ISBN 0-9666389-0-5
168 pages

Foreword; Biographies; Introduction; photos; drawings; tables; sidebars; Awards; Organizational Charts; Glossary; Bibliography; Index.

   Like John Sloan Brown's admirable book, Draftee Division: The 88th Infantry Division in World War II, Keith Bonn, author of When the Odds Were Even, brings to his history of the 276th Infantry Regiment the experience of an Army officer and the training of a scholar. (Although apparently Bonn, unlike Brown, has no familial connection to the unit being studied.)
   Bonn also begins his story in the same manner as Brown, reviewing the process of creating a division from civilians with the all-embracing "Mobilization Training Plan." When the 276th's parent 70th Infantry Division was activated in June 1943, it was one of the last five infantry divisions activated during World War II. Unlike the 88th Division, which cycled through its training program with minimal disruptions, the 70th Division, including its 276th Regiment, found the training plan severely disturbed by drafts of partly trained men detailed as emergency replacements for divisions in combat overseas. This meant that the units had to twice absorb new recruits and begin the training cycle anew. Training was further interrupted by an untimely transfer from Camp Adair near Corvallis, Oregon to Fort Leonard Wood. These disruptions meant that many of the individual soldiers were incompletely trained and, at the unit level, more than half the scheduled maneuver exercises had been cancelled. To compounds matters, due to the urgent need for more units in France, the three infantry regiments of the 70th Division (designated "Task Force Herren") were ordered to Europe while all the support elements -- artillery, engineers, medical, etc -- remained in the States for further training. As Brown discusses in his book, and Bonn foreshadows in his own, this seriously skewed and truncated training program could only undermine the fighting efficiency of 276th's rifle battalions, companies, and platoons.
   At the beginning of December 1944 the regiment sailed from Massachusetts aboard the USS West Point (formerly the SS America). The West Point arrived in Marseilles on the morning of 15 December, the day before the German Ardennes offensive commenced. The regiment began moving from Marseilles on 23 December, assembling in Bischwiller in Alsace on 27 December. Even then men were pulled from the regiment as emergency replacements for other divisions, further compromising the 276th's readiness. On 29 December, still not fully trained, without the last-minute in-theater preparation Brown deems critical for success, unfamiliar with its surroundings, and deprived of divisional control and support, the 276th moved into combat positions along the Rhine. This was to be a quiet zone in which the regiment could gradually gird itself for battle.
   These plans were spoiled by the eruption of the German Operation Nordwind offensive as the new year arrived.
   The three unsupported regiments of Task Force Herren, including the 276th, were attached to the 45th Infantry Division, dispersed through the difficult terrain of the Low Vosges, and thrown into action on 2 January. They found themselves up against not only equally unprepared Volksgrenadiers, but also SS mountain troops fresh from the Russian front. The battles at Wingen proved to be a bloody, unforgiving introduction to combat, and as the regiment had been unable to learn its lessons in training exercises, learning them on the battlefield cost the 276th dearly. "And instead of the quarts of sweat concomitant to tough training, they paid for these tardy lessons in gallons of blood."
   Despite heavy casualties and the loss of many leaders, the regiment learned fast enough and well enough to pull its weight in the fighting at the Bitche salient. By 9 January the regiment's battalions had been gathered for a combined attack to help restore the front. After the successful push northward, the regiment was transferred on 15 January to a quieter sector in the Saar. The men of the 276th would remain in this area, near Saarbrucken, for the remainder of their combat employment.
   On 4 February, headquarters of 70th Division and the divisional artillery and other supporting elements belatedly arrived from the States. On 9 February, all three infantry regiments and the newly arrived units were finally deployed as an integrated division. Replacement drafts also arrived to fill holes in the 276th. Deployed in depth in a quiet zone, the regiment was at last able to establish an effective training program. Constant raids and patrols also kept the men sharp.
   With this training, and as part of a coordinated combined-arms team with tank and artillery support, the 276th on 17 February launched its part of a three-division offensive toward Saarbrucken. The regiment battled into the city of Forlach for more than a week against determined defenders and repeated counterattacks. On 3 March the battalions resumed the offensive and cleared the city. On 13 March remaining German units withdrew across the Saar and the regiment advanced to the river. Six days later they crossed the Saar as the German defenders withdrew to escape encirclement, and the 276th Infantry Regiment's combat role ended.
   During the remaining weeks of the war in Europe, the 276th deployed as an occupation force involved in processing prisoners, guarding bridges, collecting weapons, and dismantling defensive positions.
   With Fire and Zeal is a fine story of how an "orphaned" regiment was thrown into combat with insufficient preparation and how it survived, and Bonn brings to the story considerable talent with a leavening of first-hand accounts from survivors, material from the unit's wartime documents, and information about the German perspective in these actions. Numerous sidebars, sketches, maps, organizational diagrams, and a lengthy TOE section complement the text. Bonn's book stands well enough on its own. However, it's of even more interest when read in conjunction with Brown's book about the 88th Division and the broader analysis of how American combat performance was tied to the success or failure of the divisional training program.
   Available from online booksellers, local bookshops, or directly from Aegis.
   Thanks to Aegis for providing this review copy.