Category: War

The British SAS & Operation Trent: The Real Freaking Deal by WILL DABBS

Post author By Grumpy
Post date December 26, 2022
No Comments on The British SAS & Operation Trent: The Real Freaking Deal by WILL DABBS

A HALO parachute jump into a hostile combat zone is a staple of modern spy movies. Because of the resources required and the inherent risk involved such stuff is vanishingly rare in real life. In November of 2001, however, a recon patrol from G Squadron of the British 22 SAS did just that.

Special operators inserting via HALO (High Altitude Low Opening) parachute jump to launch a pitiless fight to the death with a fanatical enemy bent on global destruction is actually just the stuff of spy movies. That kind of thing almost never happens in the Real World. However, in November of 2001, the British Special Air Service launched Operation Trent. Trent was the stuff about which fiction writers scrawl.

Though we train for it constantly, American soldiers have in the past most typically only gone to war about once in a generation.

In the modern era, most warriors see combat only sporadically. The Global War on Terror has been an anomaly, but most professional soldiers in the West only go to war for real about once or twice in a career. In the case of Special Operations Forces, their commanders are always on the prowl for proper missions. Early into the coalition invasion of Afghanistan SAS commanders got the tasking to take out an al-Qaeda opium plant near Koh-I-Malik Mountain in the Registan Desert, Helmand Province, Afghanistan.

Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda (“The Base”) is quite the merry band of reprobates.

Al-Qaeda was and is a truly world-class mob of villains. When they’re not actively bombing civilians they support themselves by refining and trafficking illicit narcotics. Though they drape themselves in the mantle of religion, the reality is that they are just fanatic thugs who want to watch the world burn.

These scumbags had years to fortify their facilities in the most desolate parts of Afghanistan.

The opium factory in this case was a fortified military facility of caves, bunkers, buildings, trenches, and hardened compounds. Intelligence estimates put the number of defenders at between 80 and 100 hard-core foreign fighters. These maniacal lunatics were well-armed, well-trained, and highly motivated.

Because of the large numbers required, the SAS used US Air Force C130 transports for the infil.

Based upon the availability of close air support assets the assault would have to take place in daylight. Though the SAS is justifiably sketchy on operational details it is estimated that between 100 and 140 operators took part. Given the remote nature of the objective and the large numbers of troops required it was determined that insertion would be via C130 transport aircraft.

Show Time

HALO parachute operations reflect the most rarefied sort of soldiering.

The first order of business was to establish a makeshift airstrip to allow air landing of troops and vehicles via C130. As a result, G Squadron’s Air Troop inserted an eight-man reconnaissance patrol via HALO parachute jump. Jumping from a coalition C130 at more than 20,000 feet, this combat element dropped through subzero temperatures using supplemental oxygen and parachutes that opened automatically at 4,000 feet. They secured the air landing site, marked out a 900×40-foot runway, and established lay-up positions.

SAS DPV 110’s were nicknamed “Pink Panthers” due to their unique desert camouflage scheme.

Seventeen hours later a flight of half a dozen USAF C130 aircraft touched down just long enough to disgorge a contingent of Land Rover DPV 110 “Pink Panther” vehicles, a pair of logistics trucks, and eight Kawasaki dirt bikes. The DPV 110’s were originally painted in a pink desert camouflage. Hence the name. During the 120-mile drive to the target one vehicle was lost due to mechanical failure. Its three-man crew remained behind to guard it. I suspect they were livid.

US Navy strike aircraft like this F/A-18 initiated the attack with precision guided munitions.

A Squadron drew the duty of assaulting the al-Qaeda facility, while G Squadron provided a base of supporting fire. Once in position under cover of darkness, these two elements awaited first light and a preparatory airstrike to launch their attack. Just after 0700, a combined strike package of US Navy F-14 Tomcats and F/A-18 Hornets kicked off the party.

Navy strike aircraft expended their bomb loads as preparation for the SAS ground assault.

The Navy strike aircraft pummeled the al-Qaeda facility until they ran out of ordnance, taking out a bunker with a GPS-guided JDAM bomb and strafing another position dangerously close to friendly operators. Under cover of the chaos, A Squadron elements approached the defensive works in their Pinkies, while the G Squadron blokes opened up with vehicle-mounted M2 .50-caliber machineguns, 7.62mm L7A2 GPMGs, L16 81mm mortars, MILAN antitank missiles, and Barrett M82A1 .50-caliber sniper rifles. What followed was a truly epic fight.

The Guns

The M2 .50-caliber machinegun saw widespread service in all theaters during WW2.

The .50-caliber M2 or “Ma Deuce” as it is known by anyone who has ever donned a uniform, is the longest-serving weapon still in general issue by the US military. The M2 was contrived by the firearms luminary John Moses Browning in response to a request from General John “Blackjack” Pershing, the commander of the American Expeditionary Force in WW1.

The M2 .50-caliber machinegun soldiers on essentially unchanged in US military service today nearly a century after it was developed.

