Title: Simple Sabotage Field Manual
Author: United States. Office of Strategic Services
Language: English
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Simple Sabotage Field Manual

Office of Strategic Services



OSS REPRODUCTION BRANCH
SIMPLE SABOTAGE FIELD MANUAL
Strategic Services
(Provisional)
STRATEGIC SERVICES FIELD MANUAL No. 3



Office of Strategic Services

Washington, D. C.

17 January 1944


This Simple Sabotage Field Manual Strategic Services (Provisional) is
published for the information and guidance of all concerned and will be
used as the basic doctrine for Strategic Services training for this
subject.

The contents of this Manual should be carefully controlled and should
not be allowed to come into unauthorized hands.

The instructions may be placed in separate pamphlets or leaflets
according to categories of operations but should be distributed with
care and not broadly. They should be used as a basis of radio
broadcasts only for local and special cases and as directed by the
theater commander.

AR 380-5, pertaining to handling of secret documents, will be complied
with in the handling of this Manual.

[Illustration]

William J. Donovan



CONTENTS

 1. INTRODUCTION
 2. POSSIBLE EFFECTS
 3. MOTIVATING THE SABOTEUR
 4. TOOLS, TARGETS, AND TIMING
 5. SPECIFIC SUGGESTIONS FOR SIMPLE SABOTAGE



1. INTRODUCTION


The purpose of this paper is to characterize simple sabotage, to
outline its possible effects, and to present suggestions for inciting
and executing it.

Sabotage varies from highly technical _coup de main_ acts that require
detailed planning and the use of specially-trained operatives, to
innumerable simple acts which the ordinary individual citizen-saboteur
can perform. This paper is primarily concerned with the latter type.
Simple sabotage does not require specially prepared tools or equipment;
it is executed by an ordinary citizen who may or may not act
individually and without the necessity for active connection with an
organized group; and it is carried out in such a way as to involve a
minimum danger of injury, detection, and reprisal.

Where destruction is involved, the weapons of the citizen-saboteur are
salt, nails, candles, pebbles, thread, or any other materials he might
normally be expected to possess as a householder or as a worker in his
particular occupation. His arsenal is the kitchen shelf, the trash
pile, his own usual kit of tools and supplies. The targets of his
sabotage are usually objects to which he has normal and inconspicuous
access in everyday life.

A second type of simple sabotage requires no destructive tools
whatsoever and produces physical damage, if any, by highly indirect
means. It is based on universal opportunities to make faulty decisions,
to adopt a noncooperative attitude, and to induce others to follow
suit. Making a faulty decision may be simply a matter of placing tools
in one spot instead of another. A non-cooperative attitude may involve
nothing more than creating an unpleasant situation among one’s fellow
workers, engaging in bickerings, or displaying surliness and stupidity.

This type of activity, sometimes referred to as the “human element,” is
frequently responsible for accidents, delays, and general obstruction
even under normal conditions. The potential saboteur should discover
what types of faulty decisions and the operations are _normally_ found
in this kind of work and should then devise his sabotage so as to
enlarge that “margin for error.”



2. POSSIBLE EFFECTS


Acts of simple sabotage are occurring throughout Europe. An effort
should be made to add to their efficiency, lessen their detectability,
and increase their number. Acts of simple sabotage, multiplied by
thousands of citizen-saboteurs, can be an effective weapon against the
enemy. Slashing tires, draining fuel tanks, starting fires, starting
arguments, acting stupidly, short-circuiting electric systems, abrading
machine parts will waste materials, manpower, and time. Occurring on a
wide scale, simple sabotage will be a constant and tangible drag on the
war effort of the enemy.

Simple sabotage may also have secondary results of more or less value.
Widespread practice of simple sabotage will harass and demoralize enemy
administrators and police. Further, success may embolden the
citizen-saboteur eventually to find colleagues who can assist him in
sabotage of greater dimensions. Finally, the very practice of simple
sabotage by natives in enemy or occupied territory may make these
individuals identify themselves actively with the United Nations war
effort, and encourage them to assist openly in periods of Allied
invasion and occupation.



3. MOTIVATING THE SABOTEUR


To incite the citizen to the active practice of simple sabotage and to
keep him practicing that sabotage over sustained periods is a special
problem.

Simple sabotage is often an act which the citizen performs according to
his own initiative and inclination. Acts of destruction do not bring
him any personal gain and may be completely foreign to his habitually
conservationist attitude toward materials and tools. Purposeful
stupidity is contrary to human nature. He frequently needs pressure,
stimulation or assurance, and information and suggestions regarding
feasible methods of simple sabotage.

(1) _Personal Motives_

(a) The ordinary citizen very probably has no immediate personal motive
for committing simple sabotage. Instead, he must be made to anticipate
indirect personal gain, such as might come with enemy evacuation or
destruction of the ruling government group. Gains should be stated as
specifically as possible for the area addressed: simple sabotage will
hasten the day when Commissioner X and his deputies Y and Z will be
thrown out, when particularly obnoxious decrees and restrictions will
be abolished, when food will arrive, and so on. Abstract verbalizations
about personal liberty, freedom of the press, and so on, will not be
convincing in most parts of the world. In many areas they will not even
be comprehensible.

(b) Since the effect of his own acts is limited, the saboteur may
become discouraged unless he feels that he is a member of a large,
though unseen, group of saboteurs operating against the enemy or the
government of his own country and elsewhere. This can be conveyed
indirectly: suggestions which he reads and hears can include
observations that a particular technique has been successful in this or
that district. Even if the technique is not applicable to his
surroundings, another’s success will encourage him to attempt similar
acts. It also can be conveyed directly: statements praising the
effectiveness of simple sabotage can be contrived which will be
published by white radio, freedom stations, and the subversive press.
Estimates of the proportion of the population engaged in sabotage can
be disseminated. Instances of successful sabotage already are being
broadcast by white radio and freedom stations, and this should be
continued and expanded where compatible with security.

