"BAOR Tactical Training Manuals?" Topic

I've seen a lot of the US tactical training manuals, but am now wondering if the British produced some as well, for the BAOR, and if they are available on-line, or as publications for sale?

I'm especially interested in tactical training ops and doctrine during the Cold War, from the 1950s – 1980s.

Obviously, we knew NATO was outnumbered by the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact, so I'm left wondering, were the tactics for the army primarily to just sit in defensive positions and to try to attrit the enemy, or would the British attempt to use spoiling attacks, and meeting engagements to seek out an do battle with the enemy on their terms?

I don't recall ever seeing mention of any publications on the issue, and given the release of Battlegroup Northag, knowing a bit more about that would be nice.

I'm also interested in West German, Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian tactical manuals too (especially the Bundeswehr), especially if there are any in English, but I suspect that is too much to hope for.

Very few British manuals are available online or as reprints from conventional sources. Originals can sometimes be found on eBay (UK version auction where some sellers offer reprints/photocopies.

You can download up to date copy of the Catalogue of British Military Manuals (up to 1989) here link

It's fairly hard to get Cold War-era British manuals compared to their American counterparts. Compared to U.S. manuals, British ones are usually marked as UK RESTRICTED with all the bureaucratic headaches associated with such marked documents for public release…

KCL's Liddell Hart Military Archives has a couple of battalion level manuals written at the turn of the 1990s, plus a 1991 SOP for I (BR) Corps.

link

Back in 2012 I managed to use this catalogue as a reference and asked the MoD itself to copy and mail me the Soviet Army threat manuals, but subsequent requests were rejected and they pretty much told me to spend a couple hundred pounds to ask the college to copy the docs for me. I guess it depends on the person who answers your request.

Training Vids:
British TMP link
West German TMP link
US TMP link

The listing of King's College London, Liddell Hart listing PDF link

Some of that is available for down load. Goggle (DuckDuckGo) for
AFM – Vol 2 – (1995) Generic Enemy (Basic Forces) – Part 1 – Operational Art
AFM – Vol 2 – (1995) Generic Enemy (Basic Forces) – Part 2 – Tactical Doctrine
AFM – Vol 2 – (1995) Generic Enemy (Basic Forces) – Part 3 – ORBATs
AFM – Vol 2 – (1995) Generic Enemy (ROWEN) – Part 1 – Operational Art and Tactical Doctrine
AFM – Vol 2 – (1995) Generic Enemy (ROWEN)(Rest Of the World ENemy) – Part 2 – ORBATs and TO&E
AFM – Vol 2 – (1996) Generic Enemy (Mobile Forces) – Part 1 – Operational Art and Tactical Doctrine
AFM – Vol 2 – (1996) Generic Enemy (Mobile Forces) – Part 2 – TO&E
AFM – Vol 2 – (1997) Generic Enemy (Mobile Forces) – Part 1 – Operational Art and Tactical Doctrine
AFM – Vol 2 – (1997) Generic Enemy (Mobile Forces) – Part 2 – TO&E

For the 199x dates just remember that it can take some time for doctrine to make it into print and then it lingers in the mind for at least a generation of soldiers. That's what I could download in July, 2018. More than that may be available now. Good luck.