When Ralph Hauenstein became a reserve officer, he thought the skills he'd gained as newspaperman might be useful. Indeed, he spent World War 2 gathering information from sources as diverse as soldiers who were encouraged to report on one another and code books pulled from downed German planes. The story of Major Hauenstein's war is also the story of the European Theatre of US Operations, the American command of General Dwight D Eisenhower, who spun between ETOUSA and his international position at Allied headquarters, SHAEF, with dizzying speed. SHAEF dominates histories of the time; ETOUSA is comparatively little studied and understood, but as Hauenstein explains, we couldn't have won the war without it. Donald Markle shapes Ralph Hauenstein's remembrances into an informative, entertaining book that will spark debate among history buffs.

Table of Contents

Introduction; Storm Clouds: October 1940; Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC): May 1935 to November 1937; Iceland, General Background: 1941; Iceland Base Command: August 1941 to December 1941; The U.S. Enters War in Europe: December 1941 to August 1943; European Theatre of Operations, US Army: Organisational Concepts; Duty in Europe, Pre-OVERLORD: August 1943 to June 1944; The British; Role of G-2 ETOUSA in the Early Campaign in Europe; Paris: August 1944 to May 1945; The Campaign Continues in Europe; Final Days: January 1945 to May 1945; Postsurrender: May 1945 to July 1945; Afterthoughts; Index.