(c) More important than (a) or (b) would be to create a situation in
which the citizen-saboteur acquires a sense of responsibility and
begins to educate others in simple sabotage.

(2) _Encouraging Destructiveness_

It should be pointed out to the saboteur where the circumstances are
suitable, that he is acting in self-defense against the enemy, or
retaliating against the enemy for other acts of destruction. A
reasonable amount of humor in the presentation of suggestions for
simple sabotage will relax tensions of fear.

(a) The saboteur may have to reverse his thinking, and he should be
told this in so many words. Where he formerly thought of keeping his
tools sharp, he should now let them grow dull; surfaces that formerly
were lubricated now should be sanded; normally diligent, he should now
be lazy and careless; and so on. Once he is encouraged to think
backwards about himself and the objects of his everyday life, the
saboteur will see many opportunities in his immediate environment which
cannot possibly be seen from a distance. A state of mind should be
encouraged that anything can be sabotaged.

(b) Among the potential citizen-saboteurs who are to engage in physical
destruction, two extreme types may be distinguished. On the one hand,
there is the man who is not technically trained and employed. This man
needs specific suggestions as to what he can and should destroy as well
as details regarding the tools by means of which destruction is
accomplished.

(c) At the other extreme is the man who is a technician, such as a
lathe operator or an automobile mechanic. Presumably this man would be
able to devise methods of simple sabotage which would be appropriate to
his own facilities. However, this man needs to be stimulated to
re-orient his thinking in the direction of destruction. Specific
examples, which need not be from his own field, should accomplish this.

(d) Various media may be used to disseminate suggestions and
information regarding simple sabotage. Among the media which may be
used, as the immediate situation dictates, are: freedom stations or
radio false (unreadable) broadcasts or leaflets may be directed toward
specific geographic or occupational areas, or they may be general in
scope. Finally, agents may be trained in the art of simple sabotage, in
anticipation of a time when they may be able to communicate this
information directly.

(3) _Safety Measures_

(a) The amount of activity carried on by the saboteur will be governed
not only by the number of opportunities he sees, but also by the amount
of danger he feels. Bad news travels fast, and simple sabotage will be
discouraged if too many simple saboteurs are arrested.

(b) It should not be difficult to prepare leaflets and other media for
the saboteur about the choice of weapons, time, and targets which will
insure the saboteur against detection and retaliation. Among such
suggestions might be the following:

(1) Use materials which appear to be innocent. A knife or a nail file
can be carried normally on your person; either is a multi-purpose
instrument for creating damage. Matches, pebbles, hair, salt, nails,
and dozens of other destructive agents can be carried or kept in your
living quarters without exciting any suspicion whatever. If you are a
worker in a particular trade or industry you can easily carry and keep
such things as wrenches, hammers, emery paper, and the like.

(2) Try to commit acts for which large numbers of people could be
responsible. For instance, if you blow out the wiring in a factory at a
central fire box, almost anyone could have done it. On-the-street
sabotage after dark, such as you might be able to carry out against a
military car or truck, is another example of an act for which it would
be impossible to blame you.

(3) Do not be afraid to commit acts for which you might be blamed
directly, so long as you do so rarely, and as long as you have a
plausible excuse: you dropped your wrench across an electric circuit
because an air raid had kept you up the night before and you were
half-dozing at work. Always be profuse in your apologies. Frequently
you can “get away” with such acts under the cover of pretending
stupidity, ignorance, over-caution, fear of being suspected of
sabotage, or weakness and dullness due to undernourishment.

(4) After you have committed an act of easy sabotage, resist any
temptation to wait around and see what happens. Loiterers arouse
suspicion. Of course, there are circumstances when it would be
suspicious for you to leave. If you commit sabotage on your job, you
should naturally stay at your work.



4. TOOLS, TARGETS, AND TIMING


The citizen-saboteur cannot be closely controlled. Nor is it reasonable
to expect that simple sabotage can be precisely concentrated on
specific types of target according to the requirements of a concrete
military situation. Attempts to control simple sabotage according to
developing military factors, moreover, might provide the enemy with
intelligence of more or less value in anticipating the date and area of
notably intensified or notably slackened military activity.

Sabotage suggestions, of course, should be adapted to fit the area
where they are to be practiced. Target priorities for general types of
situations likewise can be specified, for emphasis at the proper time
by the underground press, freedom stations, and cooperating propaganda.

(1) _Under General Conditions_

(a) Simple sabotage is more than malicious mischief, and it should
always consist of acts whose results will be detrimental to the
materials and manpower of the enemy.

(b) The saboteur should be ingenious in using his every-day equipment.
All sorts of weapons will present themselves if he looks at his
surroundings in a different light. For example, emery dust—a at first
may seen unobtainable but if the saboteur were to pulverize an emery
knife sharpener or emery wheel with a hammer, he would find himself
with a plentiful supply.

(c) The saboteur should never attack targets beyond his capacity or the
capacity of his instruments. An inexperienced person should not, for
example, attempt to use explosives, but should confine himself to the
use of matches or other familiar weapons.

(d) The saboteur should try to damage only objects and materials known
to be in use by the enemy or to be destined for early use by the enemy.
It will be safe for him to assume that almost any product of heavy
industry is destined for enemy use, and that the most efficient fuels
and lubricants also are destined for enemy use. Without special
knowledge, however, it would be undesirable for him to attempt
destruction of food crops or food products.

(e) Although the citizen-saboteur may rarely have access to military
objects, he should give these preference above all others.

(2) _Prior to a Military Offensive_

During periods which are quiescent in a military sense, such emphasis
as can be given to simple sabotage might well center on industrial
production, to lessen the flow of materials and equipment to the enemy.
Slashing a rubber tire on an Army truck may be an act of value;
spoiling a batch of rubber in the production plant is an act of still
more value.

