Category: News (Page 3 of 15)

Winds of Change

February 27, 2025 / chef / 0 Comments

Most likely, if you end up on this website, you got sick of the song some three decades ago. But this is not about the Fall of the Wall, this is about my own little corner of the web, and some changes will be coming this year. I have not properly played Europa in over a decade, and I do not thing I will ever get my shipment of “Total War” I paid more than two decades ago. So all things “Europa” will be rounded out by files, and then assembled into an Europa archive for those still interested. And yes, I will continue to add game reports, but I would like to focus a bit more on military history. The library will become a place for online available sources, some of which may be a bit harder to find. There will be a new bibliography for the Austro-Hungarian military history, and some lists of available regimental histories as well, and I will structure and revisit the Link section, too.

As in the past, more important things like family and job mean I will rarely have time to create my own original content – it took me three or four months to research and write “Battle of Balakliya”, and its not even a very good essay, more of a test case. So I will do what I have done for the last thirty years: Look for cool things other people have written or done, and point you to them. Ever since I had to steer my career away from the academic work on military history, I have always been grateful to have the possibility to collect, curate, and assembling things I was no longer able to focus my work on. So if you have anything to share on the topics of the organization and equipment of military forces, I will always be grateful if you share.
Also, ask me about my other collections.

The War against

January 20, 2025 / chef / 0 Comments

… what exactly is unclear, but the shouting got too much for us. We will be deactivating the Twitter account of the Generalstab, There is not much else to say, it was fun while it lasted, but I refuse to look at the things promoted and shoved in my face on Twitter these days.

So the plan is to move to where the Sky is blueer during this year. I admit I have been lazy posting and engaging online a lot, since other projects took precedence. But I have been busy during the past years, and will actually be able to share some of the results soon, probably on the other long-term project the Ametria site. It will be more oriented towards interaction, scientific study and historic work, and sources will be king. I hope to interest some of you for it, come the time.

Hooray for the Coast Guard

January 16, 2025 / chef / 0 Comments

The Coast Defense Study Group was so kind as to share their collection of FMs with us. There are exceptionally good scans, not OCRed yet, but in most cases with great details allowing for a much better analysis of the images. If you find the time, pay them a visit, their website is amazing and the history of fotrifications in the US is undervalued to say the least. From their depository, we’ve added the FMs listed below today – Thank you again for this, CDSG!
This means that we now have 360 of the 527 FMs from the Second World War known to us, which gives us already a pretty good coverage. It looks even better for the prewar-FMs, where we have 48 out of 64, and the missing ones are with two exceptions updates or earlier versions of a manual we already uploaded. Next up: The Cold War manuals. But first, here’s the list of updates:

