Below are some Tables of organization and Equipment that outline the personnel, equipment, and organization of various types of units. For reenacting purposes it’s doubtful you’ll ever have this all (and it’s doubtful in WW2 the units in question ever did) but it’s a general guideline on what to aim for.
TO&E 7-37 Infantry Rifle Company Parachute – Aug 1st 1944. A Table of Organization and Equipment for what a rifle company should have in terms of manpower and items. This replaces the 7-37 from Feb 1942.
TO&E 7-37 Infantry Rifle Company Parachute -17 Feb 1942. A Table of Organization and Equipment for what a rifle company should have in terms of manpower and items. This is a cleaned-up copy of original source material.
11-1027 Signal Detachment, Headquarters Ship 11-1050 Film Library Organization 11-1095 Army Signal Battalion, Special 11-1096 Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Army Signal Battalion, Special 11-1097 Wire Operation Company, Army Signal Battalion, Special 11-1098 Signal Construction Company, Army Signal Battalion, Special
TOE 11-147S Joint Assault Signal Company 12-30-1944 – For an after-action report of the 593rd Joint Assault Signal Company which landed at Leyte Island on Oct 20th 1944 as part of the 96th Infantry Division read: 593rd Joint Assault Signal Company. It goes into detail about the problems it faced as well as the nitty-gritty of how the company was supposed to operate.
This lists supply catalogs. Supply catalogs are books filled with descriptions and nomenclature of various items used by different branches.
Signal Corps and Radio and Telephone
The instrument sketch book Weston Electrical Instruments 1941 – A sales book showing various products. Some of these civilian models may have ended up in Signal Corps hands. Also nice to have a reference guide in case you come across an obscure electrical item that you’re not sure about.
Signal Supply Catalog 1945- SubClass 6r M-Z Tools, Pigeons Class 9, Meteorological Class 7 – A partial listing of the whole Signal Corps Supply Catalog. Consisting of the total stock numbers and nomenclature of all items available to the Signal Corps.
Automatic Electric Telephone Supplies 1950 –Part One and Part Two. A product sales book showing telephone supplies available in 1950. Good for cross-referencing items. Includes hardware, wood, insulators, tools, wire, cable, cords, terminals, power, and misc items.
Medical Department
Medical Supply Catalog Med1 to Med3 March 1944 – This is the medical department’s complete catalog of available products. It lists items available, the associated stock number, as well as the price. It also includes pictures of some of the times. It’s a beefy pdf file that you download from my Google Drive. The Med-dept.com contains a wealth of information that goes into more detail on some of the items in the catalog such as individual first aid packs.
Medical Department Supply Catalog 1942 – This is the medical department’s complete catalog of available products. It lists items available, the associated stock number, as well as the price. It’s a beefy PDF file that you download from my Google Drive. The Med-dept.com contains a wealth of information that goes into more detail on some of the items in the catalog such as individual first aid packs.
Quartermaster Corps
Quartermaster Corps Manuel QMC 14-2: Use and Care of Office Equipment and Supplies – Dated Feb 1945. Written in response to the drastic reduction of office supplies and describes how to use and care for office supplies to make them last longer. Contains nuggets of information like “use both sides of the paper” and “to re-use file folders flip them inside out”. Also mentions to reuse rubber bands as rubber was a wartime ration good. It also has a good section on how to care for typewriters, which if you don’t know where to begin is a good place to start! Print on ivory regular paper, 8.5โณ x 11โณ
Quartermaster Supply Catalog QM 3-1 1946: List of Items for Troop Issue Enlisted Men’s Clothing and Equipment. This catalog was made in May 1946. Lists out all the things available to troops at the end of WW2. Supercedes QM1.
Easy 39th has a larger list of Pamphlets, so if you don’t see what you want here, you can head to that page. War Time Press is also another site to look at. However, they appear to only send out digital copies. For civilian magazines and newspapers, see: World War Two Civilian Magazines and Newspapers.