The recoil-operated M2 weighs 84 pounds and cycles at around 500 rounds per minute. The Army has tried and failed to replace this apparently perfect weapon several times in the past century. However, today’s M2 that sits atop the M1 Abrams and modern MRAP vehicles is really minimally changed from the WW1-era original. The max effective range for the Ma Deuce is 1,800 meters.

The British L7A2 is the Anglicized version of the ubiquitous Belgian MAG gun.

The L7A2 is the British version of the Belgian MAG (Mitrailleuse d’Appui General) Gun. This 7.62x51mm air-cooled, belt-fed, General Purpose Machinegun was designed in the 1950s by Ernest Vervier. The MAG combined the best features from the American Browning Automatic Rifle and the German MG42. This same basic weapon serves in the American military as the M240.

The Belgian MAG gun is widely used around the world. Here it is shown being fired off the top of a US Humvee.

The L7A2 weighs 26 pounds and cycles at around 650 rounds per minute. This same chassis has been used in fixed aircraft mounts, pintle mounts on vehicles, and as a man-portable support weapon in Infantry and Special Ops formations. The L7A2 fires from the open bolt and has been adopted by the militaries of some 89 nations.

The L16 81mm mortar is a relatively lightweight weapon that allows tactical commanders access to immediate high-volume indirect fire support.

The L16 81 mm mortar is a beast of a thing. It began as a joint venture between the UK and Canada. The L16 weighs 78 pounds and is typically serviced by a crew of three. This mortar offers a sustained rate of fire of a dozen rounds per minute and will throw an HE bomb up to 5,675 meters.

The MILAN guided missile system has been a staple among European militaries for more than a generation.

The MILAN antitank missile system is a joint French/German contrivance that first entered service in 1972. MILAN stands for Missile d’infanterie Leger Antichar. MILAN is also French for “kite.” MILAN is a wire-guided SACLOS (semi-automatic command to line-of-sight) missile. It weighs 36 pounds and has a maximum effective range of 2,000 meters.

The MILAN packs quite a punch. This image is of the MILAN missile upon impact with a target in Afghanistan.

Western nations supplied the Afghan Mujahideen with MILAN missiles during their war with the Soviets in the 1980s. These weapons took a devastating toll on Soviet armor. The newest versions of the MILAN use a 115mm HEAT warhead and advanced jam-resistant electronics.

The Barrett M82A1 is a time-tested combat tool. Though both heavy and loud, the M82A1 provides tactical commanders with serious reach on the modern asymmetrical battlefield.

The Barrett M82A1 is a semiautomatic recoil-operated anti-materiel weapon used throughout the free world. First launched in 1989, the M82A1 weighs 30 pounds and has a max effective range of 1,800 meters. The gun feeds from a 10-round detachable box magazine and is used by 55 different nations.

I saw my first Barrett .50 being used by EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) troops. This versatile weapon is employed worldwide in a wide variety of roles today.

I first met the Barrett M82A1 while it was being used to detonate unexploded ordnance by a military EOD unit. The unique Barrett rifle has been used as a long-range sniper platform in a variety of operational conflicts. With match ammo, the Barrett is indeed a deadly and powerful long-range platform.

The Rest of the Story

These SAS guys always seem to rock the most epic facial hair.

A Squadron assaulters covered the last stretch of extremely difficult terrain on foot, engaging in a furious firefight with defenders in the process. One SAS operator was wounded during the approach, but another dozen gained access to an al-Qaeda cave complex. Here they killed six al-Qaeda fighters with no loss to their own. One SAS officer caught two rounds to his ceramic body armor and third through his canteen.

These lunatics make for formidable opponents on the battlefield. Like the Japanese during WW2, many of these fighters must be killed to be stopped.

The al-Qaeda fighters were maniacal in their fervor, frequently running out from behind cover while firing only to be cut down by the attacking SAS men. The SAS Regimental Sergeant Major was shot through the leg while organizing the G Squadron supporting fires. Over the course of the next two hours, SAS troopers cleared buildings and caves of fanatical terrorist fighters, all at such close range as to make close air support ineffective.

Through careful preparation, rigorous training, and relentless violence of action the SAS accomplished a difficult mission with minimal casualties.

Four hours after the initial airstrikes the compound was secure and the foreign fighters neutralized. A total of four SAS men were wounded. The attackers killed as many as 73 enemy soldiers and destroyed $50 million worth of opium. They also came home with several laptops and written records that were invaluable in unraveling the terrorist network.

An American Chinook helicopter evacuated the wounded.

A US CH47D extracted the wounded operators, while the rest of the force exfilled via C130. Three weeks later the shooters were back in the UK. Several of the SAS operators were decorated for their performance during the operation, and the al-Qaeda facility was thoroughly disrupted.

Ruminations

The SAS has earned its reputation as one of the world’s premiere special operations units. These guys are legendarily hard.

