Pocket Manual

How would you clear a stoppage on a Bren Gun while in action? What is the most effective way to clear a wood of enemy forces? How best could you counter a landing by enemy airborne forces in your area? What measure can you take to help ensure accurate rifle fire at night? What qualities should you look for when selecting a patrol commander? Just a few of the practical questions posed — and answered — in the selection of publications included in The Home Guard Training Pocket Manual. A number of manuals and training pamphlets were privately published during World War II to supplement the slim official Home Guard manual produced by the War Office. Covering everything from patrolling, night fighting, drill and small arms proficiency to the legal powers of the Home Guard, these manuals were welcomed by the men of local Home Guard units keen to do everything possible to prepare for possible invasion — when they would be the first line of defense. This pocket manual collates a selection of material from these fascinating publications, often written by serving soldiers and reprinted multiple times due to demand.

A view into the world of the intrepid but often forgotten seamen who helped the Allies win WWII. They may not have worn gold braid or medals, but the Allied Merchant Navies in World War II provided a vital service to their countries' war efforts. Hundreds of thousands of British and American sailors-some as young as fourteen-faced considerable risks to maintain an essential flow of armaments, equipment, and food: submarines, mines, armed raiders and destroyers, aircraft, kamikaze pilots, and the weather itself. Life on board a merchant ship could be tense, with hour after hour spent battling high seas, never knowing if a torpedo was about to hit. In the Arctic convoys, sailors had to cope with extreme cold and ice. But there was also comradeship and more open society than was the norm at the time, free of distinctions of class, race, religion, age, or color, and a mixture of nationalities, especially in the British fleet. The Merchant Navy Seaman Pocket Manual provides a fascinating glimpse into the world of these brave sailors, many of whom did not return. Drawing on documents, diagrams, and illustrations from British and American archives, it combines information on training, gunnery, convoys, and antisubmarine techniques with dramatic personal accounts. Covering the Battle of the Atlantic, the Arctic Convoys, and the Pacific, this book pitches the reader into the heart of this vital but often forgotten arena of WWII.

How the first military pilots learned to fly-and fight: guidance from Great War training manuals. Aviation was still in its infancy when World War I broke out-and newly formed air forces produced manuals to help pioneers heading for the skies as they took warfare into a new dimension with reconnaissance missions, primitive bombing attempts, and attacks on enemy aircraft. Pulling together information from British manuals such as A Few Hints for the Flying Officer and Practical Flying, as well as American, German, and French training guides, this book shows the type of information the pilots were given, such as: The basics of how to care for, start, and fly an aircraft. Tactics and strategy in the air. Identifying whether vehicles below were friend or foe. Interacting with mechanics. Coordinating with army or naval forces, and more. This fascinating time capsule opens up the world of the Great War aviator and includes introductions to the manuals by Chris McNab, setting them in context and providing background.

"An army marches on its stomach-so the classic saying goes. This book brings together excerpts from contemporary manuals for U.S. Army cooks to show how the U.S. Army fed and provisioned its troops in the early 20th century and lift the lid on what daily life must have been like both for those preparing and consuming the rations. The oldest manual included dates from 1896. At this time, the U.S. Army was involved in the last skirmishes of the Indian Wars, the Spanish-American war and the Philippine-American war. The manual prepares a cook for any eventuality whether in garrison, at camp in the field, or on the march, with instructions on everything from butchery to preserving meat and how to organise the serving of the food and clean utensils (a stew pan with fine sand and salt). As well as classic American fare such as chowder, numerous hash recipes and Rhode Island pancakes, more exotic influences are apparent with such delights as Crimean Kebobs, Turkish pillau, ""Bombshells"" (giant meatballs) and Tamales (chilli beef stew wrapped in corn leaf parcels). By contrast a 1916 manual offers a detailed consideration of nutrition for the men, and what must be one of the first calorie counters for different dishes. Instructions are given on how to assemble a field range in a trench and on a train. Among the more unusual recipes are ""head cheese"" (meat stew made from scraps) and pickled pigsfeet. Manuals produced during WWII instructed cooks how to bake a variety of breads, cakes and pies, or how to cook dehydrated products. With an introduction explaining the historical background, this is a fascinating and fun exploration of early 20th-century American army cooking, with a dash of inspiration for feeding your own army!"

