Tactics and duties for trench fightingBertrand, Georges Etienne
History
Tactics and duties for trench fighting
Bertrand, Georges Etienne
Intrenchments
The remaining supernumeraries of the company, such as mess and supply
sergeants, mechanics, cooks, buglers, etc., do not march with the
company in maneuver or combat formations. Some of the above
supernumeraries will be found in the captain’s headquarters, or tactical
group, such as the liaison agents from the platoons, orderlies, buglers,
and observers. Mess and supply sergeants, cooks, etc., remain with the
regimental train in rear, with the kitchen behind the artillery
positions. The tactical group of the captain lives in an adjoining
dugout to that of their chief in the sector. In the fight these latter
are used as messengers or observers.
II. Use of Specialists
The following table shows the evolution of infantry armament since the
beginning of the war:
At Beginning of War
Rifle and bayonet Nearly total personnel
Hand grenades Nil
Rifle grenade guns Nil
Automatic rifles Nil
Present Time
Hand grenadiers per Co. 48
Rifle grenadiers per Co. 24
Automatic rifles per Co. 16
Outside the company is the 37 mm. gun in the battalion and trench
mortars and engines, permanent equipment of the trenches.
In the Defensive
=Hand Grenades.= Hand grenades are used to produce a short-range
defensive barrage at a distance of about 30 yards in front of the
trenches. For this purpose one grenade thrower is required for from 10
to 16 yards of frontage.
They are also used to establish centers of resistance; to protect
important features of the lines, such as salients, machine gun or
automatic rifle posts, command posts, listening posts, etc.
They are used to defend a barricade in a communicating trench. In this
latter case the grenades may be thrown from a special bombing post
established for that purpose or from an adjoining trench.
=Rifle Grenades.= Rifle grenades are employed to establish a barrage at
a greater range than that of the hand grenade, being used up to as great
a distance as 300 yards. The great advantage of the rifle grenade
barrage is that it is under the control of the platoon leader and can be
called into service immediately, which is not always true of the
artillery barrage.
Several grenade rifles concentrated on a trench will stop hand grenade
throwing from the same. Rifle grenades are usually shot from the cover
trench immediately in rear of the fire trench.
=Automatic-Machine Rifles.= In the defensive the A.M.R’s are usually
employed to obtain flanking fire from the firing line, but may be used
in the cover trench and sometimes in shallow holes out in front. In
interior fighting they are used to cover stretches of communicating
trenches against an enemy that has penetrated the first line.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account