The Real World is never as clean or as tidy as the movies make it out to be. Combat is a terrifying, chaotic thing that strains even the most elite soldiers. However, the British SAS literally set the bar for special operations forces around the globe. In the case of Operation Trent, the largest SAS undertaking since WW2, the rarefied tactics and heroic exploits were everything you might find in a big budget action movie.

During Operation Trent the Good Guys won, the Bad Guys died, $50 million-worth of opium got pulverized, and the world was a better place afterwards.

From G Squadron’s initial HALO assault to the unit’s mass exfil via C130 aircraft on an improvised runway, everything went down as it should have. The drug-making facility was destroyed and its operators killed. The SAS guys also retrieved a trove of invaluable intelligence materials. Operation Trent was the real deal, a special operator’s dream.

All About Guns Soldiering War

Sharpshooter Showdown: A Friendly Contest Among History’s Finest Snipers Lyudmila Pavlichenko, Chris Kyle, Simo Hayha and Carlos Hathcock: Who would win? by DAVID HERMAN

man shooting long-range from prone position

American Sniper; Shooter; Enemy at the Gates; the public’s fascination with sniper movies is both old and well-documented. Of course, this is not without reason. From old Jack Hinson to more well-known figures like Vasily Zaytsev, men and women who can hit targets at fantastic distances have gained a mythic status, even amongst other shooters, who attribute an almost black-magic ethos to practitioners of the art. This being America however, the home of competitive spirit, we’ve decided to take our admiration one step further on this Throwback Thursday. Of four of the best-known snipers—Chris Kyle, Carlos Hathcock, Simo Häyhä and Lyudmila Pavlichenko—who would come out on top in a friendly, but realistic, shoot-off?

To properly hold a contest of course, we’ll need some basic parameters by which to judge our contestants. So why not mimic the current real-world test of sniping skill, the International Sniper Competition, held annually at Fort Benning, Georgia? Not simply a test of shooting prowess, the International Sniper Competition tests mental and physical endurance, as well as the ability to evade detection. Thus we will use anecdotes from the careers of our contestants to roughly evaluate the following three parameters: accuracy; endurance; and stealth.

Fourth Place-Chris Kyle

The protagonist of American Sniper, Chief Petty Officer Chris Kyle is undoubtedly the most well-known sniper of recent years. With a Silver Star and four Bronze Stars with valor (among other awards), it’s not hard to see why. Kyle grew up hunting the Texas countryside with his father, before becoming a rodeo rider and attending several years of college. Having already lived more in 25 years than most have in 60, Kyle then joined the Navy SEALS, where he was assigned to SEAL Team-3, sniper element, Platoon “Charlie.”

Serving in many of the major battles of the Iraq war, Kyle stacked up more than 150 confirmed kills, earning him a bounty on his head that started at $20,000, and was later increased to $80,000. His most impressive was what he described as a “straight-up luck shot” from 2,100 yards, using his McMillan TAC-338 sniper rifle. Chris served four tours of duty in the Iraq War, which he survived despite being shot twice, and being involved in six IED detonations.

All of the above means Kyle was one impressive shooter, but on this list that’s almost a prerequisite. For endurance, the man served four tours despite being wounded multiple times, so he earns some definite points there. As far as stealth is concerned, however, there are no reported instances (at least, not available to us civilians) which attest to any particular ability to stay hidden. In fact, given that he often served as overwatch for teams of door-kickers, it’s reasonable to assume that concealing himself was never something of especial concern (relative to the other snipers we will come to, who often worked alone and behind enemy lines). Thus, Chief Petty Officer Kyle occupies position four on this list.

Third Place- Lyudmila Pavlichenko

The infamous “Lady Death,” bane of Nazi existence, comes next. Lyudmila Pavilchenko was born in Bila Tserkva, in what is now Ukraine. He early shooting skills were molded in the local OSOAVIAKhIM paramilitary youth program, where she achieved the “Voroshilov Marksman” badge, second degree, entailing not just sharpshooting, but also but also navigation, grenade throwing and physical training. While she left the program in her early adulthood, she returned to it as the clouds of war formed over Europe, enrolling in the two-year OSOAVIAKhIM sniper course in Kiev which familiarized her with the Mosin model 1891/1930 she was later to carry.

When Pavilchenko first attempted to enlist in the armed forces in 1941, she was turned away with an admonishment to try nursing. Luckily for the USSR, she was far too persistent to listen, and enrolled the next day in the 25^th Chapayev Rifle Division. When she finally got her hands on an old Mosin (she had to take it from a fallen comrade), Lyudmila already knew its intricacies and weaknesses. She removed wood from the forend allowing her to better bed the barrel, filed the gunstock tip, padded where the receiver and magazine join and filed the bolt mechanism to ensure reliability.