(3) _During a Military Offensive_

(a) Most significant sabotage for an area which is, or is soon destined
to be, a theater of combat operations is that whose effects will be
direct and immediate. Even if the effects are relatively minor and
localized, this type of sabotage is to be preferred to activities whose
effects, while widespread, are indirect and delayed.

(1) The saboteur should be encouraged to attack transportation
facilities of all kinds.

Among such facilities are roads, railroads, auto mobiles, trucks,
motor-cycles, bicycles, trains, and trams.

(2) Any communications facilities which can be used by the authorities
to transmit instructions or morale material should be the objects of
simple sabotage. These include telephone, telegraph and power systems,
radio, newspapers, placards, and public notices.

(3) Critical materials, valuable in themselves or necessary to the
efficient functioning of transportation and communication, also should
become targets for the citizen-saboteur. These may include oil,
gasoline, tires, food, and water.



5. SPECIFIC SUGGESTIONS FOR SIMPLE SABOTAGE


It will not be possible to evaluate the desirability of simple sabotage
in an area without having in mind rather specifically what individual
acts and results are embraced by the definition of simple sabotage.

A listing of specific acts follows, classified according to types of
target. This list is presented as a growing rather than a complete
outline of the methods of simple sabotage. As new techniques are
developed, or new fields explored, it will be elaborated and expanded.

(1) _Buildings_

Warehouses, barracks, offices, hotels, and factory buildings are
outstanding targets for simple sabotage. They are extremely susceptible
to damage, especially by fire; they offer opportunities to such
untrained people as janitors, charwomen, and casual visitors; and, when
damaged, they present a relatively large handicap to the enemy.

(a) _Fires_ can be started wherever there is an accumulation of
inflammable material. Warehouses are obviously the most promising
targets but incendiary sabotage need not be confined to them alone.

(1) Whenever possible, arrange to have the fire start after you have
gone away. Use a candle and paper, combination, setting it as close as
possible to the inflammable material you want to burn: From a sheet of
paper, tear a strip three or four centimeters wide and wrap it around
the base of the candle two or three times. Twist more sheets of paper
into loose ropes and place them around the base of the candle. When the
candle flame reaches the encircling strip, it will be ignited and in
turn will ignite the surrounding paper. The size, heat, and duration of
the resulting flame will depend on how much paper you use and how much
of it you can cramp in a small space.

(2) With a flame of this kind, do not attempt to ignite any but rather
inflammable materials, such as cotton sacking. To light more resistant
materials, use a candle plus tightly rolled or twisted paper which has
been soaked in gasoline. To create a briefer but even hotter flame, put
celluloid such as you might find in an old comb, into a nest of plain
or saturated paper which is to be fired by a candle.

(3) To make another type of simple fuse, soak one end of a piece of
string in grease. Rub a generous pinch of gunpowder over the inch of
string where greasy string meets clean string. Then ignite the clean
end of the string. It will burn slowly without a flame (in much the
same way that a cigarette burns) until it reaches the grease and
gunpowder; it will then flare up suddenly. The grease-treated string
will then burn with a flame. The same effect may be achieved by using
matches instead of the grease and gunpowder. Run the string over the
match heads, taking care that the string is not pressed or knotted.
They too will produce a sudden flame. The advantage of this type of
fuse is that string burns at a set speed. You can time your fire by the
length and thickness of the string you chose.

(4) Use a fuse such as; the ones suggested above to start a fire in an
office after hours. The destruction of records and other types of
documents would be a serious handicap to the enemy.

(5) In basements where waste is kept, janitors should accumulate oily
and greasy waste. Such waste sometimes ignites spontaneously, but it
can easily be lit with a cigarette or match. If you are a janitor on
night duty, you can be the first to report the fire, but don’t report
it too soon.

(6) A clean factory is not susceptible to fire, but a dirty one is.
Workers should be careless with refuse and janitors should be
inefficient in cleaning. If enough dirt and trash can be accumulated an
otherwise fireproof building will become inflammable.

(7) Where illuminating gas is used in a room which is vacant at night,
shut the windows tightly, turn on the gas, and leave a candle burning
in the room, closing the door tightly behind you. After a time, the gas
will explode, and a fire may or may not follow.

(b) _Water and miscellaneous_

(1) Ruin warehouse stock by setting the automatic sprinkler system to
work. You can do this by tapping the sprinkler heads sharply with a
hammer or by holding a match under them.

(2) Forget to provide paper in toilets; put tightly rolled paper, hair,
and other obstructions in the W. C. Saturate a sponge with a thick
starch or sugar solution. Squeeze it tightly into a ball, wrap it with
string, and dry. Remove the string when fully dried. The sponge will be
in the form of a tight hard ball. Flush down a

W. C. or otherwise introduce into a sewer line. The sponge will
gradually expand to its normal size and plug the sewage system.

(3) Put a coin beneath a bulb in a public building during the daytime,
so that fuses will blow out when lights are turned on at night. The
fuses themselves may be rendered ineffective by putting a coin behind
them or loading them with heavy wire. Then a short-circuit may either
start a fire, damage transformers, or blow out a central fuse which
will interrupt distribution of electricity to a large area.

(4) Jam paper, bits of wood, hairpins, and anything else that will fit,
into the locks of all unguarded entrances to public buildings.

(2) _Industrial Production: Manufacturing_

(a) Tools

(1) Let cutting tools grow dull. They will be inefficient, will slow
down production, and may damage the materials and parts you use them
on.

(2) Leave saws slightly twisted when you are not using them. After a
while, they will break when used.

(3) Using a very rapid stroke will wear out a file before its time. So
will dragging a file in slow strokes under heavy pressure. Exert
pressure on the backward stroke as well as the forward stroke.

