the field artillery journal - Fort Sill - U.S. Army

ANTITANK THOUGHTS
LTHOUGH much antitank doctrine is being
put out in pamphlets,
memoranda, articles, and
news dispatches, some
fundamentals have been
largely overlooked. It should
never be forgotten that the
tank and the antitank gun
have diametrically opposite
characteristics. The tank is protected by its armor; it has
mobility and can move from place to place to obtain the
best field of fire for its immediate purpose; it is a traveling
elevated OP; and, at least among German tanks, one out of
every 7 or 8 is outfitted with a 10-power BC 'scope. The
antitank gun, on the contrary, is utterly unprotected against
shell fire, except for its shield and such natural cover as it
might have available; when it has been prepared for action
its mobility is practically zero; in the absence of a handy
tree or cliff its crew has only a worm's eye view; and the
only optical aids at a gun position are the sight itself plus
perhaps a pair of field glasses.
These differences mean that as tanks approach a crest
they can and do halt to scan the countryside before them
with great caution and in great detail. With the 10-power
'scope any suspicious objects within at least 2,000 yards
will be given a few rounds of HE in an effort to find out
just what they might be. Artillery crews must practically be
miracle men if their camouflage still deceives the enemy
after such a scrutiny, so that the positions are not the
subject of a few "smoking out" rounds. And if by chance a
few rounds do fall near a gun's position its crew will have
steel nerves indeed if it refrains from trying to return the
fire.
The whole point, of course, is that the tank wants its fire
returned. It wants any antitank guns within sight to disclose
their positions by firing. The tank commander well knows
how vulnerable the antitank guns themselves are and that
he can stay well beyond the effective antitank range of
these weapons and blast them completely out of action. His
elephant hide will protect him, so it's heads he wins and
tails you lose. There are, therefore, three vital principles in
the placing of antitank guns—defilade, depth, and enfilade.
Both concealment and protection are gained if defilade
can be had either through use of natural folds or hollows
or by digging-in the piece. Utter concealment is perhaps
the more important, if these two factors can be weighed.
If the tank commander sees neither the gun nor anything
that looks like or could even conceivably be a gun
position he is not apt to send his random rounds in your
direction. After all, his ammunition supply is none too
great, so he will think at least once before commanding
By Col. M. J. Colbuck
198
"Fire." Camouflage carefully applied is also necessary, of
course, for there are no natural positions which are
completely concealed. At the same time this defilade
affords considerable protection, far beyond that
obtainable by such artificial means as sand bags,
revetments, and the like.
All possible hostile approaches should be covered by at
least two guns. For flexibility, positions ought to permit
wide arcs of fire so that primary and secondary (or
alternative) missions can be assigned. Mutual support is
essential, particularly coordination on the flanks of both
small units and larger formations.
It is advisable to avoid positions where the gun crew can
see the enemy at any great distance or there will be danger
of their opening fire too soon and disclosing themselves,
yet without any possibility of penetration. But wherever
possible, positions should be so chosen that guns will not
have to fire at tanks head on, where the armor is thickest.
The most effective shot is one at right angles to the tank's
path, so it should always be sought—not only because the
round may hit an area where the armor is of minimum
thickness but also because the AT position will not be
detected so readily by personnel within the tank. The ideal
is one shot, one tank.
FIRE DISCIPLINE
Perhaps most important of all is discipline in
withholding fire until it can be surely effective. This
requires intimate knowledge of both the capabilities and
limitations of the weapons at hand, and is closely related to
the selection of the field of fire.
As intimated above, a position on a reverse slope will
generally give the best chance of halting an enemy tank.
But positions must be no farther from the crest than the
maximum effective range of the antitank gun. Remember,
the tank is invulnerable as far as you are concerned if he is
very far away, and if you give him a chance to locate or
even guess your position through his BC 'scope you haven't
much of a chance; and if you let him tempt you to reply to
his random decoy shots on your suspected position, the
result will be the same.
Thirty-seven-millimeter AT weapons should not have a
possible field of fire of more than 500 yards. Antitank guns
with characteristics similar to those of the British 6pounder
may be sited to shoot to up around 800 yards. The
105-howitzer is of course primarily a field weapon and
must be used to do a field gun's work. It can and does give
depth to the antitank defense, but that role is secondary; it
is an important one, nevertheless, so positions should not
be more than 1,000 yards behind the crest, with the crest
itself covered by the lighter antitank weapons.