Military Collector Resources

** GI Collectors Guide I
If you can only have ONE book, this is it. All items of issue are highly organized, photographed in vignette and succinctly captioned.

GI Collectors Guide II
Items left out of Guide I can be found here. Not as essential as Guide I, but fills in the holes.

** Individual Gear and Personal Items of the GI in Europe 1942 – 1945
Has more detail on some items than the GI Collectors Guides, such as compasses and whistles.

U.S. Army Uniforms 1939-1945 Including Combat Dress, Rank Distinctions, Insignia and Infantry Weapons
This book features captioned black and white photos, and some exposition, covering the evolution of the combat uniform. Includes chapters on specialized clothing, insignia and weapons. What’s interesting about this book is that the author of the GI Collectors Guides mentions it as one of the few references around (in 1972), which inspired him to start on his books. It’s almost a collector’s item in
itself. Paperbacks are available, and cheap, but hardcovers are almost impossible to locate.

** American Web Equipment 1910-1967
A vital reference on web equipment with plenty of photos and descriptions. The coverage of pre-WWI and WWI rifle cartridge belts is a bit lacking, but is needed when piecing together all the variations (around 20). Very instructive vignetted color photography with captions.

** U.S. Martial Web Belts and Bandoliers: 1903-1981
The go-to book for identifying web rifle cartridge belts, pistol belts, bandoliers, garrison belts, BAR belts, magazine pockets, suspenders, first aid pouches and medical officer belts. When someone refers to the “Dorsey” book, this is it.

American Military Belts and Related Equipment
Black and white photographs of equipment starting with the Civil War up though the 1910 rifle cartridge belts. This is an earlier Dorsey book and doesn’t make the distinctions between 1910 belts as well as the red book. Covers a lot of ground, including leather belts and pouches. For the World War II, and World War I collector, this is still interesting, but not as vital a reference.

** World War I Collector’s Handbook
Volumes 1 and 2
You won’t find every possible piece of World War I equipment in this essential work, but you will find many you won’t see anywhere else. Nice black & white vignette photos with brief descriptions. Covers headgear, footwear, coats, uniforms, communications, weapons, and horse equipment, as well as souvenirs, guides to insignia, unit histories, guides to collar discs, medals and badges. Good quality vignetted black and white photos with brief descriptions.

Mills Woven Military Equipments
A thin booklet that’s a reprint of the Mills catalog featuring Mills cartridge belts, garrison belts, suspenders, magazine pockets, woven holsters, and other bags, pouches and accessories. Items are not labeled with Army model numbers, just Mills own nomenclature. Not essential, but an interesting curiosity. Some reprints are better quality than others, so check out the appearance of the black and white photos to make sure they don’t look too muddy.

** Canteen Covers of the Rock Island Arsenal and the Canteens that filled them (1910-1919)
This is a relatively new arrival (2016) but fills a huge void. A painstaking, but succinct, survey of the types of M1910 canteens on their torturous path of refinement. If you’re looking to gather all types of pre-WWI and WWI canteens, you have to have this book to know what to look for. Well organized, color vignetted photographs of not just canteens, but the many types of cups and covers.

Quartermaster Supply Catalog – Enlisted Men’s Clothing and Equipment
An original 1943 Army catalog with vignetted black & white captioned photographs of clothing and equipment. Not exhaustive. For example, there’s only one type of the first aid pouch shown, of the five types used during the war. But you’ll see items here that you’ll see nowhere else. These can be very hard to find.

** U.S. Combat Helmets of the 20th Century
(Essential for helmet collectors)
For serious U.S. Army helmet collectors this book takes you through the design, development and types of every helmet from the M-1917 through the modern PASGT. Filled with color photographs illustrating distinguishing features of each model.

** Helmets of the ETO
(Essential for helmet collectors)
Large format book full of color photographs illustrating every possible detail to be aware of in M1 helmets and liners, and an extensive guide to manufacturers. Shows large color photos of helmets bearing unit insignia, rank, camouflage, named helmets, and relics. Profuse exposition on all these subjects.

** Order of Battle U.S. Army World War II (Essential for researching provenance)
A large, thick, heavy book dedicated to tracing lineage of every Army unit active during World War II, tracing where and when they were formed and deployed.

