The German Soldier's Pocket Manual

Osprey’s militaria books are always a cut above the rest! They never disappoint, this book being no exception.

The German Soldier's Pocket Manual: 1914–18 by Stephen Bull is an examination of changes in the German army during WWI. Bull was Curator of Military History and Archaeology for Lancashire Museums, with responsibility for local regimental collections. He has worked at the National Army Museum and BBC in London and has also appeared in the TV series Battlefield Detectives. He has written numerous articles for specialist journals, including a number on the weapons and tactics of the First World War. His other books include several Osprey titles on the tactics of World Wars I and II.

Soldier's manuals may not seem all that important, but for those who carried them, they represent critical information. The manual/guidebook I had in the Marines covered everything from fighting positions, fields of fire, first aid, movement under fire, and weapons. It was something a Marine could fall back on. It was a study guide and a reference book. If one never handled an M60 one could find all the pertinent information in the guidebook.

The German Pocket Manual is a collection of updates and new information on war fighting for German soldiers. The First World War did not progress as planned for the German army. The Schlieffen Plan ran into snags and the what was meant as a rapid, coordinated invasion ended up bogged down in the trenches. Direct fire artillery was replaced with indirect fire artillery. Attacking entrenched troops was different than the open battlefield. Grenades became an vital weapon as well as machine guns. Feild fortifications also changed and were designed with different purposes.

Bull provides an introduction and presents German war-fighting plans at the start of the war and presents documents translated by allied forces. Some items like the spade or entrenching tool were essential to soldier's lives in the field. The tool was used for more than just digging trenches. Other items like the "concentration charge" seemed much less practical. The concentration charge was a stick grenade with six additional charges attached to it. The idea of creating a weapon with more bang was offset by the awkwardness of throwing the heavier weight on an already unbalanced stick. Bull provides the reader with primary source material from both German documents and eyewitness ally accounts.

A fascinating collection of documents on fighting World War I from Germany’s point of view, produced between 1914 and 1918. The documents are mainly German but were obtained by Britain or the US during the War.

An introduction puts the documents in context, describing the strengths and weaknesses of Germany’s fighting power in the War.

The first document, ‘The Spade War’, is a rousing, incredibly positive tome for the German soldier on the importance of the spade in warfare. Entrenching, protection from bullets, construction of drier sleeping places could all be executed with this simple tool. I do not normally read war books at all and I found the language of this document very striking - ‘we will conquer even the strongest fortress in our way’ - in how it played down the risk of being hurt and how it encouraged the destruction of the enemy. Of course one would expect that it would, but it was language that I haven’t read before - poignant and sad!

Several of the following documents cover, in good detail, the strategies and tactics of the German army, providing much interesting analysis of and instructions for fighting.

And there are a number of instruction manuals - for flame projectors, for example. These cover how and in what circumstances the equipment is to be used in battle. Again, strategy and tactics.

Not my usual area of reading at all, but I found it really very interesting.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I got this for a World War I history buff. He was absolutely thrilled by the opportunity to glimpse a peek at the "other side." Tactics and history are discussed. I think this book is a great gift item and belongs on any military history collector's shelf!