THE WEBFOOT WARRIORS

by Herbert Best ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 23, 1962

In the United States Navy today, there are 340 men dispersed throughout the many fleets and bases who constitute one of the toughest combat organizations in the world. These are the officers and men of the UDT---Underwater Demolition Teams---and this book is probably the first to tell their story and bring it right up to date. The UDT men were first organized in World War II. Not to be confused with divers or other underwater and ""frogman"" services, their job was strictly one of swimming into enemy beach areas and blowing up obstacles to amphibious invasion forces. At Normandy, Gulf they proved their worth, saving the lives of hundreds of invasion troops who followed them. At Okinawa, no less than 1000 UDT men paved the way for the huge invasion there in 1944. Today, this book tells us, UDT men are chosen and trained in much the same way for much the same kind of dangerous underwater work. With a gruelling training program capped by a ""Hell Week"" of forced swims, live demo practice, combat and so on, the men join UDT units throughout the Navy. The book also touches on their frogman predecessors, the brave Italian swimmers who did so much damage to the British Mediterranean fleet in World War II. Future of SCUBA, skin diving, and men exploration are also touched upon. A quick but fascinating and authoritative look at an important new form of sea warfare.

Pub Date: July 23, 1962

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: John Day

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1962

Categories: NONFICTION