(4) Clean files by knocking them against the vise or the workpiece;
they are easily broken this way.

(5) Bits and drills will snap under heavy pressure.

(6) You can put a press punch out of order by putting in it more
material than it is adjusted for—two blanks instead of one, for
example.

(7) Power-driven tools like pneumatic drills, riveters, and so on, are
never efficient when dirty. Lubrication points and electric contacts
can easily be fouled by normal accumulations of dirt or the insertion
of foreign matter.

(b) Oil and lubrication systems are not only vulnerable to easy
sabotage, but are critical in every machine with moving parts. Sabotage
of oil and lubrication will slow production or stop work entirely at
strategic points in industrial processes.

(1) Put metal dust or filings, fine sand, ground glass, emery dust (get
it by pounding up an emery knife sharpener) and similar hard, gritty
substances directly into lubrication systems. They will scour smooth
surfaces, ruining pistons, cylinder walls, shafts, and bearings. They
will overheat and stop motors which will need overhauling, new parts,
and extensive repairs. Such materials, if they are used, should be
introduced into lubrication systems past any filters which otherwise
would strain them out.

(2) You can cause wear on any machine by uncovering a filter system,
poking a pencil or any other sharp object through the filter mesh, then
covering it up again. Or, if you can dispose of it quickly, simply
remove the filter.

(3) If you cannot get at the lubrication system or filter directly, you
may be able to lessen the effectiveness of oil by diluting it in
storage. In this case, almost any liquid will do which will thin the
oil. A small amount of sulphuric acid, varnish, water-glass, or linseed
oil will be especially effective.

(4) Using a thin oil where a heavy oil is prescribed will break down a
machine or heat up a moving shaft so that it will “freeze” and stop.

(5) Put any clogging substance into lubrication systems or, if it will
float, into stored oil. Twisted combings of human hair, pieces of
string, dead insects, and many other common objects will be effective
in stopping or hindering the flow of oil through feed lines and
filters.

(6) Under some circumstances, you may be able to destroy oil outright
rather than interfere with its effectiveness, by removing stop-plugs
from lubricating systems or by puncturing the drums and cans in which
it is stored.

(c) Cooling Systems (1.) A water cooling system can be put out of
commission in a fairly short time, with considerable damage to an
engine or motor, if you put into it several pinches of hard grain, such
as rice or wheat. They will swell up and choke the circulation of
water, and the cooling system will have to be torn down to remove the
obstruction. Sawdust or hair may also be used to clog a water cooling
system.

(2) If very cold water is quickly introduced into the cooling system of
an overheated motor, contraction and considerable strain on the engine
housing will result. If you can repeat the treatment a few times,
cracking and serious damage will result.

(3) You can ruin the effectiveness of an air cooling system by plugging
dirt and waste into intake or exhaust valves. If a belt-run fan is used
in the system, make a jagged cut at least half way through the belt; it
will slip and finally part under strain and the motor will overheat.

(d) Gasoline and Oil Fuel Tanks and fueling engines usually are
accessible and easy to open. They afford a very vulnerable target for
simple sabotage activities. (1.) Put several pinches of sawdust or hard
grain, such as rice or wheat, into the fuel tank of a gasoline engine.
The particles will choke a feed line so that the engine will stop. Some
time will be required to discover the source of the trouble. Although
they will be hard to get, crumbs of natural rubber, such as you might
find in old rubber bands and pencil erasers, are also effective.

(2) If you can accumulate sugar, put it in the fuel tank of a gasoline
engine. As it burns together with the gasoline, it will turn into a
sticky mess which will completely mire the engine and necessitate
extensive cleaning and repair. Honey and molasses are as good as sugar.
Try to use about 75–100 grams for each 10 gallons of gasoline.

(3) Other impurities which you can introduce into gasoline will cause
rapid engine wear and eventual breakdown. Fine particles of pumice,
sand, ground glass, and metal dust can easily be introduced into a
gasoline tank. Be sure that the particles are very fine, so that they
will be able to pass through the carburetor jet.

(4) Water, urine, wine, or any other simple liquid you can get in
reasonably large quantities will dilute gasoline fuel to a point where
no combustion will occur in the cylinder and the engine will not move.
One pint to 20 gallons of gasoline is sufficient. If salt water is
used, it will cause corrosion and permanent motor damage.

(5) In the case of Diesel engines, put low flashpoint oil into the fuel
tank; the engine will not move. If there already is proper oil in the
tank when the wrong kind is added, the engine will only limp and
sputter along.

(6) Fuel lines to gasoline and oil engines frequently pass over the
exhaust pipe. When the machine is at rest, you can stab a small hole in
the fuel line and plug the hole with wax. As the engine runs and the
exhaust tube becomes hot, the wax will be melted; fuel will drip onto
the exhaust and a blaze will start.

(7) If you have access to a room where gasoline is stored, remember
that gas vapor accumulating in a closed room will explode after a time
if you leave a candle burning in the room. A good deal of evaporation,
however, must occur from the gasoline tins into the air of the room. If
removal of the tops of the tins does not expose enough gasoline to the
air to ensure copious evaporation, you can open lightly constructed
tins further with a knife, ice pick or sharpened nail file. Or puncture
a tiny hole in the tank which will permit gasoline to leak out on the
floor. This will greatly increase the rate of evaporation. Before you
light your candle, be sure that windows are closed and the room is as
air-tight as you can make it. If you can see that windows in a
neighboring room are opened wide, you have a chance of setting a large
fire which will not only destroy the gasoline but anything else nearby;
when the gasoline explodes, the doors of the storage room will be blown
open, a draft to the neighboring windows will be created which will
whip up a fine conflagration.

