british opinion of american soldiers ww2

It also gave advice on face and hand painting so as to help soldiers with camouflage, and promoted the idea of blending into the background. Absolutely. During training, trainers would fire their rifles over the heads of soldiers so they learned to perceive the difference between the thump of a rifle being fired, and the crack of the bullet as it whistled close to them. Grenades would also have been flung at the enemy when close enough, right before the assault party rushed in. By the end of the war, more than 12 million American soldiers had joined or were drafted into the military. And look at ‘The Bren Gun’ by Neil Grant for more on that weapon and ‘Fall Gelb 1940 (2)’ by Doug Dilby for more on the German victory against the Allies in 1940. Both were bolt-action weapons, meaning that the bolt which locked around the chamber had to be opened and closed after each shot to empty the used shell casing. Only 8 percent of These contrast with the British military, within which the role of section leader wasn’t given the same level of importance. the SAS or SBS. In 1976 my American mother took me to … 'In the absence of orders, take a defensive position.' “If we see that Germany is winning, we ought to help Russia There also seems to have been a mickey-taking aspect to all of this too, because it seems that training promoting ‘beastly head butting’ and the like was amusing to British Tommies at the time. Auschwitz death camp, claiming it was liberated by Ukrainians. others,” Lavrov emphasized, calling Schetyna’s words a But as tank defences increased and improved, this dynamic became less clear cut and things ebbed and flowed between large tank formations, and those interspersed with infantry. Firstly the Americans did the same as the first world war, had shown up late and tried taking all the glory. key role in ending the Second World War. the Eastern Front - about five million soldiers. If SLA Marshall and ‘Men Against Fire’ are to be believed, it’s likely junior NCOs would have also reminded their men to fire their weapons in the first place. So why do British people have such a confused - even negative - view of Americans, asks writer Will Self. said in an interview with Polskie Radio. While the British emphasised that the ordinarily ‘beastly’ manoeuvres of kicking or gouging somebody’s eyes would be frowned on, they were ‘most useful’ in close-quarters warfare. ), Holland explains that, of all the handguns, the Colt 1911 had the most stopping power. In all of this, the British were generally similar, with section commanders being expected to direct cover. Early on in the war, the British used an extremely large rifle called the Boys as an anti-tank weapon – though it was cumbersome and quickly became rather obsolete. Sometimes, weapons might be given over directly to a particular rifle platoon or controlled directly by a company commander as required. However, the Germans still had some degree of respect for their Russian opponents. The majority of (In fact, both the Hanks and Sizemore characters also carry sidearms – the Colt 1911 – which they use later in the film.). This is a real phenomenon, though the introduction in the edition of the book published in the year 2000 explains that Marshall did falsify his data slightly, thus exaggerating the extent to which this is true. The Americans, meanwhile, tried to teach recruits to become armed if they found themselves without a weapon – either by grabbing a discarded one or by disarming an opponent: “ … in the process the soldier was encouraged to kick, jab at the eyes or throat, elbow, punch or throw things, as opportunity allowed.”. Thus, the 1 Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry and 2 Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry, the first two battalions recruited and maintained by that regiment, could end up in different higher formations and in different places. anything of their pledged word.”. In mid-April 1945, the Soviet Army started the final offensive million people. (Their material advantage in the Second World War, of course, enabled them to expend vast quantities of ammunition – more than other nations). entry to Poland. By Daniel Holland 1.2k upvotes by Andrew Markley (US Army Ranger), Rich Young (U.S. Navy - Naval Aviation 1958-1961. “Maybe it’s better to say majority of Hitler's military hardware was also concentrated in The Bren gun and mortar to its left are firing at the infantry, and, in the case of the Bren, possibly at the tanks vision slits to blind it. in which the Red Army beat back Hitler's forces, was about 120 Again, the Germans essentially led the way, developing ‘Panzergrenadieres’, a form of mechanised infantry that often rode into battle with tanks, ferried on halftracks (i.e. The rationale for flanking attacks is that it seems to trigger a collapse in enemy resistance that is disproportionate to the force brought to bear, and that wouldn’t necessarily occur if the attack was frontal. (***British platoon HQs had Number 38 sets, which had a range of four miles; American company HQs had the SCR300 radio, which had a five-mile radius, and platoon commanders ‘handie-talkies’ – or ‘walkie talkies’ – that had a range of one mile). Allied soldiers in real life weren’t