Yank
For a complete directory and listing of all WW2-era Yank magazines, see The Unz Review. Note that it only shows based on the individual article. You do not seem able to download a whole magazine. Nobody seems able to reproduce them either.
That said, I have some magazines that I’ve found that have been uploaded as a PDF: Yank Jan 6th 1943 The Navy Issue, Yank Magazine Jan 5th 1945 and Yank Magazine April 20th 1945. They are set up to be printed on a standard 8.5×11 piece of computer paper. The problem is that Yank Magazines are 10.25in. high and 14in. wide, and the PDFs contain watermarks and other post-WW2 library catalog information. Also this is newspaper not modern printing paper.
If you wish to print it off, the cover is a brown cardstock.
Pamphlet 21-10 Pvt Droop has Missed the War June 5th 1944 | An document that implores soldiers to essentially “don’t do stupid shit with” like driving too fast, hanging out too close to highways, drinking and driving, swimming within 2 hours, and visiting firetraps and cabarets, etc.
Note that the pamphlet contains Nazi symbols and offensive imagery of the Japanese.
Pamphlet 23-2 Hits Count 1959 | A post-war document that discusses how to aim with the M1 Garand rifle. While not WW2-related, the tips are relevant.
Pamphlet 24-2 Radio Telephone Procedure Oct 22nd, 1943 – Part 1 and Part 2 | A short small booklet that explains Radio Telephone Procedure. Print off part 1 on 8.5in b 14in. beige light cardstock, flip it over, and print off part 2. Then cut and fold.
I haven’t tested it but it looks like it’s going to end up being some kind of wallet-sized/index card-size pamphlet. If you want it as an image you can see part 1 and part 2 here.
It is interesting to note that when the prisoner approaches the firing post or gallows, a band plays “The Death March”, which is Frederic Chopinโs Funeral March. When the prisoner is killed, the band plays “..a lively tune”.
Radio War Guide July 1st, 1942 | A handout that outlines things a civilian radio station can take to help spread factual information about the war and help with general war-related programming.
Camouflage Simplified 1942 by Eric Sloane | A book describing ways to camouflage buildings from aerial observations through shadowing, pattern blending, painting etc.
Post-WW2
There’s a small number of post-WW2 manuals and guides I thought I might post here because they’re too cool and interesting not to share.
I typically reenact 5th Rangers, D Co. This post isn’t meant to rehash the history of the 5th Rangers (or Special Forces) but to provide some interesting information about them. I’ve divided the information into a few distinct sections. The images below cover all rangers unless otherwise specified in the image.
The images come from Ross, Robert Todd. US Army Rangers & Special Forces of World War II: Their War in Photographs. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Military History, 2002.
Rangers in the Field
Ranger Toggle Ropes
A close-up of the Ranger toggle ropes used on Dday. Probably taken from a training landing or a few days after.
While this next image isn’t from the book it does describe the location of where folks were in a landing craft. Source unknow.
Darbys Rangers
The images below show a Table of Organization and Equipment for Darby’s Rangers but are instructive in a general sense for what the 5th Rangers ultimately had.
Ranger Helmet
The images show some examples of a Ranger helmet. To learn more about how to paint the diamond see: Painting a Ranger Diamond.
Ranger Patch
The image below shows an example of a ranger patch on HBTs and 4 pocket tunics.
D-Day Embarkation
The images below highlight activity around the Rangers as they prepare for Dday. In one image you can see a few BC1000s radios.
Unique Uniform and Equipment Placement
The images below highlight a few unique placements of field equipment. Such as a meatcan pouch attached to a belt.
Ranger Training
The images below show a few examples of Ranger training for D-day and in general. It also shows an example of “Ranger Training” for other units. As in some soldiers in other units were selected to take a “Ranger course” and be certified.
Ranger Haircuts
1st Ranger Battalion SV Boots
The 1st Ranger Battalion had SV books. With “S” meaning sole and “V” meaning Vibram.
