I just finished The Winter Army by Maurice Isserman. The Winter Army is a short, but informative, account about the formation and the battles of the 1oth Mountain division during World War 2.
I’ll admit that, in spite of my fascination with the history of WW2, I had never really paid much attention to the feats of the 10th Mountain. That’s because, in spite of their great publicity and actual heroics, the 10th Mountain didn’t really have much impact on the outcome of the war.
However, my interest was piqued when I started working at a local bicycle shop, and found out that the store manager was the son of a man who had served with the 10th during the war. In fact, his father is mentioned prominently several times in this book.
The idea for the formation of “skiing troops” was initially conceived by a group of American civilians who were inspired by Finnish ski soldiers. The Finnish army resisted an invasion by the Red Army by launching hit and run attacks while on cross-country skis. These patriotic Americans, fearing that should Britain fall the United States might be invaded, took their idea of ski-troops to the U.S. Army.
Anybody who has ever served in the United States military already knows what the Army’s answer was: No thanks, and don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.
But thanks to their connections and their determination, this group of patriotic Americans eventually persevered and the 10th Mountain was born.
The book itself is slow going at first, because there is such an emphasis on the ski training that the troops received. Which I guess makes sense, because that was what the type of training the Division focused on. But the details can get a little eye-glazing.
After 3 years of training at various bases around the United States (the most famous being Camp Hale in Colorado), the 10th Mountain finally deployed to Italy in late winter of 1945. And that is when the book really takes off.
If you are a WWII history buff, this book is definitely worth checking into.
