grateful to the US soldiers and showered them with gifts, food and other forms of affection.
All in all, "Company Commander" is a very straight forward look at how a young officer led his rifle company through some of the worst fighting of WWII. I highly recommend it.