2671st Special Reconnaissance Battalion
The 2671st Special Reconnaissance Battalion was an OSS unit. They spray-painted their M1943 with black stripes to help camouflage it during operations. This doesn’t apply to the 5th Rangers but cool to show.
This will document some interesting things about the M1 Helmet that might be germane to reenacting. The images below unless otherwise mentioned come from two books –
This page will catalog some information related to reenacting US airborne divisions during WW2. I have an 82nd Airborne impression that I don’t often use. It’s a secondary impression that I’ll occasionally pull out but I’ve acquired various documents related to the 82nd in crafting the impression.
Geronimo US Airborne Uniforms Insignia and Equipment in World War II. Bill Rentz, 1999. Schiffer Military History. Atglen, PA
The images below are some high-quality pdf scans that came out of the book. Shows the 82nd in North Africa, individual equipment issued prior to a jump, how patches were sewn on, medical harness equipment, Arm Identification flag examples, 82nd patch examples, and stenciled jump jacket among others. For a complete view you can download the pdfs in a zip file here.
82nd Airborne in Normandy: A History in Period Photographs. Francois, Dominique. 2004. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Military History.
The images below are some high-quality scans that come out of the book. Shows aid station images, 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment Basketball Team, beer drinking, dropping supply bundles, private photos taken before departing for Normandy, individual equipment, parachuting dogs, The Tennessee Maneuvers, and others.
At the Point of No Return: Pictorial History of the American Paratroopers in the Invasion of Normandy Michel de Trez, 1994 D-Day Publishing, Belgium
The images below are some high-quality scans that come out of the book. It has examples of rigger-modified medical pouches and kits, platoon demo kits, and individual demo kits, as well as a few pictures of first aid and soldiers taking positions prior to an attack.
Why 1st Aid Kits on 17th Abn Div Helmet Nets by Lt Col David P. Schorr – This is a short document from the School of Combined Arms (Regular Course) 1946-1947. Schorr was the Executive Officer of the 193rd Glider Infantry Regiment. It provides a brief explanation as to why the first aid kits were attached to the front of the helmet. Spoiler: It provides a distinctive outline making “friendlies” easily recognizable in the dark. Now obviously, it only applies to the 17th Airborne Division around Operation Varsity but “attaching stuff to a helmet during a jump” was also something done by the 82nd and 101st on other jumps. It makes it easier to carry more stuff into combat.
I’m a sucker for primary sources. This post will be a catalog of sorts that’ll provide links to various diaries, journals, and accounts of World War II.
These will be either hard-to-find accounts or unpublished ones.
WWII DIARY by Pvt. Donald Duane Johnson 1st Edition. Edited by Daughters Mary Johnson Corcoran and Jane Johnson Kill – Tells the story of Pvt, Donald Duane Johnson (1915-1993). Captured October 24, 1944 at Vedriano, Italy with the 351st Regiment, 88th Division, Company G, 2nd Battalion. U.S. Army Recaptured May 1, 1945 by 3rd Army, 319th Regiment, 80th Division, Company E, 2nd Platoon General Pattonโs Army.
In this account, Bernard was part of the 12th Armored Medical Battalion providing medical assistance to the 12th Armored Tank Division. Bernard participated in the Battle of the Bulge, helped liberate Dachau, fought in the battle of Herrlisheim, crossed the Rhine, and was pushed into Germany by the war’s end. What I like most about the account is the mention of the little things like using oranges to practice sewing up wounds when he was in basic.
Finally, the account ends with mentions of the 12th Armored (I don’t think he was part of it) securing Werner von Braun‘s supersonic wind tunnel…who hilariously complained to the men that his bike was stolen. As well as an account of a few 12th Armored boys from the 23rd Tank Battalion and 4 infantrymen partaking in the Battle of Castle Itter (which is a super interesting story!).
The Odyssey of a Texas Citizen Soldier – Zip file. By Robert L. Wagner The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Vol. 72, No. 1 (Jul., 1968), pp. 60-87 (28 pages).