always that lucky, of course. A skirmish line of the same 60 paces in width would be formed to maximise the amount of fire that could be poured on the enemy (i.e. Likewise, the Americans, as well as having their BARs, were often also supported by .30 calibre Browning M1919 machine guns, and, at higher levels of command, some .50 calibre heavy machine guns (as in, guns that fired bullets 12.52mm in diameter). (*Assault rifles can usually fire rifle rounds in precisely-aimed single shots, or several rounds on automatic fire settings. In terms of how this might have played out, one must refer back to the various weapons used by American soldiers. And as far back as Henry V’s Normandy campaign in 1415, the king was prepared to hang his own men if they stole anything from the local population. These centres were closed in 1942, though later re-emerged, such as during SAS training. Those that travelled too quickly through a target were liable to pass right out the other side without having stopped them in time – a factor that was also important in anti-tank ammunition (see below.). By the end of the war, the Soviets The British also used American-made Thompsons, as well as their own 9mm Stens, which carried 32 rounds in a side-mounted magazine. This would have caused the rifle to have to be re-aimed each time it was fired. Their normal assignments were the support of their own or neighbouring companies (which normally involved firing at a given objective to make enemy defenders keep their heads down), repelling enemy counterattacks, or protecting flanks from attack. And in all three cases, they converged on more or less the same point: a bullet that was .30 of an inch for the Americans (7.62mm), .303 of an inch (or 7.696mm) for the British, and 7.92mm for the Germans. Among those pictured is Leon Bass (the soldier third from left). Lastly, there were the seven riflemen, two of whom were scouts and might also be snipers, armed with M1 Garands. They were also taught to make good use of cover. In ‘Normandy ‘44’, James Holland debunks what he says is a persistent myth: that German soldiers in World War 2 had far better weaponry than their opponents. The new additions were mostly young Americans who would normally have been pursuing jobs, schooling, and family life, but instead were answering the nation’s call to arms. the East: 5,400 artillery pieces, 54,600 mortars and over 3,000 because Ukrainian soldiers were there, on that January day, and soldiers are lackeys of war, and military people are the dumbest animals in the world,both american and british soldiers are war criminals who's deeds would shame the devils in hell.americans probably think … The Bar was capable of both single, or semi-automatic, firing like the M1 Garand, as well as automatic fire, emptying the magazine after the trigger was held down, or spraying a few rounds – a burst – when the trigger was pulled once). Earlier this year, in January, Polish foreign minister Grzegorz See 'Eingreif divisions' for more). (ANZAC troops, after all, were also captured in large numbers after having been used in Malaya for the same reason). When going into an assault, American sections might also subdivide into Able, Baker and Charlie teams. On April 27, the Red Army linked up with American troops at the At the start of 1939, the British Army was a small volunteer professional army. For example, families were given coupons to purchase sugar based on the size of their families. When one considers the soldier’s standard-issue weapon - his rifle - it’s easy to see how and why British, American and German tactics varied in the way they did. It shows a British (or, to be precise, Canadian) section being approached by an isolated German tank and its accompanying infantry. This attack assumes that a 2-inch mortar has been made available by platoon HQ and this three-man team (not seen on the picture) fires smoke shells from further back. Read ‘War Games’ by Leo Murray and ‘Men Against Fire’ by SLA Marshall for more on combat psychology, and ‘Normandy ‘44’ by James Holland for more on that campaign. The rifle group, led by and including the section commander, would then work its way around cover, leapfrogging to an attack position (denoted by the 1 and 2 positions next to the blue arrows. But the skilful use of stripper clips, which were small metal bars holding five bullets, allowed for reloading mid-way through a ‘mad minute’ firing session. This quick adaptation to the new realities of war was also reflected in the training of regular British infantry units. ), "It could take only five bullets at a time and the bolt came back so far that anyone aiming it had to move their face away and re-aim each time he fired.”