Historical Study: German Armored Traffic Control During the Russian Campaign; Department of the Army Pamphlet No. 20-242

Washington DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1984. Reprint Edition. Wraps. vi, 43, [1] pages with folding maps at back cover: General Reference Map; Rerouting a Panzer Division; Approach March During the Muddy Season; Long Distance Winter March; and Large-Scale Withdrawal Across the Dnepr--Over-All Situation. Minor cover wear and soiling. Includes Introduction, as well as chapters on Roads and Traffic Conditions of European Russia; Organization of Traffic Control Elements; March and Route Reconnaissance; Effect of Seasons on Traffic Control; Centralized Traffic Control During River Crossings; and Conclusions. Also contains Diagrams of Disposition of Traffic Control Elements--Defensive Situation; and Disposition of Traffic Control Elements--Offensive Situation. This pamphlet was prepared for the Historical Division, EUCOM, by a group of former German generals and general staff officers. All of the contributing authors saw considerable service on the Eastern Front during World War II. This pamphlet supersedes MS # P-039 "Armored Traffic Project" which was given a limited distribution by the Office of the Chief of Military History, Special Staff, U.S. Army. This pamphlet was prepared for the Historical Division, EUCOM, by a group of former German generals and general staff officers. All of the contributing authors saw considerable service on the Eastern Front during World War II. The principal author, Brig. Gen. Hermann Burkhart Wueller-Hillebrand, served as aide to the Chief of the Army General Staff before assuming command of an armored regiment on the Russian front. Successively appointed chief of staff of a panzer corps and a panzer army, he saw action in the Ukraine, Poland, and East Prussia. One of the associate authors, Brig. Gen. Oskar Munzel, commanded a tank battalion and an armored regiment during the early phase of the Russian campaign. In 1943 General Munzel was assigned as instructor at the German armored school at
Wuensdorf, and subsequently became commandant of the one at Bergen-Fallingsbostel. Returning to the Russian front toward the end of the war, he led a panzer brigade and served as deputy commander of a panzer division. In World War II, the German Army doctrine on march and traffic control was firmly established and set forth in a field manual. The manual treated the subject in the broadest terms and was supplemented from time to time by pamphlets based on more current wartime experience. Unfortunately no copies of these publications were available to the authors when this study was written, and much of the source material had to be drawn purely from memory. In view of the rapid strides made in the development of mechanized warfare, and in deference to specific experience acquired
during operations in various theaters of war, the German manual avoided giving detailed directions and confined itself to such conventional principles as applied equally to all arms and services. It was then left to the discretion of each arm and service to prepare and issue such additional publications as were deemed necessary. One pamphlet, entitled "The March of Motorized Troops" and published by the German Armored School in the fall of 1941, was used as a reference source for this study.
Condition: Very good.

Keywords: Traffic Control, Russian Campaign, WW2, Military Police, Traffic Regulation, March Reconnaissance, Route Reconnaissance, River Crossings, TRACO, Traffic Control Officer, March Discipline, German Armor Traffic, DA Pamphlet No. 20-242

[Book #80291]

Price: $50.00

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