(e) Electric Motors Electric motors (including dynamos) are more
restricted than the targets so far discussed. They cannot be sabotaged
easily or without risk of injury by unskilled persons who may otherwise
have good opportunities for destruction.

(1) Set the rheostat to a high point of resistance in all types of
electric motors. They will overheat and catch fire.

(2) Adjust the overload relay to a very high value beyond the capacity
of the motor. Then overload the motor to a point where it will overheat
and break down.

(3) Remember that dust, dirt, and moisture are enemies of electrical
equipment. Spill dust and dirt onto the points where the wires in
electric motors connect with terminals, and onto insulating parts.
Inefficient transmission of current and, in some cases, short circuits
will result. Wet generator motors to produce short circuits.

(4) “Accidentally” bruise the insulation on wire, loosen nuts on
connections, make faulty splices and faulty connections in wiring, to
waste electric current and reduce the power of electric motors, the
power output or cause short circuiting in direct-current motors: Loosen
or remove commutator holding rings. Sprinkle carbon, graphite, or metal
dust on commutators. Put a little grease or oil at the contact points
of commutators. Where commutator bars are close together bridge the
gaps between them with metal dust, or sawtooth their edges with a
chisel so that the teeth on adjoining bars meet or nearly meet and
current can pass from one to the other.

(6) Put a piece of finely grained emery paper half the size of a
postage stamp in a place where it will wear away rotating brushes. The
emery paper and the motor will be destroyed in the resulting fire.

(7) Sprinkle carbon, graphite or metal dust on slip-rings so that the
current will leak or short circuits will occur. When a motor is idle,
nick the slip-rings with a chisel.

(8) Cause motor stoppage or inefficiency by applying dust mixed with
grease to the face of the armature so that it will not make proper
contact.

(9) To overheat electric motors, mix sand with heavy grease and smear
it between the stator and rotor, or wedge thin metal pieces between
them. To prevent the efficient generation of current, put floor
sweepings, oil, tar, or paint between them.

(10) In motors using three-phase current, deeply nick one of the
lead-in wires with a knife or file when the machine is at rest, or
replace one of the three fuses with a blown-out fuse. In the first
case, the motor will stop after running awhile, and in the second, it
will not start.

(f) Transformers

(1) Transformers of the oil-filled type can be put out of commission if
you pour water, salt water, machine-tool coolant, or kerosene into the
oil tank.

(2) In air-cooled transformers, block the ventilation by piling debris
around the transformer.

(3) In all types of transformers, throw carbon, graphite or metal dust
over the outside bushings and other exposed electrical parts.

(g) Turbines for the most part are heavily built, stoutly housed, and
difficult of access. Their vulnerability to simple sabotage is very
low.

(1) After inspecting or repairing a hydro turbine, fasten the cover
insecurely so that it will blow off and flood the plant with water. A
loose cover on a steam turbine will cause it to leak and slow down.

(2) In water turbines, insert a large piece of scrap iron in the head
of the penstock, just beyond the screening, so that water will carry
the damaging material down to the plant equipment.

(3) When the steam line to a turbine is opened for repair, put pieces
of scrap iron into it, to be blasted into the turbine machinery when
steam is up again.

(4) Create a leak in the line feeding oil to the turbine, so that oil
will fall on the hot steam pipe and cause a fire.

(h) Boilers

(1) Reduce the efficiency of steam boilers any way you can. Put too
much water in them to make them slow-starting, or keep the fire under
them low to keep them inefficient. Let them dry and turn the fire up;
they will crack and be ruined. An especially good trick is to keep
putting limestone or water containing lime in the boiler; it will
deposit lime on the bottom and sides. This deposit will provide very
good insulation against heat; after enough of it has collected, the
boiler will be completely worthless.

(3) _Production. Metals_

(a) Iron and Steel

(1) Keep blast furnaces in a condition where they must be frequently
shut down for repair. In making fire-proof bricks for the inner lining
of blast furnaces, put in an extra proportion of tar so that they will
wear out quickly and necessitate constant re-lining.

(2) Make cores for casting so that they are filled with air bubbles and
an imperfect cast results.

(3) See that the core in a mold is not properly supported, so that the
core gives way or the casting is spoiled because of the incorrect
position of the core.

(4) In tempering steel or iron, apply too much heat, so that the
resulting bars and ingots are of poor quality.

(b) Other Metals

No suggestions available.

(4) _Production: Mining and Mineral Extraction_

(a) Coal

(1) A slight blow against your Davy oil lamp will extinguish it, and to
light it again you will have to find a place where there is no fire
damp. Take a long time looking for the place.

(2) Blacksmiths who make pneumatic picks should not harden them
properly, so that they will quickly grow dull.

(3) You can easily put your pneumatic pick out of order. Pour a small
amount of water through the oil lever and your pick will stop working.
Coal dust and improper lubrication will also put it out of order.

(4) Weaken the chain that pulls the bucket conveyers carrying coal. A
deep dent in the chain made with blows of a pick or shovel will cause
it to part under normal strain. Once a chain breaks, normally or
otherwise take your time about reporting the damage; be slow about
taking the chain up for repairs and bringing it back down after
repairs.

(5) Derail mine cars by putting obstructions on the rails and in switch
points. If possible, pick a gallery where coal cars have to pass each
other, so that traffic will be snarled up.

(6) Send up quantities of rock and other useless material with the
coal.

(5) _Production: Agriculture_

(a) Machinery

(1) See par. 5 b. (2) (c), (d), (e).

(b) Crops and livestock probably will be destroyed only in areas where
there are large food surpluses or where the enemy (regime) is known to
be requisitioning food.

(1.) Feed crops to livestock. Let crops harvest too early or too late.
Spoil stores of grain, fruit and vegetables by soaking them in water so
that they will rot. Spoil fruit and vegetables by leaving them in the
sun.