Once the rifle was up and running, Pavilchenko wreaked a line of havoc across Odessa, Moldavia and Sevastopol. In just 11 months, she notched 309 confirmed kills, 36 of which were enemy snipers she stalked and dispatched. The most famous instance of this saw a three-day cat-and-mouse battle between her and an enemy sniper. When she felled him on the third day, Pavilchenko simply remarked, “he made one move too many.” Pavilchenko became such a thorn in the Germans’ side that they attempted to affect her defection by offering her chocolate and an officer’s rank over loudspeakers. When that didn’t work, they turned their rhetoric to naked threats, warning she would be torn to shreds. The Russians however, as ecstatic with her performance as the Germans were annoyed, promoted her all the way to Junior Lieutenant.

Unfortunately, this increased attention eventually caught up with Junior Lieutenant Pavilchenko. In June 1942, she was grievously wounded when an artillery barrage blew off half her right ear. She spent the rest of the war touring the USSR and the USA, in an attempt to inspire morale, and convince America to open a second front in Europe.

Junior Lieutenant Pavilchenko’s marksmanship, not to mention her technical know-how in reconstructing her rifle, are quite impressive. Staying hidden from a sniper on her trail for three days, ultimately besting him, is even more so. For these reasons alone, Junior Lieutenant Pavilchenko arrives at third place on our list.

Second Place-Carlos Hathcock

I can hear the angry Marines at my door already. Please keep in mind that second-best among some of the most legendary combat shooters in history is still rarified air by any stretch of the imagination, and Gunnery Sergeant Hathcock certainly has the lungs to breathe it. Utilizing a self-converted M21 Springfield variant he dubbed the M25 “White Feather”, after the nickname given him by the People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN) for the tall feather he wore in his bush hat, Hathcock made his presence well known in-country. Already an experienced shooter prior to combat service, Hathcock grew up hunting on visits to his relatives in Mississippi, and later shot competitively. This culminated in his winning the Wimbledon Cup at Camp Perry in 1965.

On the battlefield, these skills served Hathcock well. He racked up a deadly reputation, with his fellow Marines dubbing him “the Legend” for countless incredible deeds. While his sheer number of downed enemy is certainly impressive, sitting at 93 confirmed (but more likely between 300 and 400, considering no third party was ever present to “confirm” things when he was behind enemy lines), his skill and tenacity is far more so. The PAVN themselves placed a $30,000 bounty on his head for killing so many of their own snipers. One of his most famous deeds occurred in just such a counter-sniping scenario, when seeing the glint off an enemy sniper’s scope, he shot him directly through the scope’s tube. While he claimed the damaged rifle, hoping to bring it home as a trophy, it was unfortunately stolen from the armory and lost to history. Another display of skill, not to mention sheer grit, came when he inched his way over 1,500 yards across a field, over four sleepless days and three nights, to eliminate a PAVN general. During this ordeal, he remained hidden despite almost being bitten by a bamboo viper, and stepped on by an enemy patrol

In 1969, Hathcock’s wartime career came to an unfortunate end when his LVT-5 struck an anti-tank mine. While the burns he sustained were too severe for him to return to combat, Hathcock continued his work on the home front, helping to establish the Marine Corps Scout Sniper School at the Marine base in Quantico, Virginia.

While he may never have made a shot at 2,100 yards like Chris Kyle, Hathcock’s skill with the old M21 was impressive. After all, placing a bullet through another’s scope, a feat so incredible it was officially “busted” on the Discovery Channel program Mythbusters, cannot be overstated. As far as mental and physical endurance is concerned … have you ever stayed awake for 84 hours to crawl across a field of snakes? Has ANYONE else, for that matter?? He also managed to stay fully hidden during this feat, earning him high marks across both our final two categories. Gunnery Sergeant Hathcock, therefore, sits at position two on our list.

First Place-Simo Häyhä

Simo Häyhä, the unassuming wintertime warrior from Finland, unquestionably wins this contest. Born in the rural Küskinen, Rautjärvi province (which is now Russian territory), Häyhä honed his skills from a young age, hunting in the Finish woods around his home. At the age of 17, he joined the Rautjärvi Civil Guard, and later served mandatory conscription in the Army from 1925-1927, in Bicycle Battalions 1 & 2. After being discharged, he continued on in the Civil Guard, winning numerous Viipuri Civil Guard regional competitions throughout the 1930s. Outside of the guard, his primary living was made as a hunter and trapper, meaning that in all areas of his life, a rifle rarely left Häyhä’s hands.

When the Winter War began, with Russia conducting a false-flag shelling of its own village of Manilla to initiate conflict, 450,000 Soviet troops poured over the Finnish border. His abilities quickly recognized, Häyhä was immediately relied upon to take out high-value targets others could not reach. Counter sniping, therefore, became his primary responsibility. This particular duty meant Häyhä conducted his business primarily with iron sights, an unthinkable method for a 20^th century sharpshooter. He did this to prevent other snipers from spotting him in the snow, where the telltale glint of a scope could prove fatal. At one point, Häyhä even dislodged a well dug-in enemy sniper at 400 yards with such a setup. Eschewing any and all comforts in pursuit of his craft, Simo regularly removed his gloves to use them as a rifle rest, despite weather that dipped to -43 degrees Celsius, and filled his mouth with snow to eliminate the steam from his breath.