From the pioneering tactics and terror of the Blitzkrieg assault, through the carnage of Barbarossa, Kursk, the Desert War, and the Normandy Bocage and the Battle of the Bulge, there were perhaps no more unsettling and merciless positions to occupy in the Second World War than that of a tank commander. This new book puts the reader at the very heart of this "hell on wheels" and presents all of the original information required to perform this most dangerous of wartime battlefield roles. From training manuals and war office memorandums to combat reports and first-hand accounts, The Tank Commander Pocket Manual sits you in the turret position of commander of some of the most fearsome land vehicles. These include the Soviet T-34, the German Panther and its nemesis the American Sherman, the terrifying Tiger I as well as tank variants including flamethrowers and tank destroyers such as the Allied M10 and the StuG III. Original documents, diagrams, technical drawings and reports have been collated and compiled from archives and collections to include original Russian, German and English angles on the commander's many roles including how to 'run' the rest of the crew of this most decisive weapon of the Second World War. • Published to mark the centenary of the tank • Rare, previously unpublished documents • Attractively produced in cloth-bound retro-styled case R Shepherd has worked for many years in military publishing for leading companies such as Casemate and Osprey, and has compiled a number of books. Pool of London Pocket Manuals The new Pocket-Manual series from the Pool of London Press presents some of the most iconic military, naval and transport machines from the last 100 years by means of compiling the original documents, confidential memos, plans and artworks that contributed to their celebrated history. This approach allows the modern reader both to have an excellent understanding of the development of these extremely influential aircraft, AFVs, ships, automobiles and trains, but also provides the unique opportunity for further interpretation through the study of many previously unpublished original documents, diagrams and illustrations. Every volume in the series is skillfully compiled and researched by the leading experts in their field who also provide a lengthy contextualizing introduction. Superbly priced, retro-styled to their historical period, and beautifully hard-bound in debossed cloth, the Pool of London Pockets sell as self-purchase, gift and are excellently suited to book trade as well as to museum stores and heritage outlets across the world.

The indispensable guerilla warfare manual, first developed by the Russian military during WWII-with a thorough introduction on its legendary history. During the Second World War, the Red Army developed The Partisan's Companion to train Soviet guerillas to fight Nazi invaders It contains the Soviet lessons of two bitter years of war, covering field craft, guerilla tactics, German counter-guerrilla tactics, demolitions, German and Soviet weapons, scouting, camouflage, anti-tank warfare and anti-aircraft defense for squad and platoon-level instruction. It proved so effective that it was later used to train Third World guerrillas in their wars of national liberation during the 1950s-70s, and even the Fedayeen guerrillas who fought US and coalition forces in Iraq. The Soviet partisans moved and lived clandestinely, harassed the enemy, and supported the Red Army through reconnaissance and attacks on German supply lines. They clearly frustrated German logistics and forced the Germans to periodically sideline divisions for rear-area security. The partisans and their handbook were a vital part of the eventual Soviet victory over Germany. This pocket manual puts The Partisan's Companion in context, explaining its importance.

This is a comprehensive look at how France influenced the American Revolutionary War in a variety of ways: intellectually, financially, and militarily. It raises the crucial question of whether America could have won its independence without the aid of France. The book begins with an overview of the intellectual and ideological contributions of the French Enlightenment thinkers, called the philosophes, to the American and French revolutions. It then moves to cover the many forms of aid provided by France to support America during the Revolutionary War. This ranged from the covert aid France supplied America before her official entry into the war, to the French outfitters and merchants who provided much-needed military supplies to the Americans. When the war began, the colonists thought the French would welcome an opportunity to retaliate and regain their country. France also provided naval assistance, particularly to the American privateers who harassed British shipping and contributed to the increased shipping rates which added to Great Britain's economic hardships. France's military involvement in the war was equally as important. America's First Ally looks at the contributions of individual French officers and troops, arguing that America could not have won without them. Desmarais explores the international nature of a war which some people have called the first world war. When France and Spain entered the conflict, they fought the Crown forces in their respective areas of economic interest. In addition to the engagements in the Atlantic Ocean, along the American and European coasts and in the West Indies, there are accounts of action in India and the East Indies, South America and Africa. Also included are accounts drawn from ships' logs, court and auction records, newspapers, letters, diaries, journals, and pension applications.

