I have been searching for (without success) a contemporary description of the radio nets found in the 'Light' type US Armored Division of 1944-45 (that with three each Tank, Armd Inf and FA Bns introduced in late 1943). The relevant Field Manual would be FM 17-70 of June 1944, or ideally April 1945, however neither of these have been uploaded to the internet and nor are they to be found on commercial sites (well, at least not below about £100.00). The FM for the Infantry Division (FM 7-24) of Dec 1944 is online and includes lots of general info plus some detailed diagrams. Is there a similar description for the WW2 era Armd Div available that folks could point me towards? Thanks, Gary
Here you go: FM 17-70 Communication for Armor Units : United States. Department of the Army : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
Thanks for the pointer, 1960 is I think too far out date wise in this instance, and also shows the nets available with the newer GRC type sets. FM 101-10 of late 1945 indicates a Div Command Net, a Div Admin Net and a Reconnaissance Net, which are also found in the Inf Div set-up, plus an Air Request Net for the Armd Div, using a mix of the SCR-506 and SCR-299 (399) sets. Combat Command I assume would have a Command Net and an Admin Net working forward from its own SCR-506s, with each Tank or Armd Inf Battalion HQ having its own SCR-506s working back on both nets (the 1944 FMs show this for both types of unit). Would be nice to see it laid out in contemporary terms is all. There was a 1950 version of FM 17-70, which is listed on the TM-WW2.com site but I can't find it to add to basket. I did email them a good few weeks back but answer came there none...I'm not sure they are still actually operating. Thanks, Gary