As the small ranks of the Finnish military required even snipers to pull double duty, Häyhä was sometimes called upon to fight in close. During one such occasion, he crawled silently with his comrades almost to the light of a Russian campfire, before opening fire on the unsuspecting soldiers and making off with their weaponry. All this technique, daring and skill led Häyhä to rack up 542 confirmed kills over just 98 days on the Kollaa front. The Soviets became so frustrated with the devastation he wreaked that they began to call down artillery strikes onto his suspected positions. But Häyhä always escaped into the safety of the forests, leading the Finnish media to bestow upon him the moniker of “White Death,” for his ability to materialize, kill, and vanish into the snow without a trace.

Finally, on March 6, 1940, Häyhä was grievously wounded in close-quarters combat in the forests of Ulismaa. A Russian infantryman hit Häyhä in the jaw with an exploding bullet, shattering the bone and half his face. Despite being taken for dead and thrown onto a pile of corpses (according to one story, anyway), Häyhä was recognized as alive when someone saw his boot twitching around, and was transported to the hospital on a sleigh. There Häyhä remained in a coma for seven days, until March 13. By the time he awoke, the war was over.

Häyhä ‘s prowess not just with a rifle, but with a fully unmagnified one, puts him atop our list for sharpshooting skill. The endurance displayed despite the bitter cold and long odds lend him high marks there as well, while finally, his total evasion of airstrikes and counter-snipers, only eventually being wounded when acting as infantry in a pitched battle, combine to thrust Second Lieutenant Häyhä to the top of our list.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this Throwback Thursday sniper shoot-off. For more on Simo Häyhä and Lyudmila Pavilchenko in particular, check out the following stories right here at nrafamily.org:

Dear Grumpy Advice on Teaching in Today's Classroom Good News for a change! Interesting stuff War

The Christmas Truce When WWI Stopped for Christmas DEF

Post author By Grumpy
Post date December 25, 2022
No Comments on The Christmas Truce When WWI Stopped for Christmas DEF

Hard Nosed Folks Both Good & Bad Leadership of the highest kind Soldiering War

Throwback Thursday: “The Desert Fox” by W.H. “CHIP” GROSS

Post author By Grumpy
Post date December 24, 2022
No Comments on Throwback Thursday: “The Desert Fox” by W.H. “CHIP” GROSS

Editor’s Note: For today’s #ThrowbackThursday, we’re examining the lessons the Allied powers learned in World War II from one of America’s most formidable enemies at the time.

Arguably the greatest general that Germany produced during WWII was Field Marshal Erwin Rommel (1891-1944), The Desert Fox. A career soldier, he fought during both World Wars, and became so revered for his tactical leadership skills and aggressive battlefield style that some Allied forces began to believe he was superhuman. To that point, the British Army Commander-in-Chief C.J. Auchinleck, issued the following order to his officers:

There exists a real danger that our friend Rommel is becoming a kind of magician or bogey-man to our troops, who are talking far too much about him. He is by no means a superman, although he is undoubtedly very energetic and able. Even if he were a superman, it would still be highly undesirable that our men should credit him with supernatural powers. I wish you to dispel by all possible means the idea that Rommel represents something more than an ordinary German general. The important thing now is to see that we do not always talk of Rommel when we mean the enemy in Libya. We must refer to “the Germans” or “the Axis powers” or “the enemy” and not always keep harping on Rommel. Please ensure that this order is put into immediate effect, and impress up all commanders that, from a psychological point of view, it is a matter of highest importance.

No, Rommel was not superhuman, but he did have what the Germans called (big-word warning) Fingerspitzengefuhl, an innate sixth sense of what the enemy was about to do. For instance, a German general, Fritz Bayerlein, Rommel’s Chief-of-Staff at the time, relates the following two anecdotes.

“We were at the headquarters of the Afrika Korps…when suddenly Rommel turned to me and said, ‘Bayerlein, I would advise you to get out of this [location]: I don’t like it.’ An hour later the headquarters were unexpectedly attacked and overrun.”

Bayerlein continues, “That same afternoon, we were standing together when he [Rommel] said, ‘Let’s move a couple of hundred yards to a flank, I think we are going to get shelled here.’ One bit of desert was just the same as another, but five minutes after we had moved, the shells were falling exactly where we had been standing. Everyone…who fought with Rommel in either war will tell you similar stories.”

Rommel also had the ability to quickly size up a battle in progress, and the decision-making skills to then seize the opportunity to attack when one presented itself. Consequently, he earned a reputation for, at times, making rash decisions, but those decisions seemed to pay off for him and his armies more times than not.

A trait that endeared Rommel to his vanguard troops was that he “led from the front,” spending nearly as much time with the frontline, everyday soldier as he did with his officers back at headquarters. As a result, his soldiers were willing to follow him anywhere.

