COMBAT WITHOUT WEAPONS

Published in 1942 and aimed at the Home Guard, this booklet – generously illustrated with photos of the unarmed combat tactics it describes – seeks to impart simple but effective techniques for dealing with both an armed and un-armed attacker. The techniques it describes range from escaping a stranglehold; coping with an enemy who digs a pistol into your back; and a guide to vulnerable parts of the body. Its advice ranges from the straightforward: ‘If you are handy with your fists nothing can beat a good, solid punch on the jaw’, to the deadly: ‘A well-delivered rabbit punch just under the ears will at least dislocate the neck, and very probably break it’. This is a timeless and still extremely useful guide for defending oneself without weapons in dangerous times.