FM 4-45 Coast Artillery Field Manual. Seacoast Artillery. Service of the Piece. 12 Inch gun, Railway Mound, M1918, Railway Artillery (1940).pdf
FM 4-5 Coast Artillery Field Manual. Seacoast Artillery Organization and Tactics (1940).pdf
FM 4-5 Coast Artillery Tactics (C1) 1944.pdf
FM 4-6 Coast Artillery Field Manual. Seacoast Artillery Tactics and Technique of Controlled Submarine Mines (1943).pdf
FM 4-7 Tactics and Technique of Controlled Submarine Mines, Ground (1945).pdf
FM 4-15 Coast Artillery Field Manual. Seacoast Artillery Fire Control and Position Finding (1943).pdf
FM 4-30 Service of Gun data Computer M1 (1943).pdf
FM 4-32 Service of Base End Data and Gun Data Transmission Systems (1944).pdf
FM 4-41 Coast Artillery Field Manual. Operation and Care of Railway Artillery Equipment (1943).pdf
FM 4-144 Antiaircraft Artillery Field Manual. Service of Radio Set SCR-584 (1943).pdf
FM 4-145 Coast Artillery Field Manual. Antiaircraft Artillery. Radio Set SCR-258 (1942).pdf
FM 4-48 Coast Artillery Field Manual. Service of the the Piece Seacoast Artillery 8-inch Gun, Mark VI, Modification 3A2, On Railway Mount M1A1 (1943).pdf
FM 4-49 Coast Artillery Field Manual. Service of the the Piece Seacoast Artillery 8-inch Gun, Mark VI, Modification 3A2, On Railway Mount M1A1 (1940(.pdf
FM 4-51 Coast Artillery Field Manual. Operation and Care of Railway Artillery Equipment (1943).pdf
FM 4-74 Service of the Piece–6-Inch Gun M1903A2 or M1905A2 on BC M3 and M4 (1944).pdf
FM 4-91 Coast Artillery Service of the Piece–90mm Gun M1 on 90mm Mount M3 (1943).pdf
FM 4-95 Seacoast Artillery Service of Radio Set SCR-296-A (1943(.pdf
FM 4-100 Antiaircraft Artillery Field Manual, Organization and Tactics of Antiaircraft Artillery (1943).pdf
FM 4-101 Antiaircraft Artillery Field Manual. Employment of Antiaircraft Artillery with Armored Forces (1943).pdf
FM 4-102 Employment of Antiaircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons (1943).pdf
FM 4-103 Antiaircraft Artillery Field Manual. Employment of Antiaircraft Artillery with Airborne Forces (1943).pdf
FM 4-106 Antiaircraft Artillery Field Manual. Employment of Antiaircraft Searchlights and the AAAIS (1943).pdf
FM 4-110 Coast Artillery Field Manual. Antiaircraft Artillery. Gunnery, Fire Control and Position Finding (1940).pdf
FM 4-112 Coast Artillery Field Manual. Antiaircraft Artillery. Gunnery, Fire Control and Position Finding, Automatic Weapons (1940).pdf
FM 4-121 Antiaircraft Artillery Field Manual. Fire Control, Guns (1943) guns.pdf
FM 4-135 Coast Artillery Field Manual. Antiaircraft Artillery. Marksmanship and Service of the Piece. Antiaircraft Machine Gun (1940).pdf
FM 4-136 Antiaircraft Artillery Field Manual. Service of Directors M4 and M7 (1943).pdf
FM 4-138 Antiaircraft Artillery Field Manual. Service of Directors M9 and M10 (1943).pdf
FM 4-140 Coast Artillery Field Manual. Antiaircraft Artillery. Service of the Piece. 37-mm Antiaircraft Gun (1941).pdf
FM 4-143 Antiaircraft Artillery Field Manual. Service of Height Finder SCR-547 (1943).pdf
FM 4-188 Antiaircraft Artillery Field Manual. Barrage Balloon. Service of the Balloon and Balloon Equipment, Very Low Altitude (1943).pdf
FM 4-196 Antiaircraft Artillery Field Manual. Barrage Balloon Rigging and Fabric Repair (1943).pdf
FM 4-146 Antiaircraft Artillery Field Manual. Service of Radio Set SCR-545 (1943).pdf
FM 4-150 Coast Artillery Field Manual. Examination of Gunners (1940).pdf
FM 4-150 Coast Artillery Field Manual. Examination of Gunners (Change 1) (1940).pdf
FM 4-159 Antiaircraft Artillery Field Manual. Service of the Piece. Multiple Gun Motor Carriage M15 (1943).pdf
FM 4-160 Antiaircraft Artillery Field Manual. Service of the Piece. 40-mm Fire Unit (1943).pdf
FM 4-175 Antiaircraft Artillery Field Manual. Service of the Searchlight (1943).pdf
FM 4-176 Antiaircraft Artillery Field Manual. Service of Radio Set SCR-258 (1943).pdf
FM 4-187 Antiaircraft Artillery Field Manual. Barrage Balloon. Service of the Balloon and Balloon Equipment, Low Altitude (1943).pdf

Thank you to the CDSG!

January 15, 2025 / chef / 0 Comments

I recently found some time to work on putting the U.S. Field Manual Collection on a more solid footing, going through the various FM 21-6 (Index of Training Publications) and other lists to see what manuals are still missing, and seeing if they are available online. All this for a bigger update at the end of this month, when I will add roughly 200 new FMs or variants thereof, and correct some spelling errors.

Sometimes, the search for missing FMs ends at the gates of a mailing list who’s owners remain unresponsive. Sometimes, the reply comes quick, and I get more than I asked for. The webmaster of the Coastal Defense Study Group was so kind as to indulge my request for a couple of FMs and instead handed me their whole repository of documents, for which I am deeply thankful. I do not take donations for this website, but if you want to support the amazing work the CDSG does for the military history of the United States, please head over there and have a look!