During World War II, it quickly became apparent that the physical and tactical demands placed upon paratroopers required men of exceptional stamina, courage and intelligence. To create these soldiers, levels of training were unusually punishing and protracted, and those who came through to take their "wings" were a true elite. The Paratrooper Training Pocket Manual 1939—1945 provides an unusually detailed look into what it took to make a military paratrooper during the Second World War, and how he was then utilized in actions where expected survival might be measured in a matter of days. Using archive material from British, U.S., German and other primary sources-many never before published-this book explains paratrooper theory, training, and practice in detail. The content includes: details of the physical training, instruction in static-line parachute deployment, handling the various types of parachutes and harnesses, landing on dangerous terrain, small-arms handling, airborne deployment of heavier combat equipment, landing in hostile drop zones, tactics in the first minutes of landing, radio comms, and much more. Featuring original manual diagrams and illustrations, plus new introductory text explaining the history and context of airborne warfare, The Paratrooper Training Pocket Manual 1939—1945 provides a detailed insight into the principles and practice of this unique type of combat soldier.

An exploration of German World War II small-scale military strategy, edited by the former chief historian of the U.S. Marines. While small wars are not new, how they should be fought by a modern industrial nation is still very much a matter for debate. It is thus worth paying heed now to the experiences of another power which once encountered the same problems. This pocket manual examines German analysis of the problem, covering experiences from the Napoleonic era to the Third Reich, based upon the historical analysis, Kleinkrieg, provided to the German High Command by Arthur Ehrhardt in 1935 (republished in 1942 and 1944), and the Bandenbekampfung (Fighting the Guerrilla Bands) document provided to Germany's OKW in 1944. In both, conditions that were specific to broader military operations were separated from circumstances in occupation campaigns, and the new background in the German experience in suppressing rebellion during the Second World War is presented. Avoiding ideological biases, this manual examines the purely military problem as seen by professionals. Rediscovered and presented in English, these German thoughts on how best to fight small wars have been edited and annotated by Charles D. Melson, former chief historian for the U.S. Marine Corps.

Some twenty-five years after its conclusion, yet with its echoes resonating once more in contemporary East-West relations, the rigors and detail of many aspects of the Cold War are becoming increasingly of interest. Furthermore, at the very same time many of the records of the period are beginning to become accessible for the first time. At the forefront of this unique conflict, that divided the world into two opposing camps for over four decades, were the security services and the agents of these secretive organizations. The Cold War Pocket Manual presents a meticulously compiled selection of recently unclassified documents, field-manuals, briefing directives and intelligence primers that uncover the training and techniques required to function as a spy in the darkest periods of modern history. Material has been researched from the CIA, MI5 and MI6, the KGB, the STASI as well as from the Middle East security services and on into China and the East. As insightful as any drama these documents detail, amongst many other things, the directives that informed nuclear espionage, assassinations, interrogations and the 'turning' of agents and impacted upon the Suez Crisis, the Hungarian Uprising, the 'Cambridge Five' and the most tellingly the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. • Full introduction and commentary provided by leading historian and former diplomat Philip Parker. • Complete with a catalogue of, and often instructions for, genuine espionage devices including lock decoders, bugging equipment, a 4.5mm single-shot lipstick gun, microfilm concealing coins and cameras mounted in clothing or pens and shoe-concealed tracking devices. • Presents for the first time the insightful documents, many of which inspired Cold War novelists including John Le Carré, Len Deighton and Ian Fleming, and many of which they would never have seen.

The success of the D-Day landings on June 6, 1944 depended on thousands of troops carrying out their mission and the seamless coordination of the amphibious landings with paratrooper and glider assaults. The troops not only had to be trained up ready for their own roles, but to work alongside other troops, often coordinating activities and communicating with other troops while in unfamiliar terrain and under fire. This pocket manual brings together excerpts from Allied manuals used in the preparation for D-Day, including amphibious landings and managing beachheads, pathfinder, paratrooper and glider pilot training, and infantry and armored fighting in the bocage countryside.