Best Militaria Reference Books

[usmcski]

For USMC collectors, I believe Schiffer (?) published two books -- can't remember author's last name, at least one book was penned by an author whose first name is Alex (ain't it wonderful to grow old and lose your memory!). The more or less general one was titled something like "US Marine Corps Equipment of World War II" and had a great deal of info and excellent photos of items ranging from uniforms to 782 gear to weapons.

 

Second one was on USMC paratroopers and also had excellent photos (I didn't own this one, but did skim it).

 

PUBLISHERS: Unfortunately, there isn't that much "excitement" by publishers for militaria-type books. The limited market and high printing costs pretty much limits the number of manuscripts considered for publication. Because these books are usually "short-run", they tend to be "pricey". I'm considering putting my manuscript (if it ever gets completed) on disc and attempting to sell it over the internet or, alternatively, look into publishing it as an "e-book" -- but I don't have sufficient info on how "e-books" are sold.

 

Almost forgot one book that I have found useful: Crowell's "America's Munitions" -- NOT the multivolume work, but the one volume book. I'm not satisfied that Crowell's book is entirely accurate but he does have some nifty photos. For the WWI weapons guy, there is a great reference "on-line", I think the title is US Army Ordnance Manual 1917. Very good history of the development, production, use of US (and foreign) ordnance during WWI.

 

 

If anyone has even the SLIGHTEST interest in Marine Corps militaria, ALEC's books are hands down THE standard for reference material. Alec has included rare period photos and some wonderfully preserved examples from several collections, many of them belonging to members of our very own Forum!

 

You'd be surprised if you leaf through one of his books and see what names you run across...

 

Semper,

 

Ski :thumbsup:

[Sinz]

Thanks for your tips.

[teufelhunde.ret]

If anyone has even the SLIGHTEST interest in Marine Corps militaria, ALEC's books are hands down THE standard for reference material. Alec has included rare period photos and some wonderfully preserved examples from several collections, many of them belonging to members of our very own Forum!

 

You'd be surprised if you leaf through one of his books and see what names you run across...

 

Semper,

 

Ski :thumbsup:

 

quite agree !

[kjones5452]

I don't even collect USMC and I've got a copy of GRUNT GEAR.

You never know.

[Rakkasan187]

The series of three books by the late Leon Laframboise.

 

Excellent reference books on the history of the collar disk and branch of service insignia...

 

History of the Artillery, Cavalry and Infantry Branch of Service Insignia

 

History of the Combat Support Branches

 

History of the Administrative and Technical Services

 

These three books are out of print now, and are hard to find. Leons first book was on Amazon not to long ago for a few hundred dollars. The set of three sold on Ebay a while back for over $700.00.

 

Leigh...

[hawk3370]

For you young men and women that have an interest in the early US Aviation I would highly recommend the following.

 

1. Aviation Badges and Insignia of the United States Army 1913-1945 by Duncan Campbell. Book is long out of print but shows up on e-bay on occasion. Duncan also published several outstanding books on early US Belt plates and Cap Plates.

 

2. Wings of Honor, James J. Sloan Jr.

 

3. United States Navy Wings of Gold, Ron L. Willis and Thomas Carmichael.

 

4. Silver Wings Pinks and Greens. Jon A. Maquire.

 

5. Balloon Section AEF.

 

6. New England Aviators.

 

7. And last my favorite, Unites States Army Air Service Wing Badges-Uniforms and Insignia 1913-1918. Terry Morris

 

The Balloon Section AEF and New England Aviatiors were printed in very limited numbers and are extremely expensive but very valuable as reference for WW1 Aviation.

 

Terry

[RustyCanteen]

I think the name was:

 

Field Equipments of the Infantries-1900 to 1945 by Fisch. It's old, but it still has good coverage of equipment.