(6) _Transportation: Railways_

(a) Passengers

(1.) Make train travel as inconvenient as possible for enemy personnel.
Make mistakes in issuing train tickets, leaving portions of the journey
uncovered by the ticket book; issue two tickets for the same seat in
the train, so that an interesting argument will result; near train
time, instead of issuing printed tickets write them out slowly by hand,
prolonging the process until the train is nearly ready to leave or has
left the station. On station bulletin boards announcing train arrivals
and departures, see that false and misleading information is given
about trains bound for enemy destinations.

(2) In trains bound for enemy destinations, attendants should make life
as uncomfortable as possible for passengers. See that the food is
especially bad, take up tickets after midnight, call all station stops
very loudly during the night, handle baggage as noisily as possible
during the night, and so on.

(3) See that the luggage of enemy personnel is mislaid or unloaded at
the wrong stations.

Switch address labels on enemy baggage.

(4) Engineers should see that trains run slow or make unscheduled stops
for plausible reasons.

(b) Switches, Signals and Routing

(1) Exchange wires in switchboards containing signals and switches, so
that they connect to the wrong terminals.

(2) Loosen push-rods so that signal arms do not work; break signal
lights; exchange the colored lenses on red and green lights.

(3) Spread and spike switch points in the track so that they will not
move, or place rocks or close-packed dirt between the switch points.

(4) Sprinkle rock salt or ordinary salt profusely over the electrical
connections of switch points and on the ground nearby. When it rains,
the switch will be short-circuited.

(5) See that cars are put on the wrong trains. Remove the labels from
cars needing repair and put them on cars in good order. Leave couplings
between cars as loose as possible.

(c) Road-beds and Open Track

(1) On a curve, take the bolts out of the tie-plates connecting to
sections of the outside rail, and scoop away the gravel, cinders, or
dirt for a few feet on each side of the connecting joint.

(2) If by disconnecting the tie-plate at a joint and loosening sleeper
nails on each side of the joint, it becomes possible to move a sections
of rail, spread two sections of rail and drive a spike vertically
between them.

(d) Oil and Lubrication

(1) See 5 b. (2) (b).

(2) Squeeze lubricating pipes with pincers or dent them with hammers,
so that the flow of oil is obstructed.

(e) Cooling Systems

(1) See 5 b (2) (c).

(f) Gasoline and Oil Fuel

(1) See 5 b (2) (d).

(g) Electric Motors

(1) See 5 b (2) (e) and (f).

(h) Boilers

(1) See 5 b (2) (h).

(2) After inspection put heavy oil or tar in the engines’ boilers, or
put half a kilogram of soft soap into the water in the tender.

(i) Brakes and Miscellaneous

(1) Engines should run at high speeds and use brakes excessively at
curves and on downhill grades.

(2) Punch holes in air-brake valves or water supply pipes.

(3) In the last car of a passenger train or or a front car of a
freight, remove the wadding from a journal box and replace it with oily
rags.

(7) _Transportation: Automotive_

(a) Roads. Damage to roads [(3) below] is slow, and therefore
impractical as a D-day or near D-day activity.

(1) Change sign posts at intersections and forks; the enemy will go the
wrong way and it may be miles before he discovers his mistakes.

In areas where traffic is composed primarily of enemy autos, trucks,
and motor convoys of various kinds remove danger signals from curves
and intersections.

(2) When the enemy asks for directions, give him wrong information.
Especially when enemy convoys are in the neighborhood, truck drivers
can spread rumors and give false information about bridges being out,
ferries closed, and detours lying ahead.

(3) If you can start damage to a heavily traveled road, passing traffic
and the elements will do the rest. Construction gangs can see that too
much sand or water is put in concrete or that the road foundation has
soft spots. Anyone can scoop ruts in asphalt and macadam roads which
turn soft in hot weather; passing trucks will accentuate the ruts to a
point where substantial repair will be needed. Dirt roads also can be
scooped out. If you are a road laborer, it will be only a few minutes
work to divert a small stream from a sluice so that it runs over and
eats away the road.

(4) Distribute broken glass, nails, and sharp rocks on roads to
puncture tires.

(b) Passengers

(1) Bus-driver can go past the stop where the enemy wants to get off.
Taxi drivers can waste the enemy’s time and make extra money by driving
the longest possible route to his destination.

(c) Oil and Lubrication

(1) See 5 b. (2) (b).

(2) Disconnect the oil pump; this will burn out the main bearings in
less than 50 miles of normal driving.

(d) Radiator

(1) See 5 b. (2) (c).

(e) Fuel

(1) See 5 b. (2) (d).

(f) Battery and Ignition

(1) Jam bits of wood into the ignition lock; loosen or exchange
connections behind the switchboard; put dirt in spark plugs; damage
distributor points.

(2) Turn on the lights in parked cars so that the battery will run
down.

(3) Mechanics can ruin batteries in a number of undetectable ways: Take
the valve cap off a cell, and drive a screw driver slantwise into the
exposed water vent, shattering the plates of the cell; no damage will
show when you put the cap back on. Iron or copper filings put into the
cells i.e., dropped into the acid, will greatly shorten its life.
Copper coins or a few pieces of iron will accomplish the same and more
slowly.

One hundred to 150 cubic centimeters of vinegar in each cell greatly
reduces the life of the battery, but the odor of the vinegar may reveal
what has happened.

(g) Gears

(1) Remove the lubricant from or put too light a lubricant in the
transmission and other gears.

(2) In trucks, tractors, and other machines with heavy gears, fix the
gear case insecurely, putting bolts in only half the bolt holes. The
gears will be badly jolted in use and will soon need repairs.

(h) Tires

(1) Slash or puncture tires of unguarded vehicles. Put a nail inside a
match box or other small box, and set it vertically in front of the
back tire of a stationary car; when the car starts off, the nail will
go neatly through the tire.

