Tank and Tank Destroyer Gunnery Field Manual: FM 23-100
Tank and Tank Destroyer Gunnery Field Manual: FM 23-100

Author: War Department

Publisher: Periscope Film LLC

Published: 2013-08

Total Pages: 274

ISBN-13: 9781937684563

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Created by the War Department during WWII to train tank and tank destroyer crews, this field manual teaches the principles and techniques employed in gunnery. It includes sections on direct and indirect fire techniques, auxiliary weapons, and employment of tanks as reinforcing artillery. Chapters include: range and speed determination, angle of site, crew drill, gunnery technique, direct and indirect fire sights and orders, conduct of fire with shot and heavy explosive ordnance, platoon in defilade, use of mechanized flame throwers, rocket launchers and machine guns. This text, a 1946 revision to the 1944 edition, is the definitive version combining all the experience and knowledge learned by the armored corps during WWII. Originally restricted, this manual was declassified long ago and reprinted here in book form. Care has been taken to preserve the integrity of the text.

Tank Destroyer Field Manual: Organization and Tactics of Tank Destroyer Units, June 16 1942 (FM 18-5)
Tank Destroyer Field Manual: Organization and Tactics of Tank Destroyer Units, June 16 1942 (FM 18-5)

Author: U.S. War Department

Publisher: Lulu.com

Published: 2012-05-29

Total Pages: 196

ISBN-13: 1105815307

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This facsimile edition of the US 1942 field manual for tank destroyer units describes missions, organization, combat, and training. It scales its information from squad to company to battalion to group. Issued early during the United States' WWII experience, it predates the assignment of authorized tank destroyer gear: "It is prepared for the guidance of units that will be equipped with materiel now being developed..." Readers should recall that US WWII doctrine and the high command forbade tank vs. tank combat. The American tank was meant for targets other than Axis armor. However, tank destroyer units were specifically designed, equipped, and deployed to fight what we now think of as tank battles. This is an historic document that gives us deep insight into a long-forgotten military doctrine. For those who think of tank destroyers as cheap tanks or stopgaps, this will be an eye-opener.

Seek, Strike, and Destroy
Seek, Strike, and Destroy

Author: Christopher Richard Gabel

Publisher:

Published: 1986

Total Pages: 108

ISBN-13:

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In the seventy years that have passed since the tank first appeared, antitank combat has presented one of the greatest challenges in land warfare. Dramatic improvements in tank technology and doctrine over the years have precipitated equally innovative developments in the antitank field. One cycle in this ongoing arms race occurred during the early years of World War II when the U.S. Army sought desperately to find an antidote to the vaunted German blitzkrieg. This Leavenworth Paper analyzes the origins of the tank destroyer concept, evaluates the doctrine and equipment with which tank destroyer units fought, and assesses the effectiveness of the tank destroyer in battle.