[curio bill]

Not everyone has room or can afford a huge Library of Reference books. For a general collector theres a few books that covers pretty much of the overall scene. Ist the Bible of Collecting, Doughboy to GI by Lewis. Then GI Collectors Guide by EnJames, WWII GI Uniforms in Color by Windrow/Hawkins, and Uniforms of WWII US Army by Stanton. That will pretty much cover you unless you get in involved into specialized collecting

 

What would be the equivalent book for a beginning general collector for ww2 NAVY & USMC uniforms?? I know there is a series on USN ww2 uniforms by Mr. Warner, but I can't seem to find the earlier volumes, and the later volumes are area specific (suns, aviation, etc)

 

Thanks, Bill

[ithaca37]

For the DI collectors, The ASMIC Motto Guide and Charge List are very helpful. Their DI catalogs as well. (I think this was mentioned earlier.) Also I use James Sawicki's Series often too. These include Infantry Regiments, Tank Battalions, Cavalry Regiments, 2 volumes of Field Artillery Battalions, 2 volumes of AAA Battalions. Massaro's Distinctive Insignia of the US Army Air Forces is excellent as well.

 

Geoff Barker's Airborne and Special Operations Books are excellent sources for both DI's and patches.

 

Like so many things it depends on the part of this hobby a person specializes in.

[SgtJim]

Bannerman Catalogue of Military Goods - 1927 (copy) 370 pages. It is a replica edition one of the best book I have seen yet.

 

I purchased mine form Edward R Hamilton book seller $8.95 in 1999. They sell a large amount of collector refference books well worth taking a look.

[mars&thunder]

If you collect early US Army Campaign medals, any of the award rosters put out by the Planchet Press (Al Gleim) are required references. Harder and harder to find, and several when they turn up are getting strong prices.

[hhbooker2]

http://picasaweb.google.com/booker1942 is where you'll find many hard-to-find out_of-print books on insignia and uniforms, well over 2,500 albums there for you to download free-of-charge! You can also visit http://www.archive.org as well as http://www.scribd.com and visit http://www.webshots.com too! http://community.webshots.com/user/hhbooker2 and the following http://community.webshots.com/user/eneryhodge and http://community.webshots.com/clovis_lee_booker or http://community.webshots.com/user/hhbooker and the best of all would be http://www.diggerhistory.info Many websites make it hard to get their images and often they are thumbnails, really too small! If you see something I have done and others slap a copyright lable on it, ignore it because I am the creator, like "The Crow's Nest" and "Specialty & Distinguishing Marks of the Sea Services." Everything I have is public domain! It is okay for others to put my stuff on CD disks and sell them as I believe it free enterprise and really do not need the money, quite frankly! More often than not the CDs offered on eBay by sellers come from stuff I invited them to use for nothing so as to put it in the hands of those who live too far from insignia meetings and gunshows! I have most of the official U.S.Navy uniform regulations at my website, your website, our website! http://picasaweb.google.com/booker1942 Respectfully, Herbert Hillary Booker 2nd of Palm Coast, Florida

[firefighter]

If you collect Vietnam item's I would suggest the following:

 

U.S. Navy Insignia of the Vn War- VerKuilen Ager.

River Patrol Insignia- Scott Kraka & Stephen Kirby

Probably the BEST two books on Vietnam era Navy insignia & badges

 

Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club- Rene J. Francillon Covers EVERY carrier that served in the Gulf of Tonkin.Has Sq's assigned, a/c shot down with pilot status, enemy a/c destroyed and by who, aircrafts and more.This is a must have.Hard book to find and expensive(can cost up to $200).

 

Vietnam Military Lore- MSG Ray A. Bows(ret). List's the different bases(all services), MPC, Coins, and more.

 

Coast Guard at War- Alex Larzelere USCG in Vietnam

 

Special Forces of the U.S. Army- LTC Ian D.W. Sutherland (ret) Another must have.Again it's probably going to cost you(up to and sometimes over $200)

 

The Vietnam ZIPPO - Jim Fiorella. Compares a lot of the junk with originals.Also has some original Zippo artwork.

 

U.S. Marine Corps unit insignia in Vietnam '61-'75-E.Richard Wilson III My opinion a lot of the patches look like repro's but some nice back info on each unit.List's ground and air.

