Haynes Manuals aid war effort in Afghanistan

While Haynes Manuals may be a common sight in workshops and on the driveways of suburbia, a war zone is one place you don’t expect to find them.

But we can reveal that the British Army has been making full use of the manuals’ step-by-step advice, photographs and diagrams.

Members of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers and 4 CS Battalion REME have been using them to help train the Afghan National Army to maintain and repair vehicles.

Copies of the Haynes manual for an American-made vehicle, the Ford Ranger, were supplied to the British Army for use in the Afghan conflict.

They have also been sent to the Afghan National Police who use similar vehicles.

Captain Ross Carter of the Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team said: “Working with the Afghan National Army has been fun but challenging.

“The workforce is mainly illiterate and uneducated. Therefore we have spent the majority of our time trying to establish a competent level of repair for vehicles and weapon systems.

“The ANA are excellent at carrying out basic maintenance, but we’ve needed to teach more complex tasks. The Haynes Workshop Manuals have helped enormously.”