. Not only that, but, if Stephen Bull and Gordon L Rottman, authors of ‘Infantry Tactics of the Second World War’, are to be believed, these stereotypical realities actually filtered down into how they prepared their soldiers to fight. Though of course, in World War 2, men worked in small groups more often and, being within shouting distance of NCOs, and radio distance*** of officers, had an opportunity to put this idea into practice on a small, intimate scale. Having said that, it seems that the British in particular learned their lessons well, something no doubt influenced by their being involved in the war well before the Americans. hybrid vehicles consisting of two front wheels and tracks in the rear). was quoted as saying by the New York Times in June 24, 1941: The battalion HQ contained an anti-tank platoon, pioneers, and a communication element (a platoon) with radio, signals a wire section and a message centre. This is supplemented on the top end of the village by the platoon sergeant (the second in command), who also uses a Bren gun to spray bullets at any fleeing enemy. In the Paraguay Revolution of 1922, British pilots fought in the Escuela de Aviación Militar. That year, the United States' War Department published Instructions for American Servicemen in Britain to help soldiers, sailors and airmen – many of whom had never travelled abroad before – adjust to life in a new country. The officer, platoon sergeant and section commanders all carried Stens, while the three sections had a Bren each; there were also 29 rifles and 36 grenades (so everyone but the Bren and Sten carriers had a rifle.). respondents – 43 percent – said the US Army played the main role breaking into two sub-groups, with the firing element covering the one that moves and then switching places). Greg Allwood 9th April 2020 at 9:40am. This, and their having fought the war for more than two years longer than the Americans, was bound to make them behave more carefully. Quite apart from the fact this must have hindered effectiveness by preventing talented soldiers of different races from working together, it “could also have bizarre consequences, as when German prisoners were allowed into ‘white’ mess halls from which black GIs were excluded”. Though the operative word here is ‘rifle’, because it fired the standard 7.62mm rifle round and, therefore, wasn’t a submachine gun. Sometimes the term ‘squad’ is used interchangeably with ‘section’ and sometimes to refer to a sub-section, or a specific weapons team). They could not buy more than their coupons would allow. were freed by the Soviets and the Allies together, according to These were better used to spray the target area with bullets right as they approached or assaulted it, and one can see the logic of equipping the section leader with the unit submachine gun in this way. Firstly, it echoes former episodes of British history. The section leader would be in front, accompanied by one of the section’s scouts, and the second-in-command would keep an eye on the rear while his ‘wingman’ covered his flank. … the First Ukrainian Front and Ukrainians liberated [Auschwitz], Thanks to the National Army Museum for assistance with this article. Hate” and “Kill. Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom, £27,000 to £45,000 Per Year + Depending on Experience and Role, £24,000 to £27,000 Per Year + Competitive Bonus Scheme & Choice of Flexible Benefits, Will be used in accordance with our privacy policy, BFBS, Chalfont Grove, Narcot Lane, Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, SL9 8TN My opinion is they are highly competent soldiers accomplishing the impossible despite having poor equipment and poor leadership. Germans out of Russia. lieutenants and captains) were the ones who had much of the responsibility. Item View . Think, for instance, of General Joffre’s textbook master move to rapidly ferry his troops through Paris in taxis and to then surprise the German army by striking its flank during the Battle of the Marne. The British image of America was changed forever. On 2 May 1945, the Berlin garrison finally This website uses cookies. Sir Winston Churchill, for instance, pushed for the formation of the SOE (Special Operations Executive) to carry out guerrilla attacks in German-occupied countries, and of the commandos, that were soon engaging in coastal raiding. One of Murray’s key points is that maximising force, from multiple places and weapon systems, can overload and, as noted, disorient the enemy. Around 150,000 of the US troops who came to Britain were black. Instead, HEAT ammo was made to explode inside the tank after passing through the first wall it penetrated. American troops, including African American soldiers from the Headquarters and Service Company of the 183rd Engineer Combat Battalion, 8th Corps, US 3rd Army, view corpses stacked behind the crematorium during an inspection tour of the Buchenwald concentration camp. For those without that option, both British and American manuals taught unarmed combat and knife fighting (something that became particularly important for special forces raids.). The final phase of an assault might result in close-quarters battle – something for which officers’ or NCO’s Colt 1911s would have been useful. Later though, these two roles were merged, so that soldiers could perform either role as required. In 1943, they consisted of an HQ (headquarters), four rifle companies and an HQ company. Not only that, but ‘Garand thumb’ might result if a hapless GI jammed the magazine in and then didn’t get his fingers out of the way before the bolt slid back. With rates of fire like this, it’s little wonder the British authorities saw no need to update the Tommy’s standard weapon just yet. Despite this, different battalions managed to maintain a sense of connection and comradery with their parent regiment and other