Overloon Fireplan Map

Background material

This page has links to online reference material on staff rides, including the historic background and how different armies have used historic battlefields for training purposes.  There is  far more material than can be published on a blog. Access to papers  can be obtained from the drop box for subscribers to our e-newsletter.

Staff Ride Theory and Guidance

  1. SCSI Occasional Paper Number 48  – The relevance and Role of the Battlefield Tour and the Staff Ride for Armed Forces in the 21st century.  This influential paper summarises the British Army view of Staff Rides and Battlefield touring.
  2. Guild of Battlefield Guides Study Day 5 February  2010. Other armed forces of other countries undertake battlefield tours of various sorts. The Guild of Battlefield Guides International Armed Forces Study day included presentations on the British, German and Dutch use of staff rides and how the RAF undertake air power staff rides.
  3. US Army Staff Ride Policy.   The US Army has been using battlefields and staff rides for over a century. The United States Army Combined Arms Centre, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas supports Military History, and publishes material on the US policy as well as staff rides to battles in the USA. Their website has a lot of useful information

British Army Publications

The British Army has several publications to support Battlefiueld Studies.

  1. The British Army First World War Battlefield Guide Volume 1 The Western Front    This  contains a summary of the battles on Western Front in the First World War, with maps and notes for visitors.
  2. The British Army First World War Battlefield Guide Volume 2 The Forgotten Fronts.   This  contains a summary of the battles on other Fronts in the First World War, with maps and notes for visitors.
  3. The British Army Review Lessons From the First World War.  These are collections of articles from the British Army Review Archives

Historic Documentation

  1. Cold War Document Pack.  For anyone wishing to explore the battlefields of the Cold War, we have probably the most extensive collection of material relating to the role of the British Army in Germany in the Cold War, including  a copy of the reading pack for Ex United Shield 2009, the last Army (CGS)  Staff Ride to the Cold War battlefields.

Planning staff rides and battlefield studies