Tuesday, August 28, 2018

First War Book Club meeting of Fall 2018, Tuesday, September 4th, 7 pm.

The first War Book Club meeting of the 2018-2019 season will take
place next Tuesday evening, September 4th, in the Board Room (yes, the
Board Room!) at the Central Library, 2nd floor, beginning at 7 pm.

Topic: The best war/military history book you read over the summer.

Hope to see you and get some good book recommendations.

Cheers, Warren

Monday, August 13, 2018

Allies of a Kind: Canadian Army -- US Army relations and the Korean War, 1950-1953/Allan R Millett


The monograph mentioned above provides an interesting look at U.S./Canadian relations (or lack thereof) during the Korean War; several WBC members have shared “Allies of a Kind” via email:


From the Introduction by Colonel Thomas E. Hanson, Director, US Army Combat Studies Institute:

American Soldiers take for granted the close personal relations we have developed with our Canadian comrades during more than a decade of side-by-side service in Bosnia, Afghanistan, Iraq, and other areas around the world. Canadians serve in responsible positions inside a number of US formations, and the reverse is also true. Therefore, it may surprise some in both armies to read Allan Millett’s less-than-rosy narrative of our two nations’ first attempt at interoperability. US Army Command and General Staff College Press is pleased to publish this short study not because we seek to focus on past mistakes, but because it helps to identify some of the issues to consider as the US Army focuses ever more energy on its regional alignment of forces. Today no less than in 1950, planners must understand and account for national differences when the goal is interoperability. With little justification, US commanders in Korea at the operational level often paid scant notice to the national strategies and aspirations of the United Nations Command member states. At best, this led to frosty relations and poor coordinaion; at worst, it resulted in a casual disregard for casualties among non-US formations in pursuit of tactical goals only tangentially related
to strategic requirements.

According to Wikipedia, Allan R. Millett is a historian and a retired colonel in U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. He is known for his works on the Korean War, but he has written on other military topics.

Dr. Millett served in the history department at Ohio State University for 37 years; his books include:

  • with Peter Maslowski and William B. Feis. For the Common Defense: A Military History of the United States from 1607 to 2012. Free Press, 2012. ISBN 1451623534
  • The War for Korea, 1950-1951: They Came from the North. University Press of Kansas, 2010. ISBN 0700617094
  • The War for Korea, 1945-1950: A House Burning. University Press of Kansas, 2005. ISBN 0700613935
  • with Williamson Murray. A War To Be Won: Fighting the Second World War. Belknap Press, 2001. ISBN 0674006801
  • with Williamson Murray. Military Innovation in the Interwar Period. Cambridge University Press, 1998. ISBN 0521637600
  • Semper Fidelis: The History of the United States Marine Corps. Free Press, 1991. Rev. and expanded ed. ISBN 0029215951
  • Military Effectiveness: First World War. Unwin Hyman, 1988. ISBN 0044450532
  • A Short History of the Vietnam War. Indiana U. Press, 1985. ISBN 0253352150
  • The General: Robert L. Bullard & Officership In The U.S. Army, 1881-1925. Greenwood Press, 1975. ISBN 0837179572
RPL/SILS has the following titles by Dr, Millett:

D-Day/Jane Penrose (ed.); article: “Blood upon the risers.”

Drive North – U.S, Marines at the Punchbowl (eBook):

The War for Korea, 1945-1950: a house burning:

Please feel free to share your comments on “Allies of a Kind,” below.