Another characteristic that helped make Rommel the military legend he became was that he was constantly learning, not only from his victories, but also his defeats—especially his defeats, which seemed to haunt him. And he was open to new ideas, new equipment, new weapons, anything that would make his armies more efficient and in turn, more successful.

For example, Rommel did not invent blitzkrieg—a highly mobile style of warfare employing armored, motorized forces—but he and his 7^th Panzer Division of tanks certainly perfected it in France during 1940. Later in the war, his Afrika Korps then continued using the technique in the deserts of North Africa to win battle after battle.

Rommel had always been a prolific writer, and following his time in Africa he authored a paper titled The Rules of Desert Warfare, the small portions below being just a few of the more interesting excerpts from the six-page document.

The tank force is the backbone of the motorized army. Everything turns on the tanks, the other formations are mere ancillaries. War of attrition against the enemy tank units must, therefore, be carried on as far as possible by one’s own tank destruction units…[they] must deal the last blow.
Results of reconnaissance must reach the commander in the shortest possible time, and he must then make immediate decisions and put them into effect as quickly as possible. Speed of reaction in Command decisions decides the battle. It is, therefore, essential that commanders of motorized forces should be as near as possible to their troops and in the closest signal communication with them.
It is my experience that bold decisions give the best promise of success. One must differentiate between operational and tactical boldness and a military gamble. A bold operation is one which has no more than a chance of success but which, in case of failure, leaves one with sufficient forces in hand to be able to cope with any situation. A gamble, on the other hand, is an operation which can lead either to victory or to the destruction of one’s own forces. Any compromise is bad.
One of the first lessons which I drew from my experiences of motorized warfare was that speed of operation and quick reaction of the Command were the decisive factors. The troops must be able to operate at the highest speed and in complete coordination. One must not be satisfied here with any normal average but must always endeavor to obtain the maximum performance, for the side which makes the greater effort is the faster, and the faster wins the battle. Officers and NCOs must, therefore, constantly train their troops with this in view.
In my opinion, the duties of the Commander-in-Chief are not limited to his staff work. He must also take an interest in the details of Command and frequently busy himself in the front line.
The Commander-in-Chief must have contact with his troops. He must be able to feel and think with them. The soldier must have confidence in him. In this connection there is one cardinal principle to remember: one must never simulate a feeling for the troops which in fact one does not have. The ordinary soldier has a surprisingly good nose for what is genuine and what is fake.

In the WWII movie Patton, released in 1970, actor George C. Scott portrays the brash and flamboyant American General George S. Patton. Near the end of the movie, after Patton and his army have defeated Rommel and his troops, Patton shouts loudly across the battlefield in victory, “Rommel, you magnificent b______, I read your book!”

The book he was referring to was Rommel’s Infanterie Greift An (Infantry Attacks). Published in 1937, it chronicles his experiences during World War I. If you’d care to read it, the treatise will give you a look into the mind of one of the greatest tactical military geniuses of the 20^th Century. The Rommel Papers, edited by B. H. Liddell Hart and published in 1953, is also highly recommended, relating Rommel’s WWII experiences in his own words.

Hard Nosed Folks Both Good & Bad Leadership of the highest kind Soldiering War

Throwback Thursday: “The Desert Fox” by W.H. “CHIP” GROSS

Post author By Grumpy
Post date December 24, 2022
No Comments on Throwback Thursday: “The Desert Fox” by W.H. “CHIP” GROSS

Editor’s Note: For today’s #ThrowbackThursday, we’re examining the lessons the Allied powers learned in World War II from one of America’s most formidable enemies at the time.

The tank force is the backbone of the motorized army. Everything turns on the tanks, the other formations are mere ancillaries. War of attrition against the enemy tank units must, therefore, be carried on as far as possible by one’s own tank destruction units…[they] must deal the last blow.
Results of reconnaissance must reach the commander in the shortest possible time, and he must then make immediate decisions and put them into effect as quickly as possible. Speed of reaction in Command decisions decides the battle. It is, therefore, essential that commanders of motorized forces should be as near as possible to their troops and in the closest signal communication with them.
It is my experience that bold decisions give the best promise of success. One must differentiate between operational and tactical boldness and a military gamble. A bold operation is one which has no more than a chance of success but which, in case of failure, leaves one with sufficient forces in hand to be able to cope with any situation. A gamble, on the other hand, is an operation which can lead either to victory or to the destruction of one’s own forces. Any compromise is bad.
One of the first lessons which I drew from my experiences of motorized warfare was that speed of operation and quick reaction of the Command were the decisive factors. The troops must be able to operate at the highest speed and in complete coordination. One must not be satisfied here with any normal average but must always endeavor to obtain the maximum performance, for the side which makes the greater effort is the faster, and the faster wins the battle. Officers and NCOs must, therefore, constantly train their troops with this in view.
In my opinion, the duties of the Commander-in-Chief are not limited to his staff work. He must also take an interest in the details of Command and frequently busy himself in the front line.
The Commander-in-Chief must have contact with his troops. He must be able to feel and think with them. The soldier must have confidence in him. In this connection there is one cardinal principle to remember: one must never simulate a feeling for the troops which in fact one does not have. The ordinary soldier has a surprisingly good nose for what is genuine and what is fake.

