Mandle, William D. and David H. Whittier
Combat Record of the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, April 1943 - July 1945
Nashville, TN: Battery Press, 2004
Cover title: The Devils in Baggy Pants
Binding: Hardcover
Pages: 168
Read our review
See also other edition(s):
Draeger Freres, 1945
See also more books on the same topic(s):
504th Parachute Infantry Regiment (US)
Eighty-Second Airborne Division (US)
Italian campaign, 1943-1945: Unit histories
Northwest Europe campaign, 1944-1945: Ground unit histories
Northwest Europe campaign, 1944-1945: Unit histories
United States: Ground unit histories of brigades, regiments, battalions, etc
United States: Histories of airborne regiments
See also references to this book:
Reference in news archive February 2004
Reference in news archive March 2004
Feedback from visitors
Feedback from don sexton on Sunday, 7 October 2007
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It wasn't the "Irish Guards Armoured Division" that relieved the 504th but rather the Guards Armoured Division, which contained 1 or 2 battalions of The Irish Guards. Elemental mistakes such as this underscore the point made in the Stone & Stone reviewabout poor the quality of the research in the book.
Feedback from Shannon Mandle Ozbun on Saturday, 8 December 2007
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I read with amusement the reviewers input on the quality of the research in this book that was compiled by my father, William Dale Mandle. While the reviewers may presume to know about that which they critisize, I must tell you that my father compiled this book during his living it. He was himself a member of the 504th 82nd Airborne, Parachute Infantry and was a decorated war hero with multiple purple hearts from his many jumps in the most trying of war circumstances in WWII. His co-assignment at the end of the war was to rapidly put together a pictorial history of the 504th as the unit's Public Relations Officer, a book which was then heralded as one of the best to come out of the war. No doubt mistakes were made but his primary duty's were to fight, not write...and for that we should ALL be singing his praises. He died years later from war related injuries and should be remembered for the phenomenal sacrifice he made to all.
Feedback from John Beatty on Saturday, 8 December 2007
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Mandle must have been a courageous and dedicated soldier.
But the book does not hold up as a useful historical document except for those who have ties to the unit or anybody who enjoys looking at photographs without captions or explanations.
Very common for veterans or relatives to confuse strong emotional bonds with a dispassionate evaluation of a book based on rational, ojective crieria.
No matter how brave Mandle only a mediocre book.
Feedback from Kim P. Mandle on Thursday, 31 December 2009
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Perhaps the 'reviewer' should allow for the set of circumstances my father faced before and after being assigned the duty of compiling the book. The Devils In Baggy Pants was, at the time, considered one of the best histories to come out of the war.
Granted, it is not a slick overview of events or beautifully printed work (the French printer traded the use of press plates for a supply of paper), and there were other get it done quickly orders, but it was and is dear to the hearts of the men who served in the 504 PIR. Many who have seen the work have also found it to be an excellent read.
Battery Press did not faithfully reproduce the original. The original book's case was covered in parachute silk. Just a minor mistake regarding the facts - best to do do your research, too.
My father, and I suspect Private Whittier, fought first. The book came after the war. William Dale Mandle went on to have a short, but successful career as a writer.
Emotion? Certainly, but considering the facts of what it took to get The Devils In Baggy Pants printed, its a good book.
Feedback from Jon Johnston on Thursday, 31 December 2009
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Not unusual. Those with emotional attachment to a book always rate it higher. Those with no emotional baggage who place it in wider milieu of unit histories and books about the war tend not to rate it higher. True of this one and many others. Book by my father is best of all :-)
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