 

Army Aviation in Vietnam- Ralph B. Young. I think there are 3 book's but I only have 2. Each book covers a different span of years.Show's different insignia for the unit with a nice history.Sometime's right down to PLT level.

 

Who's Who from MACV-SOG- Stephen Sherman Another must have.Give's name of soldier with unit, rank, time periods and more.Almost 600 pages.RADIX Press

 

Blind Mans Bluff -Sherry Sontag Submarine warfare durn the Cold war.Back has a list of subs with Unit Awards.

 

U.S. Special Forces Shoulder & Pocket Insignia- Harry Pugh .Another must have

 

Winged Sabers- Lawrence K. Doyle Again another must have. Air Cav insignia and unit histories in Vietnam

 

Any and ALL Trading Posts

Vietnam Insignia Collector Newsletter

 

I know this is a long list but these book's have helped me over the years.

[firefighter]

Some other book's you may need,

 

The Mighty Eighth- Roger A Freeman Great book on the 8th AAF.Has Unit histories of the wing's assigned(bomber & fighter), Medal of Honor recipients, aircrafts and more.

 

U.S. Military Patches of WW2-Christopher P Brown

 

At Close Quarters- Cpt Robert J. Bulkley, Jr. PT Boat units in WW2 with their history, Boats assigned, boat history, campaigns, individual awards and more.

 

Army Collar Insignia (officers and enlisted)- McDuff .Each is it's own volume

 

AF Combat unit's of WW2

WW2 Combat Sq's of the USAF

Both by the AF Historical unit.Both cover WW1-Korea with campaigns, Stations, unit awards & more.

 

Couple of more book's I forgot to mention above(Vietnam book's)

 

Cecil B. Smyth, Jr did a series on Vietnam insignia.US Special Forces and Vietnam unit patches(Army,Navy,Marine Corps,Air Force, Territorial Forces, & Rangers).If you can find these grab them.Not sure where to look or price.

 

Insignia of the Republic of Vietnam Army Airborne Division- Harry Pugh.Not only does it have the patches and badges of the different Vietnam A/B unit it has their history.Also has the different jump wings.Nice color pictures

 

United States Army Air Ambulance- Mark M. Hough. Shows the different patches used and a history of each unit.

[Rossford]

My new book SHOULDER SLEEVE INSIGNIA OF THE AMERICAN EXPEDITIONARY FORCES 1918-1919 BY ORDER OF GENERAL JOHN J. PERSHING, COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF is NOW AVAILABLE !

This book is the first publication that documents and displays copies of the drawings, paintings and samples submitted of every officially authorized shoulder sleeve insignia approved in 1918-1919 by General Headquarters, American Expeditionary Forces, by Command of General John J. Pershing as Commander-in-Chief.

 

Covered are the authorized shoulder sleeve insignia of: General Headquarters, Armies, Corps, Divisions, support organizations of the Services of Supply, special units, and Marine Corps Brigades. The author provides a background and brief history of America’s entry into WWI, the formation, linage and campaign credits of the units as well as quotations and pictorial materials from the documents of record relating to the approvals of 193 insignia for 80 primary Army and Marine Corps units serving in the A.E.F. in WWI. They represent the first distinctive shoulder sleeve insignia officially approved. Many of the designs are still used as distinguishing marks for units of the U.S. Army.As the author I undertook this endeavor recognizing that to the best of my knowledge over my 70 years of collecting I was not aware if any publication that had comprehensive documentation of the actual shoulder sleeve insignia designs officially approved in World War I. A rather astonishing gap for those of us with an interest in collecting and history of the period. I researched tens of thousands of documents in the National Archives, The Institute of Heraldry and the Quartermaster Museum as well as material from The Center of Military History, Army Historical Society, WWI Museum, others, and, of course, the American Society of Military Insignia Collectors (ASMIC) of which I have been a member for 5 decades.