War

The T-90: Russia’s Main Battletank (And its Failure in Ukraine)

Post author By Grumpy
Post date December 23, 2022
No Comments on The T-90: Russia’s Main Battletank (And its Failure in Ukraine)

War

Throwback Thursday: The POWs of Camp Perry by W.H. “CHIP” GROSS

Post author By Grumpy
Post date December 23, 2022
No Comments on Throwback Thursday: The POWs of Camp Perry by W.H. “CHIP” GROSS

Since 1907, Camp Perry on the Ohio shores of western Lake Erie has hosted the NRA National Rifle and Pistol Matches. But few people today realize that, for several years during the mid-1940s, Camp Perry served a very different purpose. It was a prisoner-of-war (POW) camp, housing some 6,000 German and Italian prisoners in America’s heartland.

During World War II, the United States maintained 511 base camps and 175 branch camps within its borders, containing nearly 430,000 prisoners. There were more camps in the eastern half of our nation than the west, and all but three states—Nevada, Montana and North Dakota—had POW camps.

The camps were established to help alleviate the overcrowding of POWs housed in Great Britain. Had just Italian (50,273) and Japanese (3,915) POWs been shipped to the U.S., American camps could have easily handled those numbers. But when an additional 371,683 German prisoners began debarking from troop ships onto America’s shores late in the war, the POW prison system was soon overwhelmed. U.S. military leaders went scrambling to find suitable camp locations, construct facilities, train guards, interpreters and other support personnel—a monumental task.

Camp Perry was considered a major POW base camp, and had several smaller branch camps located in or near seven Ohio cities, as well as Fort Wayne, Indiana. Italian soldiers captured on European battlefields began arriving at Camp Perry in 1943, followed by German soldiers in 1944. A small portion of the Germans, an estimated 10 percent, were hardcore Nazi sympathizers. Most of those were former Rommel Afrika Korps members who still firmly believed that Germany would ultimately win the war. As a result, they often intimidated the other German prisoners who were less enthusiastic toward Nazi beliefs, through verbal and physical abuse.

The prisoners at Camp Perry were housed in small, wood-framed, tar-papered-covered buildings, groupings of which were called “hutments.” Measuring 16’X16’, each building was a single story constructed on a concrete slab, double-walled with double-pane windows, and heated by a wood-burning stove. Five prisoners were assigned per building. A nine-strand, barbed-wire fence 9 feet high, with 11 guard towers, enclosed the entire encampment.

Prisoners were required to work while at the camp, doing daily routine maintenance of the many buildings, cooking, cleaning and other chores, as needed. As a result, they earned a small number of coupons per day which they could then redeem at the prison “canteen,” what today would be known as the camp PX, or Post Exchange. Officers were exempt from working if they so chose, but many worked to help pass the time and ease the boredom of routine prison life.

An interesting aside is that the German prisoners did not think much of the American 3.2 percent alcohol beer they could purchase at the camp PX for 10 cents per bottle—it was just too bland and mild for their tastes. However, they did like the Coca-Cola that sold for four cents per bottle.

Some POWs worked offsite of Camp Perry, employed at area businesses or planting and harvesting farm crops; overseen, of course, by armed camp guards. Northwest Ohio has some of the most productive farmland in the world, but due to the ongoing war effort able-bodied American farmhands were in short supply in the 1940s. As a result, POWs were often pressed into service, and this decision was not always popular with local civilians. They claimed that POWs were filling paying jobs that should have gone to them.

There was also cultural resentment of the POWs. For instance, at one canning company German prisoners worked alongside American civilian women whose husbands and sons were fighting German forces overseas.

Another complaint heard from civilians was that prisoners were being coddled. As part of the war effort, food rationing of meats and canned goods was in effect for all Americans. Yet they saw prisoners being provided three meals each day, sometimes eating the brand-name foods citizens couldn’t readily obtain.

On the other hand, certain civilians took the food disparity issue and the fact that they had a POW camp in their backyard philosophically. A story in the October 1, 1943, Port Clinton Herald and Republican newspaper quoted an area resident as saying, “This is war, and we’ll just have to make the best of it.”

Some civilians went out of their way to interact with the prisoners, while others refused to have anything to do with them. One Ohio resident, who chose to get to know some of the men at Camp Perry, commented, “You could tell the Germans from the Italians because the Italians were laid-back and so friendly, while the Germans were stoic and stern and did not talk much, although they worked hard.”

Did any POWs ever escape from Camp Perry or any of its satellite camps? There were several attempts. In January 1945, a prison guard shot and killed a German prisoner who had threatened him. The guard lost his footing on icy ground and was rushed by the prisoner, whom he then shot. The guard underwent a court-martial for the shooting, but was found not guilty.