(2) It is easy to damage a tire in a tire repair shop: In fixing flats,
spill glass, benzine, caustic soda, or other material inside the casing
which will puncture or corrode the tube. If you put a gummy substance
inside the tube, the next flat will stick the tube to the casing and
make it unusable. Or, when you fix a flat tire, you can simply leave
between the tube and the casing the object which caused the flat in the
first place.

(3) In assembling a tire after repair, pump the tube up as fast as you
can. Instead of filling out smoothly, it may crease, in which case it
will wear out quickly. Or, as you put a tire together, see if you can
pinch the tube between the rim of the tire and the rim of the wheel, so
that a blow-out will result.

(4) In putting air into tires, see that they are kept below normal
pressure, so that more than an ordinary amount of wear will result. In
filling tires on double wheels, inflate the inner tire to a much higher
pressure than the outer one; both will wear out more quickly this way.
Badly aligned wheels also wear tires out quickly; you can leave wheels
out of alignment when they come in for adjustment, or you can spring
them out of true with a strong kick, or by driving the car slowly and
diagonally into a curb.

(5) If you have access to stocks of tires, you can rot them by spilling
oil, gasoline, caustic acid, or benzine on them. Synthetic rubber,
however, is less susceptible to these chemicals.

(8) _Transportation: Water_

(a) Navigation

(1) Barge and river boat personnel should spread false rumors about the
navigability and conditions of the waterways they travel. Tell other
barge and boat captains to follow channels that will take extra time,
or cause them to make canal detours.

(2) Barge and river boat captains should navigate with exceeding
caution near locks and bridges, to waste their time and to waste the
time of other craft which may have to wait on them. If you don’t pump
the bilges of ships and barges often enough, they will be slower and
harder to navigate. Barges “accidentally” run aground are an efficient
time waster too.

(3) Attendants on swing, draw, or bascule bridges can delay traffic
over the bridge or in the waterway underneath by being slow. Boat
captains can leave unattended draw bridges open in order to hold up
road traffic.

(4) Add or subtract compensating magnets to the compass on cargo ships.
Demagnetize the compass or maladjust it by concealing a large bar of
steel or iron near to it.

(b) Cargo

(1) While loading or unloading, handle cargo carelessly in order to
cause damage. Arrange the cargo so that the weakest and lightest crates
and boxes will be at the bottom of the hold, while the heaviest ones
are on top of them.

Put hatch covers and tarpaulins on sloppily, so that rain and deck wash
will injure the cargo.

Tie float valves open so that storage tanks will overflow on perishable
goods.

(9) _Communications_

(a) Telephone

(1) At office, hotel and exchange switch boards delay putting enemy
calls through, give them wrong numbers, cut them off “accidentally,” or
forget to disconnect them so that the line cannot be used again.

(2) Hamper official and especially military business by making at least
one telephone call a day to an enemy headquarters; when you get them,
tell them you have the wrong number.

Call military or police offices and make anonymous false reports of
fires, air raids, bombs.

(3) In offices and buildings used by the enemy, unscrew the earphone of
telephone receivers and remove the diaphragm. Electricians and
telephone repair men can make poor connections and damage insulation so
that cross talk and other kinds of electrical interference will make
conversations hard or impossible to understand.

(4) Put the batteries under automatic switchboards out of commission by
dropping nails, metal filings, or coins into the cells. If you can
treat half the batteries in this way, the switchboard will stop
working. A whole telephone system can be disrupted if you can put 10
percent of the cells in half the batteries of the central battery room
out of order.

(b) Telegraph

(1) Delay the transmission and delivery of telegrams to enemy
destinations.

(2) Garble telegrams to enemy destinations so that another telegram
will have to be sent or a long distance call will have to be made.
Sometimes it will be possible to do this by changing a single letter in
a word—for example, changing “minimum” to “maximum,” so that the person
receiving the telegram will not know whether “minimum” or “maximum” is
meant.

(c) Transportation Lines

(1) Cut telephone and telegraph transmission lines. Damage insulation
on power lines to cause interference.

(d) Mail

(1) Post office employees can see to it that enemy mail is always
delayed by one day or more, that it is put in wrong sacks, and so on.

(e) Motion Pictures

(1) Projector operators can ruin newsreels and other enemy propaganda
films by bad focusing, speeding up or slowing down the film and by
causing frequent breakage in the film.

(2) Audiences can ruin enemy propaganda films by applauding to drown
the words of the speaker, by coughing loudly, and by talking.

(3) Anyone can break up a showing of an enemy propaganda film by
putting two or three dozen large moths in a paper bag. Take the bag to
the movies with you, put it on the floor in an empty section of the
theater as you go in and leave it open. The moths will fly out and
climb into the projector beam, so that the film will be obscured by
fluttering shadows.

(f) Radio

(1) Station engineers will find it quite easy to overmodulate
transmissions of talks by persons giving enemy propaganda or
instructions, so that they will sound as if they were talking through a
heavy cotton blanket with a mouth full of marbles.

(2) In your own apartment building, you can interfere with radio
reception at times when the enemy wants everybody to listen. Take an
electric light plug off the end of an electric light cord; take some
wire out of the cord and tie it across two terminals of a two-prong
plug or three terminals of a four-prong plug. Then take it around and
put it into as many wall and floor outlets as you can find. Each time
you insert the plug into a new circuit, you will blow out a fuse and
silence all radios running on power from that circuit until a new fuse
is put in.

(3) Damaging insulation on any electrical equipment tends to create
radio interference in the immediate neighborhood, particularly on large
generators, neon signs, fluorescent lighting, X-ray machines, and power
lines. If workmen can damage insulation on a high tension line near an
enemy airfield, they will make ground-to-plane radio communications
difficult and perhaps impossible during long periods of the day.

