The images and the entire text used on this and all other USMBOOKS web pages are the copyrighted property of USM Inc.  Those images and the text may be used by others ONLY AFTER completion of a formal international licensing agreement and payment of a licensing fee! It is therefore, illegal for anyone to take any of the material found on USMBOOKS.com and use it for their own purposes without our written permission, irrespective of any excuse they may feel they have for doing so.

Major Jordan was the Commander of Pionier-Battalion 16 and he is the author of this Pionier-Lexikon or Military Engineer Encyclopedia. In the foreword Major Jordan points out that a Wehrmacht engineer is a soldier, not a technician, working in close proximity with infantrymen at the front and clearing the way for them under difficult circumstances. This book was produced for the education of engineers, to help them understand quickly what it takes to become a first-rate Pionier at the front.

This rare field gray colored Third Reich Pionier-Lexikon is not dated, but all the prices for other publications by Franckh’sche Verlagshandlung of Stuttgart are listed in Reichsmarks. It is in very nice, little-used condition but the original Wehrmacht-Pionier owner underlined a few portions of the text lightly with pencil. However, he did not fill out the personal information page in the front of the book, so we do not know his name, rank, rifle number, uniform or helmet size. Tight spine, no odor, fine condition.

This is a Second Edition of Pionier-Lexikon: ein Merkbuch für den Pionierdienst with over 200 line drawing illustrations. Covered from A to Z are things like tearing down enemy bridges, explosives (fuses, detonators, blasting caps), vehicle exhaust, artillery positions, camouflage, excavation machines, log dams and obstacles, rope knots, clearing ice with explosives, building fortifications for machine gun positions, building water wells, tools and measuring equipment, building tank and other vehicle obstacles, air raid shelter ventilation, mines, diving suits, canoes and rubber boats, armored vehicles, pontoon bridges, spotlights, oxygen equipment, towing equipment, smoke screens, etc.

The 4-5/8 x 6 inch stiff-cover book has 128 pages plus 16 blank pages for notes and drawings (unused). Still attached in the back of the book is an original green order form postcard for other soldier dictionaries and manuals published by Franckh’sche Verlagshandlung of Stuttgart. They also published encyclopedia-style dictionaries for radio troops, men in the infantry, Wehrmacht recruits and NCOs as well as instruction pamphlets for things like weapons, soldier compasses and other field gear.