If a prisoner tried to escape and was caught, or purposely violated any other major rule, he was placed in solitary confinement and put on a diet of bread and water three times per day. (At the time, such treatment of prisoners was in alignment with the Geneva Convention of 1929.)

Suicides were less common than escape attempts, but a few did happen. One POW who slipped away from a work detail near Defiance, Ohio, was found a few hours later drowned in the Maumee River. Another prisoner, who had allegedly escaped from Camp Perry, was found hanging from a tree near Port Clinton about a week later. Camp officials described him as mentally imbalanced and, until his body was discovered, the only German prisoner who had successfully escaped from the camp.

May 8, 1945, V-E Day (Victory in Europe), marked the end of World War II in Europe, with Japan surrendering in the Pacific a few months later that same year. As a result, POWs held in American prison camps, including Camp Perry, began to be sent home to their native countries. Interestingly, a number of German and Italian prisoners eventually returned to America to live permanently and become citizens. Impressed by how well they had been treated as POWs, they wanted to experience the opportunities and freedoms they had seen while in America that their home countries did not offer.

Today, three-quarters of a century after the last POW marched out of Camp Perry, there is still much tangible evidence of that era remaining, thanks to ongoing historic preservation efforts. For instance, the brick buildings known as “Commercial Row” that house firearms vendor displays during the annual National Matches were once the mess halls of the POWs of World War II.

War

Shotgun’s Home of the American Civil War – FOX’S REGIMENTAL LOSSES

Post author By Grumpy
Post date December 22, 2022
No Comments on Shotgun’s Home of the American Civil War – FOX’S REGIMENTAL LOSSES

FOX’S REGIMENTAL LOSSES

Regimental Losses In the American Civil War
1861-1865A Treatise On the Extent and Nature of the Mortuary Losses in the Union
Regiments. With Full and Exhaustive Statistics Compiled From The Official
Records On File in The State Military Bureaus And At Washington

By William F. Fox, Lt. Col., U.S.V.

President Of the Society Of The Twelfth Army Corps, Late President Of The
10th N.Y. Veteran Volunteers’ Association and Member of the New York
Historical Society

Albany, N.Y.
Albany Publishing Company
1889

. . .There has been a dearth of official information regarding a certain class of regimental statistics which are essential to the history of the war, and are of interest, not only to the surviving participants, but to all who are interested in the story. Regimental affairs are of more importance to the average soldier than Corps or Army matters; and, so, an effort has been made to supply within these pages certain facts regarding regimental losses which are outside the province of the Government publications.
It is with pleasure that acknowledgment is made of courtesies extended by the Adjutant-Generals of the various State Military Bureaus, and the Adjutant-General’s office at Washington. Without their kindly assistance the work could not have been completed.
No statistics are given here that are not warranted by the official records. The work represents the patient and conscientious labor of years. Days, and often weeks, have been spent on the figures of each regiment. It is hoped that before disputing any essential fact, a like careful examination of the records will be made. Having done that, if any fail to reconcile facts and statements, they will confer a favor by addressing a communication on the matter, so that an opportunity may be afforded to explain the seeming discrepancy, or, if an error, to correct it in a subsequent edition.

THE AUTHOR.
ALBANY, N.Y., May 1, 1888.

Chapter I	This chapter deals with the casualties of war, maximum of killed in Union regiments, maximum of percentages. As you might guess, lots of tables.
Chapter II	This chapter presents the maximum of regimental loss in killed in any one battle–proportion of wounded to killed
Chapter III	Percentage of Killed in Regiments in Particular Battles–Comparison of Such Losses With Those of European Regiments.
Chapter IV	Loss in Officers–List of Generals Killed–Surgeons and Chaplains Killed
Chapter V	This chapter deals with the losses in the Civil War compared with those of European wars, Loss in each arm of the service, classification of deaths by causes, etc. Keep in mind this deals with the Union Army only!
Chapter VI	The colored troops. History of their organization, their losses in battle and by disease
Chapter VII	Muster -Out Rolls –Anthropological Statistics. Very interesting. Not at all what you might think. Every thought about how tall the average Union soldier was?
Chapter VIII	Union Corps Organization. Want to know a little of the history of each Union Corps that fought in the late Rebellion? This is the place.
Chapter IX	This chapter deals with famous Divisions/Brigades. I have provided a selected few in this portion of the site. Again keep in mind this deals with the Union Army only!
Chapter XII	List Of Regiments And Batteries In The Union Armies With Mortuary Losses Of Each–The Number Killed And Number Of Deaths From Disease Or Other Causes.
Chapter XIV	This chapter deals with the greatest battles (and many of the minor ones) of the late Rebellion. It give stats such as killed, wounded, captured, etc. Not complete yet but will be soon.
Chapter XV	Confederate Losses, Strength of the Confederate Armies–Casualties in Confederate Regiments–List of Confederate Generals killed–Losses in the Confederate Navy.
Chapter XVI	Conclusion. Don’t be fooled by the title. Good thoughts here.