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George Nafziger's hobbyist publishing company, The Nafziger Collection, continues to turn out a great many volumes of orders of battle and related material. Here are brief descriptions of four of his recent WWII-related titles, all reprints of US Army publications.
ISBN 1-58545-070-7 About this Volume; photos; tables; diagrams; Index Nafziger here presents "the source documents in their original form with editorial commentaries only when absolutely necessary or when the current intelligence was so inaccurate as to require correction." The documents comprise "Intelligence Bulletins" published during 1944 and 1945 about the German Army and include topics such as "Tank Talk," "German Tank Platoons Operating as Points," "Use of Tanks with Infantry," "Notes on German Antitank Tactics," "Tactics of Individual German Arms in Italy," "GI Comments on German Use of Fire Power," "German Machine Guns and Notes on Their Use," "Ground Tactics of German Paratroopers," "German Patrol Methods in Italy," "Withdrawal Tactics in Italy," "Street Fighting by Panzer Grenadiers," "German Tactics in Towns and Cities," "German Combat in Woods," and many more. In some cases these are translations of captured German documents, in other cases the material was prepared and written by American officers:
Recently the enemy has been sending out suicide patrols, each consisting of about six men armed with machine guns. The mission of these suicide patrols has been to infiltrate our lines and do as much damage as possible. We generally succeed in wiping out such patrols on contact, but they can be something of a nuisance even so. One good thing about it is when you liquidate a suicide patrol, you feel that you're getting rid of Nazis of the most fanatical type. There are certainly some interesting sections here, such as "How the German Army Uses Smoke in Combat," but with so little editorial commentary, it's important for the reader to remember that some of this material represents American translations of portions of German manuals, while other material, such as the quote above, merely represents American interpretations of German behavior in combat.
ISBN 1-58545-069-3 About this Volume; photos; tables; diagrams; Index
Where German Tactics in Western Europe represents assorted American "Intelligence Bulletins," this volume from Nafziger begins with about thirty pages of "Military Intelligence Service Information Bulletin No. 20" titled "German Methods of Warfare in the Libyan Desert." That Bulletin comprises several main sections, including: "German Tank Tactics," "Organization of a German Defensive Position," "Lessons from Libya," and "German Mines." The material in Bulletin No. 20 comes partly from a British pamphlet on tactical doctrine, partly from reports by Allied officers, and partly from translations of captured German documents.
No ISBN Photos; tables; diagrams Appendix: Illustrated Problem (Attack of a Field Position)
Unlike the two volumes on German tactics which compile extracts from a series of separate Bulletins, this volume simply reprints the US Army's Field Manual 17-42, "Armored Infantry Battalion," originally released in November 1944. In fact, in reprinting the original Nafziger has gone so far as to leave out his own title page, meaning this booklet was published without any Nafziger Collection publication data and without even an ISBN.
General The appendix devotes four pages to demonstrating an armored infantry battalion in the attack, and the whole package is thoroughly illustrated. While in a sense Nafziger's German volumes might be a little more seductive, this reprint probably offers, pound for pound, more valuable and more reliable information about how units actually functioned on the ground.
ISBN 1-58545-066-9 Photos; tables; diagrams Appendices: Check Lists for Operations Field Manual 17-32 mostly echoes FM 17-42. "Tank Company," also originally released in November 1944, is reprinted here in its entirety with chapters closely resembling those of 17-42.
General The one especially interesting aspect of this volume is the inclusion of notes by Colonel John Elting, one of the original co-authors, which were not included in the final draft. For example, in the instructions for "Attack [on] a Town," Elting has annotated the section with "Do not agree," presumably indicating his disapproval of the approved tactics.
All four volumes represent historical documents, or at least historical curiosities, which might be especially interesting to wargamers and others involved with the theory and reality of tactical doctrine on the WWII battlefield.
Reviewed 4 November 2001 Copyright © 2001 by Bill Stone May not be reproduced in any form without written permission of Stone & Stone
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Nafziger, George F. (editor). German Tactics in Western Europe, 1943-1945.. West Chester, OH: The Nafziger Collection, 2001
Nafziger, George F. (editor). German Tactics in North Africa. West Chester, OH: The Nafziger Collection, 2001
War Department. U.S. Armored Infantry Battalion Tactics in WWII (FM 17-42). West Chester, OH: The Nafziger Collection, 2001
War Department. American Tank Company Tactics (FM 17-32). West Chester, OH: The Nafziger Collection, 2001