battalions within it. The bundle also includes a P37 Belt, which was worn around the As for the calibre (size) of the bullets each rifle fired, the governments of all three nations had to balance the need for something big enough to have good stopping power with a bullet small enough not to cause excessive recoil. Company Limited by Guarantee. Examples of these support elements included signals, pioneers (used for certain engineering and labour tasks), administrators, mortars and anti-tank weapons. The important job of control of fire, outlined in the 1939 manual ‘Application of Fire’, was also given to junior NCOs (i.e. One German soldier captured in a British nighttime raid praised the skill and courage with which the British attack had been executed. They also served as scouts and hunters of enemy snipers – which is precisely what Private Jackson does in this scene. In reality though, platoons of all nationalities were often reduced in strength by casualties when in the field. This involved forming three four-man diamonds, themselves forming into a triangle formation – an arrangement that obviously would have allowed for turning and facing an enemy if attacked from either flank as they advanced. This last point may seem counter-intuitive, but, as pointed out earlier, there were good reasons for training infantry to get close to tanks. These were magnetic, though some readers may recall an improvised version – the ‘sticky bomb’ – made up of socks, axel grease (to make it stick) and dynamite used in Saving Private Ryan. President Harry S. Truman Neither of them thinks "A lot of men were just firing from the hip as we walked forward…There was a lot of small arms fire, more than you would think.”. Gruppe leaders, the German equivalents, had a similar weight-of-the-world on their shoulders, being expected to set an example for their men, and even to die for them if necessary. April 9, 2015, was conducted by the British ICM Research agency against the German capital, and on April 21, they entered Berlin. The former provided knowledge in weapons, camouflage, scouting, patrolling, German tactics, guerrilla warfare and street tactics (i.e. Differences in weapon capabilities helped inform unit tactics, and the smallest battlefield unit was essentially the section. These limitations tended, in reality, Bull and Rottman say, to suppress the rate of fire of the BARs to about 60 rounds a minute – though one round a second on a given target was presumably still effective at making the enemy keep their heads down. The section’s one (or later, two) BARs (Browning Automatic Rifles) would fire on the target area, preferably from a flank so that they wouldn’t have to interrupt fire until their comrades in Team Charlie reached the target. Bazookas first saw action in 1942, the year before the debut of the PIAT. American platoons were 41-men strong at their basic size, with their three 12-man rifle sections and a command element containing a lieutenant, platoon sergeant, guide sergeant (to help with keeping soldiers in formation from behind when moving together) and two messengers. Facts about British Soldiers in WW2 4: the start of World War 2. For the British, this was the PIAT (which stood for Projector, Infantry, Anti Tank). When fired upon, sections were to creep, crawl or advance in short rushes – using fire and movement (i.e. One mechanical problem faced by all nations manufacturing and then fielding machine guns was that their barrels tended to overheat, requiring a change over to a new one. These men were picked both because of their natural leadership abilities, and because the other two group members looked up to them. respondents in France and 13 percent in Germany credited the One pop culture moment that may, for many, represent the working relationship between British and American Second World War soldiers is an exchange in the HBO series ‘Band of Brothers’. The Brits too encouraged digging in where time and circumstances permitted, although their 1944 ‘Infantry Training’ manual put emphasis on taking advantage of natural cover, and improving it if they could. READ The MP 38s and 40s had their 9mm 32-rounds loaded in downward-facing magazines, making them comparatively harder to fire from a prone (i.e. The increased rate of fire was the reason. "In the excitement, you fire at him … a man at 100 or 150 yards is an awful big target … Some Germans were trying to surrender but in the excitement, we fired at them before they had any chance…. Finally, both teams come back together again into a single section on the other side and then continue their advance. This, after all, made the learning curve steeper and the assimilation process harder. As well as their Thompsons, the Americans also had the M1918A2 Browning Automatic Rifle, or BAR. This had been a technique utilised extensively by the Germans during the First World War. Naturally, though, a direct kill shot through the German sniper’s scope looks more effective on film, which is probably why this inaccuracy was allowed into the scene. And closing for the kill was the operative term here, because, as Bull and Rottman explain, the stated aim of British military doctrine during the period was not just to take ground but to kill all the enemy in the way of it. A ‘squad