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Free WW II Military Manuals


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This is a great resource and has all sorts of goodies, including AFV,  naval and aircraft recognition guides, FMs on German weapons ,the TM for the 88, the Tiger and Panther Fibel, a German-English military dictionary, the tactical manual for a 1941 German infantry company and lots of other fun stuff, all in PDF. This is by no means all about the Germans. Someone posted it on the CoC FB board, and am I glad he did!

Mods, the URL looks commercial, but everything here is free, so please don't ding me! After all, Amazon gets a pass.

http://www.kingtigerebooks.co.uk/2015/11/wehrmacht-technical-manuals.html

Regards,

John Kettler

Edited by John Kettler
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Wanted to pass the word I found another great source for free online military manuals. It's got things the Easy39th site doesn't have, covering all sorts of grog goodies. The site honor's the owner's dad in  VI Corps Engineers during the war, but it covers all the engineer units, and there is a wealth of material on the site, including 2000 photos! Nor are these the only manuals to be had, just the WW II ones. It's got all the relevant infantry, armor and field artillery manuals and scads of other stuff, including the camouflage manuals for men and equipment--with color plates, so you can see the camouflage at work in the examples of what to do and what not to do.

http://www.6thcorpscombatengineers.com/fieldmanuals.html

Here is a 1941 manual on recognizing and identifying British armored vehicles.

FM%2030-41%20(%20Basic%20Field%20Manual%

Here's the 1942 tank platoon manual.

FM%2017-30%20%20Armored%20Force%20Field%

Camouflage manual for vehicles. there are others for individuals and things like supply depots and bivouacs.

FM%205-20B%20(%20Corps%20of%20Engineers%
 

The above represent but a smattering of what's available. Huge information resource!

Regards,

John Kettler

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  • 2 months later...
12 hours ago, John Kettler said:

Aragorn2002,

Always happy to help, but I have no idea what this shooting manual is to which you refer. Pray elaborate.

Regards,

John Kettler

Des Jägers Schiessfibel 1944, ( Fighter pilots machine gun firing instructions 1944), John. Quite interesting.

 

Edited by Aragorn2002
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There is one manual I would love to have. It was an official US Army Field Manual dated June 1944 and listed the full TO&E of the infantry regiment at company, battalion, and regimental levels. Let me be clear, it listed every man, his rank, and primary weapon as well as his position on the organization chart. Unfortunately my copy was destroyed in a fire we had here 12 years ago, and search as I might, I have not been able to locate a replacement. It was just kismet that I came across the one I had in a used bookstore and snatched it up instantly. What a golden find!

Michael

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  • 2 weeks later...

I love how the entire Panther manual is in verse - all 120 pages of it.

Funny how it compares the Churchill tank with the fat, greedy colonialist Churchill sitting at a table consuming the globe with knife and fork.

While the Matilda and Valentine tanks are portrayed as streetwalking prostitutes - easy hits for the German "Fachmann mit Routine". (last two pages).

Lots of lovely ladies in the Tiger manual, too :)

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  • 1 month later...
  • 1 month later...
On 9/7/2018 at 10:29 AM, John Kettler said:

Archive.org is your friend! Here's THE GERMAN SQUAD IN COMBAT, published by the Military Intelligence Service on January 25, 1943 as Special Series No. 9. Believe the strength was later dropped from 10 to 9, but it's 10 here.

https://archive.org/details/TheGermanSquadInCombat

Regards,

John Kettler

John, I can't find the original post anymore, but I've ordered several manuals from John Baum, of which the first one arrived today. Top quality and worth every penny. Thanks again for mentioning them!

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Aragorn2002,

Am confused. Is the OP the German Squad in Combat (which I checked just now and works), or did you mean the one for the guy who obtains, painstakingly translates and produces new versions of Merkblatts and the like? If the latter, it's in the 251 not just battle taxis post I made.

Regards,

John Kettler

 

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  • 3 months later...

Found, but forgot to best, another one. It's TM 9-1252 Ordnance Maintenance Manual, dated March 1951. It covers no fewer than five separate 40 mm Bofors gun, including dedicated tracked AFV configurations. Grog heaven and includes ammo types and ranges.

https://maritime.org/doc/boforstm/index.htm

Regards,

John Kettler

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  • 5 months later...

While on Tank Archives I found these two gems. Be sure to read the comments. These are not manuals for the AFVs, but instead how to array and use them for various situations.

IS-2 and ISU-152 Manual

https://tankarchives.blogspot.com/2014/10/is-2-and-isu-152-manual.html?fbclid=IwAR1S26GPVnlnKd8QH-WmpUfPTqg499YTgU8qSRjgZlnaEu8uGIOkF_ipNKA

Attack and Defense (ISU-122 and ISU-152 Regiments in Combat)

https://tankarchives.blogspot.com/2016/07/attack-and-defense.html?fbclid=IwAR3dAH9duH8iwoOH2-iLlsxGh9xFuoK7heCpqyZ1JMrt9F7jjHzLLet5SZ8#more

Regards,

John Kettler

 

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These aren't manuals per se, but they are cogent articles about Army squad level TO&E during WW II and Korea. Not only are these articles informative, but they provide quite the perspective on squad development through time and also have real life examples of these formations in action.

 

The Infantry Squad Part 1: How Did We Get Here?

By Chris Raynor

NCO Journal

March 19, 2018

https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Journals/NCO-Journal/Archives/2018/March/Infantry-Squad-Part-1/
 

 

The Infantry Squad Part 2: How Did We Get Here?

By Chris Raynor

NCO Journal

March 23, 2018

https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Journals/NCO-Journal/Archives/2018/March/Infantry-Squad-Part-2/
 

Regards,

John Kettler

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  • 2 months later...

From a living history site for a Sicherung unit comes a wealth of German groggery devoted to the nits and grits of soldiering, uniforms, equipment, ant-partisan ops, training and more. These guys are straight up grunts, with the highest rank being an Obergefreiter.

http://www.festung.net/livinghistoryarticles.htm

Regards,

John Kettler

 

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