Psychological WarfareLinebarger, Paul Myron Anthony
History
Psychological Warfare
Linebarger, Paul Myron Anthony
Psychological warfare
For example, a well trained liaison officer might receive a call from a
regimental or battalion commander. He would find that the commander
desired leaflets to be used in a particular tactical situation. He
should be able to explain what standard ready-prepared leaflets were
available, what delay would be involved in making up special leaflets,
and what quantities of leaflets would be advisable. Turning back to his
home headquarters, he should be able to present the commander's case to
the leaflet printers or the public-address team, and should help the
propaganda people in understanding the commander's problems.
=Mechanics of Liaison.= The mechanics of liaison depend in each case on
the Psychological Warfare unit. Some had extensive networks of liaison
officers; others had virtually none. In China during 1943-44, the most
minor tactical request for a leaflet had to be channeled all the way
back to Theater Forward Echelon Headquarters, because the political
situation was so touchy, the Chinese language so difficult, printing
facilities so scarce, and qualified personnel so rare that there was no
point in having channels cut across lower down. In France and Belgium,
during 1944-45, Psychological Warfare units were established on a
considerable scale at the army level, and liaison officers were widely
scattered; it was possible for regimental or battalion commanders to
make direct requests of liaison officers.
=Radio Support.= On rare occasions, it becomes possible for radio
support to be given a specific unit. The American standard-wave
broadcasting station was set up in the vicinity of Lorient while that
French port, still held by the Nazis, was under American siege. The
_History of the 2d Mobile Broadcasting Company_[43] describes the
operation as being
... the first attempt to coordinate artillery, leaflet and radio
propaganda. The station had learned the location of the billets of
various [Nazi] units in the town, together with the names of their key
personnel. With this information, a "game" was arranged with the
artillery. One day, at a certain time, these units were addressed by
name and their members were told to go outside their buildings and
five minutes later they would receive a message. Precisely, five
minutes later, leaflet shells released the messages advising
surrender. The ability of the Americans to do things like that
impressed the German soldiers with their hopeless position more than
words.
Obviously, such an operation required close contact with the enemy, plus
known possession of standard-wave radio receivers by enemy personnel.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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