World War II
Table of Contents

Documents of World War II

Military Terminology and Translations

Practical Standard Japanese – 1943 (1.3 MB PDF)

Unternehmen Seelöwe (Germany, 1940; invasion of UK)

Primary Sources

OKH Operational Instruction for Sea Lion, 30 August 1940
Army Group A's Initial Forecast of Events
Weather/Sea Conditions during September 1940
Anti-Invasion Poster issued by the Birmingham Invasion Committee

Secondary Sources

R.A.F. Spitfire/Hurricane Losses (August-September 1940)
Luftwaffe Losses in the Battle of Britain (July-October 1940)

Unternehmen Tannenbaum (Germany, 1940, invasion of Switzerland)

Primary Sources

1st Presentation of Sketch of Attack, June 25, 1940
Third Updated Version of the Attack Draft

The Victory Plan (USA, 1941, early plan to defeat Nazi Germany)

NOTES: Some of the pages below are best read on a monitor with a horizontal resolution greater than 1024 pixels, due to some especially wide tables.

Victory Plan Segments (Primary Sources)

Joint Board Estimate of United States Overall Production Requirements (10.9 MB)
Appendix I: Navy Requirements (1.12 MB)
Appendix II Part I and II: Ground Forces Requirements (8.67 MB)
Appendix II Part III: Air Forces Requirements (AWPD-1) (35.8 MB)

Secondary Sources

An Unknown Future and A Doubtful Present: Writing the Victory Plan of 1941 (CMH, 1992; external link)

Operation Downfall (USA, 1945, invasion of Japan)

Primary Sources

Operation Downfall
The Japanese Plans for the Defense of Kyushu

JCS 742/12: Directive on the Establishment of U.S. Army Strategic Air Forces (USASTAF) (11 July 1945) (1.25 MB PDF)
JWPC 388/1: Employment of Airborne Units in Operations Against Japan (13 July 1945) (1.5 MB PDF)
JCS 1120/4: British Participation in VLR Bombing of Japan (4 August 1945) (3~ MB PDF)
JCS 1455: Requirements for Land-Based and Carrier-Based Aircraft to Accomplish the Defeat of Japan (9 August 1945) (16.2 MB PDF)
JPLC 31/18: Comparative Logistical Efficiency of Bombing Type Airplanes (11 August 1945) (6.4 MB PDF)

Secondary Sources

Allied Order of Battle (Work in Progress) by Ryan Crierie
Pastel: Deception in the Invasion of Japan

Operation Round-Up (UK/USA, 1941-1943, plans for early invasion of Europe)

Primary Sources

The “Marshall Memorandum”, April 1942
“Comments on General Marshall's Memorandum”, British Chiefs of Staff, 13 April 1942

Statistics of World War II

Naval

Imperial Japanese Navy Production Plans of World War II
Amphibious Operation Statistics (Ships needed, etc)

Aviation

U.S. Monthly Fighter Acceptances (1940-1945)
U.K. Bomber Production
RAF/USAAF Monthly Bomb Tonnages (1939-1945)
RAF Development Timeline for Aircraft in Peacetime

Land

German Divisions by Type (1939-1945) by Ron Klages & John Mulholland
German Divisions by Theater (1939-1945)

Economic Production

American Production Costs (Man Hours and Money)
British Production Costs (Man Hours and Money)
Canadian Production Costs (Man Hours and Money)
German Production Costs (Man Hours and Money)
Soviet Production Costs (Man Hours and Money)
World War II Factory Statistics (Employees)
Equipment Orders canceled by the US in World War II

Secondary Articles

Thailand/Siam in World War II

Military Operations

Planned Operations
Ultra and the Campaign against the U-Boats in World War II (SRH-142, Studies in Cryptology)
Airborne Operations: A German Appraisal (CMH Publication 104-13)
Seek, Strike, and Destroy: U.S. Army Tank Destroyer Doctrine in World War II (Leavenworth Papers No. 12)

Aircraft

North American's Lightweight Mustangs
US Attack Aircraft (1918-1948)
Locations of U.S. Numbered Air Forces in 1945