WW2 British Hand signals...

Good stuff.

I'm currently looking into making up a PBI handbook with lots of bits and pieces liek this in it.

Good find!

Its the little bits that help make everything come together, and these will work a treat IMO

Intresting to see these. Most of these were still the same when I trained with the TA in the eighties.

I have a reprint of the WWII Home guard manual that has infantry fieldcraft and tactics. Does any one have any of the regular army training material of WWII.

No but i have the 1951 national service one which i am sure is identical

Intresting to see these. Most of these were still the same when I trained with the TA in the eighties.

I have a reprint of the WWII Home guard manual that has infantry fieldcraft and tactics. Does any one have any of the regular army training material of WWII.

Yes mate, which ones you looking for?

I have a few as well

No but I have the 1951 national service one which I am sure is identical

Gadge (and all), the handbook you need is

Infantry Training, Part VIII Fieldcraft, Battle Drill, Section & Platoon Tactics

issued by the War Office in March 1944.

Aside from weapons characteristics and handling which are a different series of manuals, it has pretty much everything you need to know for British Infantry fighting in NWE 1944-45. Can be picked up at militaria fairs etc .... my well thumbed copy cost me less than a fiver.

Mine is marked up with changes from 1946 to 1950 - there were quite a lot suggesting that if reprinted in 1951 then that later version could be quite different.

I have extracts from the book on my website at http://www.totalsoldiers.org.uk ; go to the Fieldcraft & Battle Drill page (link in the index box). Extracts I've included range from hand signals to patrol formations to platoon contacts.

I just found this on the wwii-re-enacting forums...

Do you have more on the provenance of these Yith?

Many of these handsignals don't appear in the 1944 handbook (see my previous post) and the wordage of some perhaps suggests they are more current (eg Go Firm). Granted some (eg Close on Me) are identical but even though the IRREGULAR ARROWHEAD existed as a formation I've yet to see an official source for a handsignal to implement it with (! !).

If you can throw any more light it'd be great.

Cheers. Steve

I found them here:

http://wwiireenacting.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3510

and it looks like I got into trouble...

I should have asked before copying them aparently...

I have apologised.

I have a few as well

Do you have the indian manuals mate?

no, unfortunately not.

Any idea what the differences are? I noticed some on the net a while back, but since i couldnt download any onto a public PC i didnt give it more than a cursury thought.

I found them here:

http://wwiireenacting.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3510

and it looks like I got into trouble...

I should have asked before copying them aparently...

I have apologised.

Thanks Yith - I'll direct my question to Chris W over at wwiireneacting who put the original image up - he's a great WW2 historian which bodes well for provenance behind the images.

One hell of a necropost but there is a reason...

Hi, I'm not a member so I couldn't reply to a topic I stumbled upon.
But I just wished to clear up the origin. I drew those hand signals back in the early 90's for the Royal Norfolk re-enactment group. They were never meant to be mistaken for WW2 signals, they were simply for group members to use on non display skirmishes. I'd been in the army back in the 80s and so they were just what I remembered from my time. Even the Go firm signal was one we'd used in Ireland to distinguish between a brief halt and a longer stop and as far as I'm aware was never used outside NI.
Phil Williams