This is the account of Oran C Stovall a commander of the 111th Engineer Battalion which was part of the Texas National Guard unit, the 36th Infantry Division. He supported attacks to secure Naples and saw heavy action trying to cross the Rapido River to outflank Monte Cassino. Crossing the Rapido wrecked the Division. It was eventually sent to Anzio to help with the breakout and then to Southern France as part of Operation Dragoon. To help shore up the division they were assigned the famed 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the segregated Japanese-American unit. The unit ended service securing parts of the Dachau.
Medical Testimonies – A link to the Med-Dept.com which contains a wealth of resources for all aspects of WW2 era medical information including numerous accounts of those working in hospitals (both on land and ship), on the front-lines, and in graves registration units.
This book is Vol .IX of the 12th Army Groups Report of Operations (final after-action report). It describes the actions of the Headquarters Commandant Section and Special Troops.
What I find neat about the report is that it describes units typically attached to higher-echelon units and outlines (briefly) what they did. It’s a lot of units you would never think about but would be needed to help make the 1.3 million men in the group function.
For example, the 18th Finance Disbursing Section made between Feb 3rd, 1944 to June 30th, 1945 140,751 payments totaling $7,887,428.59. Also noted…they never had a case of VD or court martial.
And the 114th Signal Radio Intelligence Company which listened for lower-level German Army radio traffic and was able to locate a gas dump that US Army tanks were able to capture and use to gas up.
Of course, they also had the Office of the Chaplain who oversaw religious services for the men. It looks like the Chaplains were mostly Catholic or Protestant but also gave sermons to those of the Hebrew Faith, Mormon, and Christian Science faiths. It’s noted that:
“A listing of all the locations in which services were held would in itself give some insight into the variety which belongs to the experiences of Special Troops Chaplains. Apple orchards, world famous cathedrals and well known shrines garages, moving picture houses, and stables, historic court churches, day rooms, and mess halls: magnificent private chapels, dingy billets, and in the bombed out ruins of what had once been churches, are just half the story of where our men knelt or stood with their heads bowed. The services were held in times of fair weather and bitter cold, in times of quiet and in times when gunfire could be plainly heard.”
And the 585th Army Postal Unit which was bombed on March 14th and the men worked through the night fixing and salvaging so they could be open for business the next day.
The book also contains a neat map of their movement. You can download it as a pdf here or look at the image below.
In 1943 to find a wider audience, he turned to Jazz. Dinah Washington‘s recording debut was with Keynote at the end of 1943.
In 1947 the label made an attempt to manufacture its own records that didn’t go as planned, resulting in the business being acquired by Mercury Records in 1948.
One popular record by Keynote was Songs of the Lincoln Brigade. It was produced in 1937. It is a collection of songs praising the soldiers who went to fight against fascism in the Spanish Civil War.
Eric Bernay, died on Nov 5th, 1968 , according to his obituary in the New York Times –
New York Times, November 5, 1968, pp 44.
Many years ago I was traveling along the I-81 through the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia when I stopped at an antique store. Not sure of the town but I think it was North of New Market. I found a neat 78 record set, in mint condition. As well as a few single records.
The 78 record set was The Red Army Chorus of the USSR conducted by Alexander Vasilyevich Alexandrov. It is Keynote Records Album number 103.
Front cover
Opening it up showed the lyrics of the songs. It was four 78 records (so 8 songs total)
From Border to Border
The Young Birch Tree
Cossack Song
If Tomorrow Brings War
Snowstorm
Song of the Tachanka
Meadowland
Along the Vales and Hills
Inside cover
One interesting thing is on the back cover. It has a Restricted Use Notice saying that the record is for non-commerical use on phonographs in homes and cannot be resold for any other use.
Inside back cover
It took a while but I was eventually able to digitize the songs below as an MP3. If you would like the .wav version of the songs, feel free to contact me and I can send you a copy. Enjoy!
From Border to Border
This song is number K209-A in the set and looks like it was composed by Ivan Ivanovich Dzerzhinsky. The song runs about a minute and 50 seconds. You can download the mp3 here or listen to it below. Sung by the Red Army Choir of the USSR.
