Joslen, Lieutenant Colonel H. F. Orders of Battle: Second World War, 1939-1945. London: London Stamp Exchange, 1990.

628 pages
ISBN 0 948130 032

Introduction; List of Abbreviations; index.

To anyone with an interest in order of battle information for the Second World War, this is one of the Holy Grail volumes. Originally published in 1960 by HMSO in two volumes and now exceedingly scarce and commanding prices in the hundreds of dollars when available, this 1990 reprint (combined into a single volume) is itself already difficult to find.

Joslen has organized in a clear, consistent fashion enormous amounts of very detailed data about British ground units during the war. The pages of this volume display information for each division and brigade that existed from 3 September 1939 through 31 August 1945. This means not only well-known formations like 7th Armored Division, but also more obscure units such as the Jewish Infantry Brigade Group, the 1st Sudan Defense Force Brigade, the Vis Brigade, and a host of short-lived British divisions and brigades that never left the British Isles. In addition to UK units, coverage includes East African and West African colonial forces. (However, the Indian Army is not covered.)

For each formation the pages include dates formed, redesignated, reorganized, and/or disbanded; a list of all commanders and acting commanders, with dates; subordinate units to battalion level with dates attached and detached; higher formations served under, with dates; theaters in which the unit served, with date, and including dates at sea; battle honors; and various and sundry notes concerning other aspects of the unit's existence.

GHQ, Army Group, Army, and Corps troops are not shown in such detail, but are listed in a separate section (for field artillery, medium artillery, survey units, light and heavy AA, searchlight units, and so forth) which shows attachments to these higher headquarters as of specific dates.

Other helpful sections include a list of British units which served on the Indian Establishment and in Indian formations (since for much of the war many Indian brigades contained a British battalion); "British Units which served in the Colonies and Faroe Islands"; extremely comprehensive OBs for the Battle of Alamein and the Normandy landings; and very nice TO&E charts for a wide variety of units at different stages of the war. (These charts folded out from the original volume.)

Other than the Introduction (newly commissioned for the 1990 edition), there is no narrative material in the entire book: it is strictly data. For those interested in orders of battle, however, there is no better source on British units. Along with Shelby Stanton's book on the US OB, Tessin's staggering volumes on the German ground forces, and the French "Les Grandes Unites" series, Joslen stands as the pre-eminent work of the genre. One of my personal all-time favorites. Don't pass up an opportunity to acquire a copy.

This edition, by the way, is very nicely done with a handsome dustjacket, sturdy binding, and quality paper. I actually prefer the single volume format to the old pair, as I always seemed to need the one that wasn't on top.

Difficult to find, but a few new copies of the 1990 edition are still available from The Naval & Military Press.

Thanks to The Naval & Military Press for providing this review copy.