Company Officer's Handbook Of The German Army - Command and ...

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24 COMPANY OFFICER'S HANDBOOK Deception and surprise are basic factors in German mine-field practice. Although regular patterns are the most common, regularity and symmetry should never be assumed in German mine fields. Even fields laid out in a strictly exact pattern will have additional mines scattered irregularly around their edges. Furthermore, long, narrow belts of mines may be extended from the mine fields in the direction of the enemy in order to hamper lateral traffic along the forward edge of the fields.
Section III. EMPLOYMENT OF SUPPORT WEAPONS 12. MACHINE GUNS In siting machine guns the Germans stress the possibilities for enfilade. During the present Italian Campaign a German division commander criticized subordinate unit commanders because they had violated this principle. He found that light and heavy machine guns too often were sited frontally. This was done to avoid having 50 to 100 yards of dead space in front of their positions. Stating that this approach to the problem was wrong, the division commander ordered that the majority of the machine guns must be sited to fire from flanks, and from positions screened from frontal observation and fire (from reverse slopes, including the forward slope in a depression, from behind cover such as hedges, etc). The division commander went on to explain that if the enemy did succeed in reaching the dead space, the machine guns could be shifted quickly to previously prepared, close-range positions from which the area could be covered. The German division commander further objected to attempts to obtain, also by frontal siting, a field of fire of 500 yards and more in depth with light machine guns. He stated that light machine guns are employed correctly when they are sited to fire at 250 yards, because at this range light machine guns are "splendidly accurate." The German commander concluded as follows: "When the enemy is within this distance (250 yards) of our machine-gun positions, he is unable, because of the area of the beaten zone of the shells, to use his artillery against the machine-gun positions. His infantry is then completely exposed to the devastating fire of our light machine guns, snipers, automatic rifles, etc." During the Tunisian Campaign the evidence also indicated that the Germans insisted on siting their machine guns for enfilading fire. They placed their machine guns in defiladed, well-concealed flank positions, satisfying themselves with a small arc of fire in order to do so. Furthermore, they employed alternate positions to a considerable extent. The machine guns were also sited on reverse 25
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Page 3 and 4: CONTENTS Page Section I. OFFENSIVE
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