Horse Equipments and Equipments for Officers and Enlisted Men
A 72 page reprint of a 1908 manual. An original may be impossible to find. Might be essential for collectors of horse equipment from that era. Many black & white photos of every piece of equipment used with the Army horse, and used as diagrams for labeling every part of every piece. Much of the booklet is text describing each piece in excruciating detail.

Spearheading D-Day
A reference in narrative form showcasing the gear worn by soldiers and some sailors using hundreds of period black & white photographs, and a few color photos of models wearing the gear for a cleaner view. Some equipment is photographed in color and the details described. A lot of D-Day history along with the photography.

The World War II GI
Full equipment loads and uniforms, as they evolved during World War II are depicted in hundreds of color photographs using re-enactors. Traces the development of the soldier’s load, and shows it as worn in various climates. Organized as more of a narrative, it’s not a guide, per se.

U.S. Army Photo Album
An interesting book that’s a compilation of photographs from World War II that were originally shot in color. The images are clear and vivid. Not a guide, but a nice reference to how and what uniforms and equipment were actually worn.

U.S. Army Uniforms of World War II
Black & white captioned period photography of service, dress, cold weather, wet weather, armor, airborne and women’s uniforms. Includes an extensive history of how some attire developed from 1939 through the end of the war.

** Doughboy to GI
Black & white photographs in a convenient catalog format, of all kinds of uniforms, equipment, weapons, personal items, printed matter and publications. Essential due to the sheer volume of information.

Fighting Men of World War II Allied Forces
Not essential, but a nice presentation of vignetted photographs of uniforms, weapons and equipment, interspersed with black & white period photos, and exposition on unit organization and other pertinent subjects. Doesn’t pretend to encompass all versions of uniforms and equipment, but you might spot something in there you’ve seen nowhere else. Includes not just the U.S., but all Allied forces. A companion book feature the Axis forces.

The U.S. Army of World War I
More of a history of uniforms, equipment, vehicles, weapons and the war, than a guide. Contains period photographs, and helpful color illustrations that can aid in identifying some pieces of equipment and how they’re worn.

The U.S. Army in World War II (3) North-West Europe
More of a history of uniforms, equipment, vehicles, weapons and the war, than a guide. Contains period photographs, and helpful color illustrations that can aid in identifying some pieces of equipment and how they’re worn. One of three volumes about wartime uniforms and equipment.

Warman’s World War II Collectibles
Published between 2007 and 2010, this book lists ranges of dollar values for uniforms, equipment, weapons and personal items from World War II. While these prices can’t be considered current, some of them are still not that far off. A good guide to get a baseline of what things are worth, if you don’t know already, and helpful for identifying artifacts.

W. Stokes Kirk
This edition, from 1926, featured a lot of surplus World War I equipment, including the M1916 Pouch for Small Articles, which is overlooked in modern collector’s references.

Stoeger’s Catalog & Handbook
This is an original 1939 copy, as opposed to the more common reprinted edition. (1974). Just one interesting tidbit in this catalog is the offer, for $75 on page 146, of a German P-38. The pistol is pictured along with a full-page description. It’s mis-captioned as “Luger”. The interesting part is that Army intelligence manuals about German arms didn’t mention the P-38 until 1942, three years later. The book is mainly geared to hunters and gunsmiths. There are interesting sidebars, like the history of Colt, mixed in with offerings for literally thousands of rifles and pistols, of every conceivable design, some like something out of a dream.

Bannerman
This 1949 catalog offered for sale guns from Kentucky rifles and every manner of flintlock rifle and pistol, through Civil War cannons! Also buttons, pikes, swords, spears, lances, all types of 18th century military gear and accessories and too much more to list. If you were a collector who could go back in time and pick up a few things, you’d want this catalog under your arm. Copies are not that hard to find.

Manion’s
This 1993 edition will make you cry. All kinds of weapons, bayonets, swords, patches and medals at prices that make you wish you started collecting a lot earlier, even if you weren’t born yet. A 1942 Luger for $450. An M1917 helmet with the 2nd Division emblem painted on the front, for $15. World War II Type K (boxed) field rations, $50 to $70 (now selling in the hundreds). On the practical side, could be used to identify some things, but might not be worth the trouble.