It is a must have book for any collector or person interested in insignia or military history. The book is 6" x 9" hard cover with over 200 color and black and white images – 208 pages.

 

The book is available from the publisher, Schiffer Publishing, LTD for $59.99 (http://www.schifferbooks.com/newschiffer/book_template.php?isbn=9780764340444).

 

However, as a special offer I will send you directly an autographed copy as noted above, including shipping (US only). You can purchase directly from me via my PayPal account [email protected] or by check to me: H. Ross Ford, 1608 Harbor Road, Williamsburg, VA 23185

 

If you email me at [email protected] that you are placing an order that will help expedite the process. If you want me to include a short dedicated message I’ll be pleased to do that.

Don’t forget your return address! H. Ross Ford

[JDK]

If you are an A-2 jacket collector, a new book by Gary Eastman has already become the bible on the subject. It's pricey, but with all the high end repro jackets being made, my guess is within 10-15 years this book may well be a essential tool in the collecting world.

 

The book is only available at eastmanleather.com

 

 

JD

[m1 lover]

Only one i had a chance to touch..skim and WANT and actually NEED but cant afford is War Baby......its gonna take me a lifetime learning all the info i need about my m1 since my wife wont let me buy this book. With that said...many of you are right from other forum posts...from what i read while flipping thru this book...it is soooo full of valuable info. I just also saw there is a Part Two now to this book...arghhh....i have read some of yalls books listed above. You all have great taste in reading

 

Well i received my hard cover version of War Baby.....unbelievable how much info is in this...i am reading...re-reading every chapter. When done i will go back an take notes to compare. Then will try to find other suggested books. Thanks everyone

 

[Slufstuff]

For the US cartridge belt collector, I recommend most all of R. Stephen Dorsey's books. All are well illustrated and readily available on Amazon and eBay. His first, American Military Belts and Related Equipments, Pioneer Press 1984, is somewhat dated now (being 30 years old now) but I still refer to it from time to time.

 

His second, U.S. Martial Web Belts and Bandoliers: 1903-1981, Collectors Press, 1993, is still a viable reference, but is limited by the 1981 cutoff date. I hope Mr. Dorsey does an update, there is a LOT of Reagan era, Desert Storm, and WOT developments that need sorting out.

 

His third, Indian War Cartridge Pouches, Boxes, and carbine boots, Collectors Library 1993, is still a viable reference for these Indian War era items. I personally do not use it a lot, since it does not cover actual belts, but very valuable nonetheless.

 

His 4th (?) is his Magnum Opus American Military and Naval Belts 1812-1902, Collectors Library, 2002. Essential reference for the US belt collector. I mainly utilize the second half of the book covering web and woven belts, but it is all well done. All color photos, it really expands and updates his first work. An expensive book, but if you only buy one, this is it IMO.

 

If you are into M1 Garand rifles and accessories, I recommend the new M1 Garand opus by Bruce Canfield. Do not have my copy at hand, but it is truly a magnificent book, huge format, lots of color and period pictures. Expensive but worth every penny. I hope he is working on the equivalent for the M1 carbine.

[Slufstuff]

Now for a negative report. I will do a quick review of Uniforms, Equipment, and weapons of the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I, by Bret Werner, Schiffer, 2006. This was one of the most disappointing reference books I have ever purchased. Some earlier posts have mentioned the photos of reenactors and so forth. Honestly, that did not bother me. What I found almost inexplicable was the hit or miss listing of items. A prime example is the section on the M1917 revolvers. The only example of a M1917 shown is a Smith & Wesson M1917. A beginning collector is left guessing what the Colt M1917 looked like, as not a single photo is provided. In fact the Colt is barely mentioned in passing.

 

Here is the problem for me. If this book neglects to show such a major and widely issued piece of equipment, then what else is missing? I mean this literally since I am not an expert in any way on uniforms, packs, boots, helmets, etc. How am I to know what else is missing?

 

I also found many of the items selected for close up photography to be of indifferent condition for the most part. If I am paying a PREMIUM price for a reference, then at least the examples illustrated could be the best available. WW1 is not even a primary focus of my collection, yet I could produce better examples than many in the book.

