Typical German Infantry Division (1943), an Army NEWSMAP that counts the enemy

Typical German Infantry Division is a 1943 NEWSMAP from the Army Orientation Course of the War Department's Special Service Division. It draws a division of about 17,000 officers and men as rows of small figures, horses, guns and vehicles under numbered unit flags, with a weapons table for each unit (NAID 514351).

An order of battle drawn for soldiers

This is a chart, not a call to action. The archive describes a perspective chart that draws the division as rows of tiny figures, horses, guns and vehicles, grouped under numbered unit flags. Beneath, a table gives the men and weapons of every unit. The sheet is signed Sgt. T. Fetzinger.

Typical

GERMAN INFANTRY DIVISION

Approximately 17,000 Officers and Enlisted Men.

Not shown on this chart but included in the above figure are the Division Headquarters personnel, 152 Officers and Enlisted Men, and the Observation Battalion, 600 Officers and Enlisted Men. The Observation Battalion is attached to the Divisional Artillery.

[...]

I INFANTERIE REGIMENT Infantry Regiment 99 Officers 3059 Enlisted Men (three times, identical)

[...]

VII VERSORGUNGSTRUPPEN Division Supply Force 2200 Officers and Enlisted Men

Horse-Drawn Vehicles 30*

Horses 218*

Motorcycles 98*

Trucks and Cars 325*

*Approximate

NEWSMAP Prepared and distributed by ARMY ORIENTATION COURSE, Special Service Division Army Service Forces, WAR DEPT., 2E580 Pentagon Bldg., Washington, D. C.

Seven units, named in German and English

The chart is organized by seven Roman-numbered groups, each labeled first in German and then in English: the infantry regiment, an entry the transcription records three times with identical figures, then artillery, reconnaissance, anti-tank, engineer, signal and supply units. The German labels teach the enemy's own unit names along with the numbers.

The figures are precise down to single men, 99 officers and 3,059 enlisted men in each infantry regiment, and candid where they are not. The supply force's horse and vehicle counts are marked approximate, and a note says two components, headquarters and the observation battalion, are counted in the total but not drawn.

Information, with a slant the archive calls faint

The archive files this as informational and tags card stacking only faintly, for the emphasis on size and equipment. The audience field reads "Own forces" and the purpose "Warn or inform." The text has no slogan and no appeal to hatred. The enemy appears as an organization to be understood.

That is the respectful way for an army to talk to its own soldiers: give them the facts and trust them to use them. The Army's orientation films for soldiers are on this site as well: the case study on Prelude to War and a frame from The Battle of Britain.