John S. Harrel

Author John Harrel is a former USMC and US Army officer. One of his main points here is that Soviet Cavalry modeled themselves on cavalry operations in the US during the American Civil war – deep penetration raids. Harrel notes documentation for this all the way back to Tsarist times (although there’s no mention of other cavalry theories that might have been proposed). Most of the great powers considered cavalry an anachronism by World War II; however the Soviets realized that given the impoverished road network in the USSR cavalry would still be useful.

Harrel notes cavalry was ineffective in the chaotic early days of Barbarossa (in particular, its vulnerability to air attack). By 1942 Soviet cavalry had scored some successes – operating in Axis rear areas for weeks before withdrawing. By the end of the war there were whole cavalry corps (although Harrel notes these always included mechanized components in addition to horse soldiers). With perhaps some American chauvinism, Harrel credits much of later cavalry success to Lend-Lease American six-wheel drive supply trucks, which could finally go almost everywhere the cavalry could go.

There are numerous and detailed descriptions of cavalry actions, ranging from small units up to army level, and including excellent maps. Photographs in a plate section seem to include a lot of Lend-Lease American equipment. End notes and bibliography; it’s interesting that the bibliography doesn’t seem to include many Russian publications, suggesting a lot of the action descriptions came from the Axis side.… (meer)