First, this is a 2007 reprint of that 1943 manual--even has a reprint of Rex Applegate's autograph from July 23, 1943. Chapter 9, "Jap Close Combat Tactics" was the best military intelligence assessment of the period and wasn't repeated in later editions.
Compared to the current US Army combatives field manual, FM 3-25.150, Applegate's "Kill or Get Killed" is simple to learn (because it exploits motions already used in normal activities) and simple to retain. FM 3-25.150 emphasized controlled aggression to CONTROL enemy soldiers and irregular fighter suspects--and is heavy on non-lethal. "Kill or Get Killed" emphasized killing the enemy as rapidly as possible when the soldier had lost his weapons--using bare hands, or improvising weapons from a stick or heavy cord. Chapter 1 is "Unarmed Offense," and the 1942 US Army hand-to-hand combat manual labeled its unarmed fighting "defense." Different mind set.
I found the chapter on disarming quaint, even though the techniques work. The reason for my bemusement is that there are three reasons why someone loses control of their loaded firearm to an enemy: failure to shoot the enemy to death, letting the enemy get too close and failure to hold onto the gun until all ammunition in the gun has been expended. When a prisoner in war fails to cooperate--SHOOT! It isn't something a law enforcement officer can do--police are into control.
The chapters on combat shooting, outdoor and indoor ranges (6, 7 and 8) are worthwhile--though Applegate did update his method of combat shooting that E. A. Sykes and W. E. Fairbairn taught to British and American special forces. Their Shooting to Live With the One Hand Gun is the source of Applegate's firearm training in Kill or Get Killed. I corresponded with Rex Applegate two decades ago because I was integrating some of his work (as much as allowed by contract) with commercial security guard training for the force protecting an American Army logistics base in the Middle East during the 1990's.
Speaking of training, when my National Guard company deployed to the Middle East for Operation Iraqi Freedom II I advertised "knife fighting classes" based on the information in Chapter 5. My first words in that class were "I lied--this isn't knife fighting. You will not give your enemy a chance to win by fighting him--you will rapidly inflict lethal injuries on him before he realizes that you have a knife." In this reprint, Applegate's ideal fighting knife was Genuine British Commando Knife W/leg Sheath, but Applegate changed his ideal to Boker Knives AF11 Applegate/Fairbairn Fixed Blade Fighting Knife with Kydex Sheath.
I read a 1943 edition first during 1976 in the base library at Kaneohe Bay Marine Corps Air Station, Hawaii, and I have been using the information since--including passing along some to Soldiers, Marines, and security personnel when appropriate.
I liked being able to trace the evolution of combatives--even when it was one man's viewpoint shifting over a period of 50 years.
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