Southern Sector in 1944: General Soviet thrusts and Axis pockets

An Epic Ending

January 12, 2025 / chef / 0 Comments

Ken Newall’s report of his solitaire game playing Scorched Earth had been a persistant source of entertainment for many readers on the Europa mailing list as well as for me. Finally I would the time to upload the last reports from the autumn and winter of 1944, concluding this monumental spectacle, and finishing with an insightful wrap up. The posts will be published over the coming weeks and conclude on February 19th. This should give me enough time to catch up with all the other exiting reporting that happened in the past years on the Europa list. So there will be no want for game reports this year, and I think I will stick to the schedule of having a new post every week for as long as I can make it last.

Supply and Ordnance

December 31, 2024 / chef / 0 Comments

I’ve finally made some progress in the Excel sheet tracking the 2233 Field manuals currently known to me, and taking thorough inventory of everything I already have. Currently I’ve got reliable entries for about a third of all the files, but I am aming to complete the list within the next month. This got necessary as during the upload of the last update I again notices several doublettes, and more typos and incorrectly named files. Appologies to all of you for that. When finished, the table should make it possible to track the field manuals still missing, and give a better overview over whats there. I already have another 56 manuals not yet online, but I am gonna keep those until they have been vetted and the list has been completed. So another major update is coming at the end of January – I hope. Until then, godspeed and have a Happy New Year!

And another batch of manuals, this time harvested from the various collections at archive.org. There is still more to come, but for today we have:

FM 1-10 Army Aviation Organizational Aircraft Maintenance (1962).pdf
FM 1-100 Army Aviation.pdf
FM 1-5 Army Aviation Organizations and Employment (1964).pdf
FM 10-13 Quartermaster Reference Data (1957).pdf
FM 10-15 Quartermaster Sales Company (1961).pdf
FM 10-2 Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment Quarterm (1957).pdf
FM 10-52 Headquarters and Headquarters Company Quartermaster Depot (1954).pdf
FM 10-6 Quartermaster Service Company (1956).pdf
FM 10-63 Handling of Deceased Personnel in Theaters of Operations (1959).pdf
FM 10-7 Quartermaster Organization and Operations in Divisions (1959).pdf
FM 11-10 The Signal Battalion Infantry Division (1957).pdf
FM 11-11 The Signal Battalion Armored Division (1958).pdf
FM 11-14 Army Signal Supply and Maintenance Battalion (1959).pdf
FM 11-15 Signal Cable Construction Battalion (1962).pdf
FM 11-22 Signal Operations in the Corps and Army (1945).pdf
FM 11-40 Signal Corps Pictorial Operations (1960).pdf
FM 11-41 Film and Equipment Exchange Operations (1961).pdf
FM 11-50 Signal Battalion Armored Mechanized and Infantry Divisions (1961).pdf
FM 11-83 Signal Base Depot Company (1957).pdf
FM 11-85 Signal Base Maintenance Company (1956).pdf’
FM 11-92 Corps Signal Battalion (1959).pdf
FM 11-95 Arm Signal Battalion (1963).pdf
FM 12-105 Adjutant Generals Field Manual The Army Postal Service (1942).pdf
FM 12-11 Administration Company Airborne Armored Infantry Divisions (1961).pdf
FM 16-100-Character Guidance Manual (1961).pdf
FM 16-5 The Chaplain (1958).pdf
FM 17-15 Tank Units Platoon Company and Battalion (1964).pdf
FM 17-33 Tank Units Platoon Company and Battalion (1959).pdf
M 17-36 Armored Cavalry Platoon and Troop Air Cavalry Troop and Divisional Armored Cavalry Squadron (1963).pdf
FM 19-15 Civil Disturbances and Disasters (1960).pdf
FM 19-5 The Military Policeman (1959).pdf
FM 19-60 Confinement of Military Prisoners (1965).pdf
FM 23-8 U.S. Rifle 7.62-mm M14 (1962).pdf
FM 25-10 Motor Transportation Operations (1959).pdf
FM 27-10 Basic Field Manual Rules of Land Warfare (1944).pdf
FM 27-21 Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Airborne Division Battle Group (1959).pdf
FM 3-0 Operations (2017).pdf
FM 3-97-6 Mountain Operations (2000).pdf
FM 30-101 Aggressor The Maneuver Enemy (1961).pdf
FM 30-101 The Maneuver Enemy (1956).pdf
FM 30-101A Aggressor the Maneuver Enemy Esperanto Language (1959).pdf
FM 30-103 Aggressor Order of Battle (1951).pdf
FM 30-103 Aggressor Order of Battle (1968).pdf
FM 30-104 Aggressor Handbook on Insurgent War [1967].pdf
FM 30-104 Aggressor Representation [1954-03-18].pdf
FM 30-17 Counterintelligence Operations (1972).pdf
FM 30-28 Armed Forces Censorship (1969).pdf
FM 34-40-2 Basic Cryptanalysis (1990).pdf
FM 34-40-7 Communications Jamming Handbook [1992].pdf
FM 38-1 Logistics Supply Management (1958).pdf
FM 4-01.502 Army Watercraft Safety (2008).pdf
FM 4-10 Coast Artillery Field Manual Seacoast Artillery Gunnery (1942).pdf
FM 4-55 Coast Artillery Field Manual. Seacoast Artillery. Service of the Piece. 12-inch Mortar (1943).pdf
FM 4-75 Coast Artillery Field Manual. Seacoast Artillery. Service of the Piece. 6-inch Gun on Barbette Carriage (1943) .pdf
FM 41-10 Civil Affairs Military Government Operations (1957).pdf
FM 41-5 Joint Manual of Civil Affairs. Military Government (1958).pdf
FM 44-2 Light Antiaircraft Artillery -Automatic Weapons (1956).pdf
FM 5-132 Infantry Division Engineer Battalion (1957).pdf
FM 5-134 Armored Division Engineer Battalion (1958).pdf
FM 5-15 Engineer Field Manual Field Fortifications (1940).pdf
FM 54-1 The Logistical Command (1959).pdf
FM 54-2 Division Logistics and the Support Command (1961).pdf
FM 55-15 Transportation Corps Reference Data (1960).pdf
FM 55-21 Rail Transportation Higher Units (1955).pdf
FM 55-23 Transportation Railway Shop Battalion (1955).pdf
FM 55-4 Transportation Movements in Theaters of Operations (1959).pdf
FM 55-6 Transportation Service in Theaters of Operation (1955).pdf
FM 55-6 Transportation Services in Theaters of Operations (1961).pdf
FM 6-20 Field Artillery Field Manual Tactics and Techniques (1941).pdf
FM 6-21 Division Artillery Infantry Division (1957).pdf
FM 6-40 Field Artillery Cannon Gunnery (1974).pdf
FM 6-77 105-mm Howitzer M52 Self-Propelled (1956).pdf
FM 7-10 Rifle Company Infantry and Airborne Division Battle Groups (1961).pdf
FM 7-100 Infantry Division (1958).pdf
FM 7-19 Combat Support Company Infantry Division Battle Group (1960).pdf
FM 7-21 Headquarters and Headquarters Company Infantry (1957).pdf
FM 7-21 Headquarters and Headquarters Company Infantry Division (1960).pdf
FM 7-24 Communication in Infantry and Airborne Divisions (1961).pdf
FM 8-10 Medical Service Theater of Operations (1962).pdf
FM 8-35 Transportation of the Sick and Wounded (1960).pdf
FM 8-5 Medical Service Units Theater of Operations (1962).pdf
FM 8-55 Army Medical Service Planning Guide.pdf
FM 9-197 Ordnance General Automotive Support Company (1960).pdf
FM 9-2 Ordnance Corps Logistical Data (1961).pdf
FM 9-4 Ordnance General and Depot Support Service (1959).pdf

Additions, Additions!

December 27, 2024 / chef / 0 Comments

Some new updates thanks to Janne, who pointed out the US Field Manuals on Intelligence at the DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska – Lincoln. Thank you, and the following manuals have been uploaded:

Checklist for Staff Officer’s Field Manual (1935).pdf
FM 11-35 Signal Corps Intelligence (1942).pdf
FM 17 Armored Force Field Manual. Employment of Armored Units. The Armored Division (1940).pdf
FM 17-20 Armored Force Field Manual. Employment of Armored units. Reconnaissance Platoon and Company (1942) .pdf
FM 30-15 Examination of Enemy Personnel, Repatriates, Documents, and Materiel. (1940).pdf
FM 10-41 Quartermaster Air Equipment Repair and Depot Company (1961).pdf
FM 11-137 Signal Communications Center Operation Company (1964).pdf
FM 11-15 Signal Cable Construction Battalion (1959).pdf
FM 11-25 Signal Construction Battalion (1966).pdf
FM 11-30 Signal Corps Technical Intelligence (1956).pdf
FM 11-9 Signal Radio Relay Company (1966).pdf
FM 11-95 Arm Signal Battalion (1960).pdf
FM 12-2 Adjutant General Support in Theaters of Operation (1968).pdf
FM 12-50 The Marching Band (1957).pdf
FM 16-5 The Chaplain (1952).pdf
FM 17-12 Tank Gunnery (1957).pdf
FM 17-12 Tank Gunnery (1961).pdf
FM 17-15 Tank Platoon (1996).pdf
FM 17-20 Armored Infantry Units. Platoon, Company, and Battalion (1957).pdf
FM 17-30 The Armored Division Brigade (1961).pdf
FM 17-33 Tank Units Platoon Company and Battalion (1957).pdf
FM 17-34 Amphibious Tank and Tractor Battalions (1950).pdf
FM 17-35 Armored Cavalry Platoon Troop and Squadron (1960).pdf
FM 17-35 Armored Cavalry Units. Armored and Infantry Divisions (1957).pdf
FM 17-70 Communication for Armored Units (1960).pdf
FM 17-98 Scout Platoon (1994).pdf
FM 17-98 Scout Platoon (1999).pdf
FM 24-20 Field Wire Techniques (1956).pdf
FM 3-130 US Army Chemical, Biological and Radiological (CBR) Intelligence (U) (1958).pdf
FM 30-16 Technical Intelligence (1953).pdf
FM 30-16 Technical Intelligence (1955).pdf
FM 4-01-41 Army Rail Operations (2003).pdf
FM 5-426 Carpentry (1995).pdf
FM 54-1 The Logistical Command (1960).pdf
FM 55-8 Transportation Intelligence (1956).pdf
FM 6-15 Artillery Metorology (1962).pdf
FM 6-2 Artillery Survey (1965).pdf
FM 6-3 Gun Direction Computer M16 (1963).pdf
FM 7-10 Infantry Rifle Company (2000).pdf
FM 7-17 The Armored Infantry and Battalion (1951).pdf
FM 7-30 Service and Medical Companies – Infantry Regiment (1954).pdf
FM 8-10-8 Medical Intelligence in a Theater of Operations (1989).pdf
FM 7-100-1 Opposing Force Operations (2004).pdf

Updates, Revisions, and new Links

November 18, 2024 / chef / 0 Comments

I am sorry for any of you who bookmarked the old drive folders. There were too many doublets, and too many files to rename to do that comfortably in drive, so I re-upped the whole collection, including anything I had found in the past two months and all revisions and corrections.

The collection now is structured by time, separating the World-War II FMs from the Cold war and the reforms implemented in 2010. ATPs are still to come:

US Army Field Manuals from World War Two

US Army Field Manuals from the Cold War

US Army Field Manuals since 2000

In total, there are 1956 Field Manuals now, including, of course, versions of manuals published over the years.

We are so back!

November 17, 2024 / chef / 0 Comments

Hey everyone,

welcome back! I went the easy way of not completely rebuilding, but switching out the vulnerable Plugin against newer ones, updating everything and trying to fix the most glaring security holes. The alternative would have been to import 1000+ pages into a new system, which I dreaded for … three years? And then dropped the idea. For now. At some point, a major migration will have to happen again, but not just now.

So we’re back online, with some game reports and articles still missing their proper side bar navigation, and some odds and ends broken, but in a much better state than the catatonic half-life this site’s had during and after the pandemic. Of course, this means there is now a host of new things to do – links to post, game reports to add, comments to answer, and all that. Going will be slow, but: We’re so back!

Thank you!

Update to the Field Manual Collection

September 16, 2024 / chef / 0 Comments

Thank you for the kind feedback received in the past year since the launch of this collection. Courtesy of one user (who wishes to remain anonymous), we have seven new manuals to add to the library, all concerning themselves with the handling of petroleum:

FM 10-67 Petroleum Supply in Theaters of Operations (1985)
FM 10-67-1 Petroleum Supply Operations (1998)
FM 10-67-2 Petroleum Testing (1997)
FM 10-416 Petroleum Pipeline and Terminal Operating Units (1998)
FM 10-426 Petroleum Supply Units (1997)
FM 10-602 Petroleum & Water Distribution Units HQ & HHC (1996)
FM 55-30C1 Transportation Motor Transport Operations (1999)

A big thank you to everyone who pointed out omissions and errors! And now have a look at the collection