The Young Birch Tree
The Young Birch Tree is song number K210-B. Music is adapted and conducted by Alexander Vasilyevich Alexandrov. Soloist is V. Pankov. You can download the MP3 or listen to it below.
Along the Vales and Hills
Along the Vales and Hills sang by The Red Army Choir of the USSR and conducted (and composed) by Alexander Vasilyevich Alexandrov. Also looks like C. Alimov helped to create it too. Number K208-A. You can download the MP3 here or listen to it below.
Cossack’s Song
Cossack Song (or Cossack’s Song) sang by The Red Army Choir of the USSR and conducted by Alexander Vasilyevich Alexandrov. Composed by Ivan Ivanovich Dzerzhinsky. Song number K209-B. You can download the MP3 here or listen to it below.
If War Breaks out Tomorrow
If War Breaks out Tomorrow (or If Tomorrow Brings War). Song number 201-A. sang by The Red Army Choir of the USSR and conducted by Alexander Vasilyevich Alexandrov. Composed by Dmitry Pokrass and Daniil Pokrass (they were brothers) as well as Vasily Lebedev-Kumach.
The lyrics note that the Red Army Chorus of the USSR was created in 1928 with 12 performers. It has won many awards and now has 200 performers coming from both the Red Army and the Red Navy.
Meadowland (Song of the Plains) is number K208-A. Sang by The Red Army Choir of the USSR and conducted by Alexander Vasilyevich Alexandrov. Song was composed by Viktor Gusev and Lev Knipper.
You can download the MP3 here or listen to it below.
Snowstorm
Snowstorm is number K210-A. Sang by The Red Army Choir of the USSR and adapted and conducted by Alexander Vasilyevich Alexandrov. Soloist is V. Pankov.
Tachanka is number K201-B. Sang by The Red Army Choir of the USSR and conducted by Alexander Vasilyevich Alexandrov. Lyrics by Mikhail Ruderman and composed by Konstantin Listov. A tachanka is a horse-drawn machine gun, mounted on a peasant cart.
Tachanka was used in WW1 (and the Russian Civil War)
This is a single record that I also bought at the same time. It is number K213-B and is sung by the Ukrainian State Choral Ensemble. I’m not sure of the lyrics, though it appears to be a Ukrainian Folk song.
The Internationale is a left-wing song used by various social and communist movements. It was composed by Pierre De Geyter. This is number K213-A and is sung by the Bolshoi Theatre Chorus and Orchestra. Looks like the group associated with the Bolshoi Theatre at the time sang it.
You can download the MP3 here or listen to it below.
Forward to Victory (Charge of the Tanks)
This was also part of the collection I purchased. Though this doesn’t appear to be Keynote Records. Instead, it is Forward to Victory (Charge of the Tanks). Number 6309B. Taken from the film The Red Tanks and sung by the Moscow Military Chorus (courtesy of Artkino Pictures). The Pokrass brothers composed it. It’s essentially a single from the movie’s soundtrack.
Artkino pictures were the official distributor of Soviet media (like movies and music etc) in North America between 1950 to 1980.
Song of the Fatherland, number 6309-A. Sung by the Moscow Military Chorus (courtesy of Artkino Pictures). A single from the film, One Day in Soviet Russia, was produced in 1941. The film is essentially a propaganda piece to help garner pro-soviet sympathy after Germany invaded it. It was narrated by Quentin Reynolds, a journalist, who would be very much anti-communist in the 1950s.
The archive also includes other Keynote Record songs like The Clouds Fly High and Blue Night. All were sung by The Red Army Choir of the USSR and conducted by Alexander Vasilyevich Alexandrov.
This link here http://www.questmasters.us/Crates_Page_3.html does a pretty good job at covering cigarettes during World War II. It focuses mostly on Lucky Strikes but includes others like Chesterfield + more.
I really like how it broke down the nuances of the packages and brands so the discerning collector knows what’s period correct and what isn’t.