wedge’ might also be formed if they were aware of an enemy’s presence or suspected danger, but were at that point out of range. Or, at least, some features seen as over-the-top were. Having said that, the Forces Network contacted the National Army Museum and they said that, as far as units raised in Britain were concerned, it isn’t clear what proportion of soldiers were racial minorities. They also emphasized the usefulness of the steel helmet for headbutting and – when held in one’s hand - for parrying an attack. His second-in-command, Sergeant Hovarth portrayed by Tom Sizemore, carries an M1 Carbine, which looked like the M1 Garand but was shorter, and consequently shorter ranged, and was issued to some NCOs. Day, American troops officially took charge of their occupation Registered in England No. I have listened to two memoirs on audible of members that served in the Waffen-SS. American and Canadian observers were amazed by the British soldier's expectation of regular tea and smoke breaks. WW2 lasted from 1939 to 1945 and involved over 80 countries and regions. Sunken roads and railway cuttings could also be useful, but had a tendency to become ‘shell traps’, so were best used with excavations dug into the bank nearest the enemy. In other words, when looking at how the tactics of British and American (and German) soldiers compared in World War 2, it’s worth remembering that there were good reasons for the stereotypical differences. The headquarters company was where the support elements were housed and then designated as needed. WW2 lasted from 1939 to 1945 and involved over 80 countries and For some reason, perhaps because of our frontal-facing vision, people in combat situations seem to be disoriented and overwhelmed when surprised from the side or rear. For a more thorough look at the topic, read 'The Guns That Won - British And American Small Arms Of WW2'. the ‘Oxford and Bucks Light Infantry’), and then separated and sent out to postings as required. In the end, beyond that shown in the clip, air support shows up to help drive off the Germans. “I’m telling you, he’s right there.” The Paratrooper exclaims in exasperation. Between 1935 However, the USSR suffered the biggest losses. American men aged between 21 and 45 were conscripted in 1941 – before the attack of Pearl Harbour – requiring service of a year. was seen as a symbolic landmark. “What Soldiers Do: Sex and the American G.I. Rifle rounds were long and pointed, increasing their range and accuracy. Also that protecting both was one rationale for the ‘harsh’ discipline of the British Army in that conflict. World War II, conflict that involved virtually every part of the world during 1939–45. At least 27 of Europe's territory, which comprise 16 modern European While part of the reason for similarities between British and American sections must have been down to their struggling against and fighting in similar circumstances, there was also another reason: both were imitating the Germans. American soldiers in the Pacific often deliberately killed Japanese soldiers who had surrendered. The British rifle was the Lee-Enfield, a variant of the gun used in the First World War. Sections began, in this case, by having the three-man Bren group (with two Brens and a section second-in-command finding targets and carrying ammo) put down covering fire. They were to guide and direct light machine guns (Brens), snipers and rifle teams in the location and shooting of targets. The reports, held in the National Archives in London and Washington, D.C., run to about 150,000 pages. Marshall’s post-war studies documented widespread reluctance and, in many cases, a complete absence of weapons firing. The clip below does not feature a bazooka, though Private Jackson’s sniping from a bell tower is augmented by an M1919 light machine gunner. Up to 70 million people are believed to have lost their British platoons, by contrast, were smaller, with just 37 men. It was critical that the gap between covering fire and assault (the bit right before the Brens stopped firing and moved from position 2 to 3) be small to non-existent, so as not to allow the enemy to re-emerge and fire on the attackers before they closed in for the kill. Recall that Brens had a rate of fire of 10 rounds a second, and only had 30 round clips. Finally, the complexities of small arms used by soldiers in World War 2 have only been touched on here. and 1939 the US Congress passed a series of Neutrality Acts meant Of course the Germans and British didn't think much of the Americans at first. 309 and Italy's 49. When the British moved more slowly – and cautiously – than the Americans, leading more Germans to escape before the gap closed than otherwise would have been the case, relations between the two allies became somewhat acrimonious. The battalion’s main support element was a heavy weapons company which had two .50-inch ‘heavy’ machine guns on tripods. The British Lee-Enfield, on the other hand, could be cocked, or recycled, without the firer having to move his face out of the way and thus didn’t need to be re-aimed each time. Scene, a complete absence of weapons firing War for both the type by. Importance of British, of course, had shown up late and tried all... 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