German Infantryman vs British Infantryman: France 1940 (Combat)

In this Osprey "Combat" title, "German Infantryman vs. British Infantryman", author David Greentree purports to compare the opponents in the French 1940 campaign. This book has all the period photos and color plates Osprey is known for.The book looks at both sides in regard to training, weapons, tactics developed between the wars as both militaries attempted to look into the future and prepare for the next war. Then, the author moves on to three engagements: Arras, Calais and Merville. The narrative is completed by a "lessons learned" section for both sides.My problem with this book is that it's awfully short on infantry combat. Arras certainly wasn't infantry-vs-infantry as the author himself admits that the British armor moved ahead of their infantry and lost contact with them. The other two engagements are in urban environments and tell the reader little that can show difference between the two sides and their respective infantry doctrine as his focus seems to be on armor and mechanization to a large degree. The author does a generally poor job of looking at infantry doctrine in the interwar period, instead he looks at armor and mechanized doctrine.The author, from the UK, to be frank seemed to cherry-pick engagements to favor British performance. There are first-person accounts, but the German accounts are from a higher level while the British are from infantrymen so you don't really get an idea of German performance from the level of the "grunt" in the case of the Landser. The author really doesn't look effectively at the different militaries' doctrine on infantry where the British essentially had none while the Germans had an efficient and recent starting point in the "Strosstrupp tactics" from WWI.In conclusion, I think the author did the reader a disservice by presenting France 1940 as anything other than the disaster it was for the British and French. I think the author had an excellent opportunity to show the difference between a military encouraging initiative, aggressiveness and offensive-mindedness with one that didn't trust the infantryman to make decisions on his won and required that he rigidly adhere to a plan from above - even when it was failing. This book just doesn't do that and I cannot recommend it. Three stars.

The German invasion of France and the Low Countries in May 1940 brought into violent collision the infantrymen of the German and British armies. In this Osprey Combat Series book, author David Greentree studies their head to head combats at Arras, Calais, and Merville, as the German Army closed in for the kill of the British Expeditionary Force, while British units fought to protect the evacuation beaches at Dunkirk.The two armies had very different experiences in the interval between the First and Second World Wars. German, held to a small military by the Treaty of Versailles, developed a highly professionalized force that developed considerable expertise in modern combined arms task forces. The British experimented with various ideas that grew out of their experience in the First World War, but failed to prepare a large modern army for the Second World War. Individual soldiers and units on both sides would fight well, but it is a takeaway of this excellent account that the Germans were better prepared on the day for the first fight.A third of the book is devoted to introducing the two armies and how they got to France in 1940. The actual combats are the heart of the narrative, and these fights seem a decent representative sample. The author's analysis and conclusions are nuanced and worthwhile. The book includes an excellent selection of period photographs, maps, and diagrams. "German Infantryman versus British Infantryman" is not the full story of May, 1940, but it does offer some good insights into the soldiers who fought the conflict.

Great book. Well written (for its type) and the illustrations are wonderful.

As anticipated

Another useful and detailed study from Osprey. Written like a dissertation with references in brackets rather than using the Harvard style rather than the Yale which uses small numbers. This makes the narrative difficult to follow and is a constant distraction.In addition there is no glossary of terms.I also doubt the editor tried to follow the narrative using the maps provided but this is a common fault with Osprey books.It's a shame these problems marred what should have been a readable insight into the oponents combat. Could be better.

Good & as advertised.

Very interesting book

Excellent book

Está bien. El autor hace una comparación de los Ejércitos alemán y británico en la época de la campaña de Francia de 1940. Las doctrinas, la organización de las unidades, el equipo que manejaban y la instrucción y moral de los combatientes. Explica brevemente cómo se desarrollaron tres enfrentamientos concretos entre ambos contendientes (Arras, Calais y Merville) y, finalmente, analiza las enseñanzas que cada uno extrajo de la campaña.En la versión kindle, los mapas son tan pequeños que los nombres que aparecen en ellos son prácticamente ilegibles.

Das Buch gibt einen guten Überblick, sowohl über deutsche, als auch über britische Taktiken im Frankreichfeldzug. Wenn man mit der Schreibweise des Autors zurecht kommt, Zitate sind etwas holprig in den Text eingesetzt, ist es wirklich ein tolles Buch. Ein Schmankerl für Wargamer sind die extra Seiten über ausgewählte Schlachten. Hier kann man sich tolle Anregungen für Szenarien holen!

I expected a more comprehensive treatment of the topic, but it singled out a single tactical encounter. Still, good book.

great read and brilliant detail

Ginge es nach dem Autor, dann war die Evakuierung des BEF über Dünkirchen nach Großbritannien vollkommen unverständlich, weil in jedem Gefecht gegen die Wehrmacht, die wenigen schlecht ausgestatteten britischen Soldaten ganze "Heeresgruppen" zerschlagen haben. Die militärhistorischen Fakten sprechen allerdings andere Worte. Die Auswahl der Gefechte spiegelt nicht der Verlauf wieder. Auch die Analyse widerspricht den weiteren Verlauf des Frankreichfeldzuges. Selbst nach über siebzig Jahren sind die Recherchen so schlecht das die englischen Übersetzungen für "Eiserne Ration", oder in anderen Ausgaben der Serie für "Alarmeinheiten" katastrophal sind. Es wäre wünschenswert daß endlich mehr Militärhistoriker, aus dem deutschen Sprachraum, sich zum zweiten Weltkrieg zu Wort melden. Sehr zu empfehlen ist das Buch "Kampfkraft"

Tedious read due to the constant brackets with sources. Supposed to be an enjoyable read not a university project. Sources at page bottom or in back but certainly not each two lines in text. Pen & Sword books better read and more informative on subject. Overpriced for what one gets.