The Paratrooper Training Pocket Manual 1939–45

by Chris McNab

Airborne assault was one of the great innovations of the 1930s and 1940s, adding a new 'vertical' dimension to infantry warfare. By the onset of World War II in 1939, Germany, Italy, and Russia were already advanced in their development of paratrooper units. Germany in particular demonstrated the tactical shock of paratroopers in Western Europe in 1940 and, most spectacularly, in Crete in 1941, galvanizing the UK and the United States to expand and train their own airborne forces, which they unleashed in 1943-45. The Allied paratrooper drops on D-Day (6 June 1944) and those of Operation Market Garden (17-25 September 1944) were the stuff of legend, huge in scale and ambition, but both Allied and Axis paratroopers were deployed in numerous other actions, including special forces raids.

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 provides an unusually detailed insight into what it took to make a military paratrooper, and how he was then utilized in actions where expected survival might be measured in a matter of days. Using material from British, US, German archives and other primary sources, many never before published, the 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 provides a detailed insight into the principles and practice of this unique type of combat soldier.

160 pages, Hardcover

Published November 13, 2019

About the author

Dr Chris McNab has written over a hundred books in a career spanning over two decades. He is a historian with a specialisation in military history.

Reviews

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one volume in a series of handy and informative little books that capture details of military life and experience that often slips from the pages of the big history books. I have read a couple of the others and always appreciate them. In this case there are extensive excerpts from actual WW2 American, British, and German training manuals. However, these were at times frustrating to read because they appear to have been copied using optical character reading technology and the editors and proofreaders allowed numerous misspellings and types to slip through. I will still keep my copy despite that but catching those before publication would have meant 5 stars.

[virginia j denney · Rating 4 out of 5]

InterestIng

Training of individuals was very interesting. Instructions for controlling the glider was too technical for me and the pictures were too small or blurry on my kindle reader. Weapons descriptions, personnel organization, and equipment were also discussed. I found this British manual enlightening.
I chose to read this book because my father was with the US 101st Airborne during WW II.
Proof reading efforts leave a lot to be desired. Such as, "uncover" instead of "undercover" , and "gims" for "guns" are just two examples. And, leaving out the word "not" in one place in a paragraph meant it made no sense. A few times I could not figure out what was meant by some words. This is not the only book for which Kindle proofreading is an issue.

[Stephen Aguirre · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting collection of WWII training manuals, particularly like chapter 4 with tables corresponding to techniques of dropping, drift tables, etc. Chapters on Gliders was enjoyable as this is a subject category I just started researching.