 

I will not call it a total loss, but this book could have been so much better. As it is, I cannot recommend it for the WW1 collector unless you can afford to acquire it just for the sake of a complete reference shelf.

[Butch L.]

The Keller brothers new book on Airborne insignia is out and it is a must have for everybody from novice to advanced collector. Very well done with a lot of period photographs of the items actually being worn.Butch L.

[Dave]

The Keller brothers new book on Airborne insignia is out and it is a must have for everybody from novice to advanced collector. Very well done with a lot of period photographs of the items actually being worn.Butch L.

 

Here's purchasing information: http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/220740-theyre-here-emblems-of-honor-airborne-book-update/

[gunbunnyB/3/75FA]

medals of america had a decent set of basic insignia books out a few years back, plus a fairly good book on the medals and decorations of the republic of vietnam, ( i got the patch book and the vietnam books)

[arnhem44mad]

What about 'Doughboy to GI'?

[northcoastaero]

A list of some books not mentioned above:

 

-The Armed Forces of World War II: Uniforms, Insignias, and Organization by Andrew Mollo. Very basic. Helped to start my interest in

collecting/research.

-Spalding Aviator's Clothing & Equipment in the 1920s-1930s.

-Jet Age Flight Helmets: Aviation Headgear in the Modern Age by Michael S. Breuninger and Alan R. Wise. Has information on basic

types of helmets and masks.

-Bone Domes & Speed Jeans: US Aircrew Flight & Survival Gear by Hans & Mike Halberstadt. Mid 1990s era flight gear.

-One-man Pneumatic Life Raft Survival Kits of World War II by Robert S. McCarter and Douglas Taggart.

-Squadron/Signal Publications Specials Series such as:

-...and Kill MiGs. All three editions. Flight gear.

-MiG Alley. Flight gear.

-Air War Over Korea. Flight gear.

-U.S. aircraft carrier cruise books, especially 1960s and later. Flight gear.

-U.S. flight manuals such as NATOPS and USAF T.O. Dash ones for ejection seats and cockpit related items.

-U.S. NAVAIR 13-1 6.7, etc.; U.S. Army and USAF T.O. for flight gear/equipment, seats, and ejection seats .

-Aerofax series (Minigraph, Datagraph, Aerophile Extra, Aerograph, Extra) by Jay Miller, etc. For seats, ejection seats, and cockpit related

items (instruments, stick grips, rudder pedals, gun sights, etc.).

-In Detail & Scale series by Bert Kinzey, etc. for seats, ejection seats, cockpit related items.

-Suiting Up for Space: The Evolution of the Space Suit by Lloyd Mallan.

-Dressing for Altitude: U.S. Aviation Pressure Suits: Wiley Post to Space Shuttle by Dennis R. Jenkins.

-Last Hope: The Blood Chit Story by R.E. Baldwin and Thomas Wm. McGarry.

-Cloth Maps, Charts and Blood Chits of World War II by John G. Doll.

-Naval Fighters series by Steve Ginter, etc. for seats, ejection seats, cockpit related items, and patches.

-Superbase series, Osprey Color series, Presidio Airpower series, Motorbooks Enthusiast Colors series. George Hall, Tony Holmes, etc.

For flight helmet markings and flight gear.

-Standard Catalog of Firearms by Jerry Lee.

-Standard Catalog of Smith & Wesson by Jim Supica and Richard Nahas.

[River Rat 1]

For collecting US Military timepieces from chronometer , military clocks, wristwatches, pocket watches , aircraft clocks

 

Military Timepieces book by Whitney

https://www.amazon.com/Military-Timepieces-Marvin-Whitney/dp/0918845149

 

Here is a PDF copy I got a original in the collection of the TM9-1575 ordnance maintenance wrist watches pocket watches, stop watches and clocks war department manual 6 April 1945. Good diagrams of US WW2 watches and clocks.

https://archive.org/details/TM9-1575