(10) _Electric Power_

(a) Turbines, Electric Motors, Transformers

(1) See 5 b. (2) (e), (f),and (g).

(b) Transmission Lines

(1.) Linesmen can loosen and dirty insulators to cause power leakage.
It will be quite easy, too, for them to tie a piece of very heavy
string several times back and forth between two parallel transmission
lines, winding it several turns around the wire each time. Beforehand,
the string should be heavily saturated with salt and then dried. When
it rains, the string becomes a conductor, and a short-circuit will
result.

(11) _General Interference with Organizations and Production_

(a) Organizations and Conferences (1) Insist on doing everything
through “channels.” Never permit short-cuts to be taken in order to
expedite decisions.

(2) Make “speeches.” Talk as frequently as possible and at great
length. Illustrate your “points” by long anecdotes and accounts of
personal experiences. Never hesitate to make a few appropriate
“patriotic” comments.

(3) When possible, refer all matters to committees, for “further study
and consideration.” Attempt to make the committees as large as
possible—never less than five.

(4) Bring up irrelevant issues as frequently as possible.

(5) Haggle over precise wordings of communications, minutes,
resolutions.

(6) Refer back to matters decided upon at the last meeting and attempt
to re-open the question of the advisability of that decision.

(7) Advocate “caution.” Be “reasonable” and urge your fellow-conferees
to be “reasonable” and avoid haste which might result in embarrassments
or difficulties later on.

(8) Be worried about the propriety of any decision—raise the question
of whether such action as is contemplated lies within the jurisdiction
of the group or whether it might conflict with the policy of some
higher echelon.

(b) Managers and Supervisors

(1) Demand written orders.

(2) “Misunderstand” orders. Ask endless questions or engage in long
correspondence about such orders. Quibble over them when you can.

(3) Do everything possible to delay the delivery of orders. Even though
parts of an order may be ready beforehand, don’t deliver it until it is
completely ready.

(4) Don’t order new working materials until your current stocks have
been virtually exhausted, so that the slightest delay in filling your
order will mean a shutdown.

(5) Order high-quality materials which are hard to get. If you don’t
get them argue about it. Warn that inferior materials will mean
inferior work.

(6) In making work assignments, always sign out the unimportant jobs
first. See that the important jobs are assigned to inefficient workers
of poor machines.

(7) Insist on perfect work in relatively unimportant products; send
back for refinishing those which have the least flaw. Approve other
defective parts whose flaws are not visible to the naked eye.

(8) Make mistakes in routing so that parts and materials will be sent
to the wrong place in the plant.

(9) When training new workers, give incomplete or misleading
instructions.

(10) To lower morale and with it, production, be pleasant to
inefficient workers; give them undeserved promotions. Discriminate
against efficient workers; complain unjustly about their work.

(11) Hold conferences when there is more critical work to be done.

(12) Multiply paper work in plausible ways.

Start duplicate files.

(13) Multiply the procedures and clearances involved in issuing
instructions, pay checks, and so on. See that three people have to
approve everything where one would do.

(14) Apply all regulations to the last letter.

(c) Office Workers

(1) Make mistakes in quantities of material when you are copying
orders. Confuse similar names. Use wrong addresses.

(2) Prolong correspondence with government bureaus.

(3) Misfile essential documents.

(4) In making carbon copies, make one too few, so that an extra copying
job will have to be done.

(5) Tell important callers the boss is busy or talking on another
telephone.

(6) Hold up mail until the next collection.

(7) Spread disturbing rumors that sound like inside dope.

(d) Employees

(1) _Work slowly_. Think out ways to increase the number of movements
necessary on your job: use a light hammer instead of a heavy one, try
to make a small wrench do when a big one is necessary, use little force
where considerable force is needed, and so on.

(2) Contrive as many interruptions to your work as you can: when
changing the material on which you are working, as you would on a lathe
or punch, take needless time to do it. If you are cutting, shaping or
doing other measured work, measure dimensions twice as often as you
need to. When you go to the lavatory, spend a longer time there than is
necessary.

Forget tools so that you will have to go back after them.

 (3) Even if you understand the language, pretend not to understand
 instructions in a foreign tongue.

(4) Pretend that instructions are hard to understand, and ask to have
them repeated more than once. Or pretend that you are particularly
anxious to do your work, and pester the foreman with unnecessary
questions.

(5) Do your work poorly and blame it on bad tools, machinery, or
equipment. Complain that these things are preventing you from doing
your job right.

(6) Never pass on your skill and experience to a new or less skillful
worker.

(7) Snarl up administration in every possible way. Fill out forms
illegibly so that they will have to be done over; make mistakes or omit
requested information in forms.

(8) If possible, join or help organize a group for presenting employee
problems to the management. See that the procedures adopted are as
inconvenient as possible for the management, involving the presence of
a large number of employees at each presentation, entailing more than
one meeting for each grievance, bringing up problems which are largely
imaginary, and so on.

(9) Misroute materials.

(10) Mix good parts with unusable scrap and rejected parts.

(12) _General Devices for Lowering Morale and Creating Confusion_

(a) Give lengthy and incomprehensible explanations when questioned.

(b) Report imaginary spies or danger to the Gestapo or police.

(c) Act stupid.

(d) Be as irritable and quarrelsome as possible without getting
yourself into trouble.

(e) Misunderstand all sorts of regulations concerning such matters as
rationing, transportation, traffic regulations.

(f) Complain against ersatz materials.

(g) In public treat axis nationals or quislings coldly.

(h) Stop all conversation when axis nationals or quislings enter a
cafe.

(i) Cry and sob hysterically at every occasion, especially when
confronted by government clerks.

(j) Boycott all movies, entertainments, concerts, newspapers which are
in any way connected with the quisling authorities.

(k) Do not cooperate in salvage schemes.





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