Hays, J.J. United States Army Ground Forces TOE, World War II, vol 2: The Armored Division, 1940-1945, part one. Milton Keynes, UK: Military Press, 2003 ISBN 0-85420-267-6 xi + 224 pages Prefix [sic]; Author's Biography; Introduction; Symbols; Silhouettes Key; Abbreviations; tables; organigrams; TOEs
Hays, J.J. United States Army Ground Forces TOE, World War II, vol 2: The Armored Division, 1940-1945, part two. Milton Keynes, UK: Military Press, 2003 ISBN 0-85420-272-2 xi + 250 pages Prefix [sic]; Author's Biography; Introduction; Symbols; Silhouettes Key; Abbreviations; tables; organigrams; TOEs

   We were favorably impressed back in March when we reviewed volume one (in three separate parts) of this series from Military Press, and we're equally impressed with volume two (in two separate parts). Anyone seeking detailed TOE data for American units in the Second World War could scarcely find a better source.
   In volume two the author covers American armored divisions from 1940 through 1945 in the same fashion he covered American infantry divisions in volume one. Part one looks at the following units:

The Armored division
Division headquarters
Armored brigade
Armored regiment
Light armored battalion
Armored regiment, medium
Armored battalion, medium
Armored reconnaissance battalion
Cavalry reconnaissance squadron
Quartermaster supply battalion
Military Police platoon

   Volume two continues with the following divisional components:

Armored engineer battalion
Field artillery regiment
Armored division artillery
Armored field artillery battalion
Armored infantry regiment
Armored infantry battalion
Armored medical battalion
Ordnance maintenance battalion
Armored signal company
Armored division trains

   The length of each section varies considerably. "Armored Engineer Battalion," for example, amounts to forty pages. It begins with a page of introductory notes and then moves through a sequence of official tables of organization for the battalion as a whole from different dates during the war: 15 November 1940, 1 March 1942, 15 September 1943, and 20 November 1944. Each of these amounts to two or three pages with organigrams and tables displaying numbers of personnel (broken down by rank from lieutenant colonel through privates) and quantities of weapons and equipment such as trucks, trailers, radios, machine guns, etc.
   The same section on the armored engineer battalion then begins investigating the organization of all the unit's components. In this case, that includes headquarters and headquarters company, armored engineer company, and armored engineer bridge company. Each of these TOEs runs to three or four pages or more and includes information showing how the unit was constituted on various dates with multiple organigrams and extensive tables. Here are samples of typical pages:

   All this information works at several levels. First, the tables and "detail" lists provide enormous amounts of very exact data about personnel, weapons, and equipment. Second, the organigrams make it exceedingly easy to see at a glance how the units were organized and what were their primary weapons and vehicles. Finally, in a strictly visual sense, the pages—clean and uncluttered despite the densely packed information, and featuring about a hundred varieties of nifty line drawings of tanks and vehicles and weapons—are very attractive so that it gives great pleasure just to flip from unit to unit.
   These are terrific additions to a highly regarded series (with more still to come), and we recommend them highly to anyone interested in TOE material. Because Military Press is a small outfit without major distribution channels, their books can be difficult to locate and acquire, but these volumes are definitely worth the effort.
   Available from online booksellers, local bookshops, or directly from the Military Press.
   Thanks to the Military Press for providing this review copy.