The British have found it to be impossible to assign tanks to artillery for OP purposes. But they do have arrangements whereby each regiment of tanks modifies and, on occasion, reserves for artillery observers a certain number of tanks.
A problem of observation was revealed in one fast-moving situation which occurred during the winter of 1941-1942. The battery commander was traveling with the tank regimental commander. Two observers, one per troop,14 were directing fire while traveling with the forward elements of the regiment. When contact was actually made, the observers had their tanks stay on the flanks and drop back slightly from the front in order to avoid becoming directly engaged. All control was by radio and the observer had his own radio operating in the artillery net, separate from the tank radio which operated in the tank net. Because of the limited number of frequencies available, it was necessary for all artillery units in a battery to be on the same frequency. The effect of this single frequency was unfortunate, for only one troop could be fired by one observer at a time, and a great deal of confusion occurred. When all control by observers breaks down, artillery support deteriorates into direct laying by individual pieces.
In addition to the armored OP's, gun towers have been used to gain height for observing fire. These OP ladders are used both as dummies to draw fire and for observation. They are mounted on trucks or may be removed quickly and set up at an OP. The British observing towers are generally about 25 feet high. The Germans have a two-piece telescoping tube mounted on the side of their armored OP, which can be cranked up into observing position. To employ these gun towers effectively there must be a number of them—at least one to each four guns. These, like the tanks and the slight rises in the ground, aid in overcoming the flatness of the desert.
Other difficulties arise in the desert which only keen eyes and training can surmount. There is the real problem which a forward artillery observer has in identifying his own bursts among the dust and heat waves when other units are also firing. Judging distance in the desert is as difficult as on the ocean. Lack of familiarity with the size and appearance of armored vehicles at various ranges is a frequent cause for misjudging distance. The fact that the enemy opens fire does not inevitably mean that the enemy is within range, for he can misjudge distance also. But it is even more important to remember that all tanks are not equipped with the same type of gun. German tanks armed with 75-mm guns can open effective firing at a range of 2,000 yards. Antitank guns with a smaller range waste ammunition by returning fire and, what is worse, give away their own positions.
SELECTION AND OCCUPATION OF POSITIONS
a. Introduction
Suitability of position for accomplishing the mission assigned, and also cover and camouflage, are sought by the artillerymen in the desert as elsewhere. Since cover is practically impossible to obtain in most desert positions, the main concern in selecting a gun position is the suitability of the soil for digging pits and the possibility of arranging for mutual support with other units.
b. Terrain
Both sides make excellent use of those few accidents of the ground which occur in desert terrain. Maximum use is made of folds of the ground both to advance and to conceal tanks, artillery, and antitank weapons. Artillery and antitank guns have frequently been cleverly concealed in ground where the terrain was unfavorable for tank action.
Quick concealment from both the ground and air is obtained by digging gun pits and using light-colored camouflage nets. Gun pits which have no parapet, being flush with the surface of the ground, are more easily concealed than those which have. When possible, therefore, both Axis and United Nations troops distribute the soil and refrain from building a parapet. Gun pits are dug to permit all-around fire.
Often a diamond formation with sides of about 800 yards is employed for a regiment of four batteries. This enables the batteries to be mutually supporting. The guns within each battery are sited in semicircular fashion, 60 to 70 yards apart.
On going into action, the British consider the priority of tasks to be:
(a) Concealment from ground and air;
(b) Digging of slit trenches;
(c) Digging of gun pits, command posts, etc.
Rapidly occupied positions may not be the best available. Therefore, reconnaissance for more satisfactory gun positions is always carried out in such circumstances, and a move is made as soon as possible. In the event of a severe shelling, batteries move to alternate positions if the new positions will still give the necessary mutual support.
c. Dispersion
Both dive-bombing and strafing aviation seek out artillery units for attack, as they are profitable targets. To defend against such attacks, either cover or dispersion is necessary. Since sufficient cover is not usually available, the dispersion of vehicles has been great—200 yards between vehicles being normal. Units spread out in this fashion offer no target for air attacks. When the enemy air force has been inactive, the distance between vehicles is sometimes reduced. This is done to insure better defense against tank attacks and to obtain more control over units. A New Zealand division, while in defense of the Sidi Rezegh-Belhamed area, reduced the distance between its vehicles because of the small amount of cover available, and vehicles at 50- to 60-yard intervals did not suffer undue casualties during artillery bombardments. Undoubtedly casualties would have been severe if there had been an enemy air attack on that occasion.
d. Camouflage
In the desert every gun is dug into a pit if time permits, and covered with a net; every tent is set in a pit and camouflaged; and even each tank has a canvas top placed over it to make it look like a truck. All vehicles are painted with nonglare sand-color paint, and all glass is smeared with oil or a glycerine solution, and then dirt is thrown on these surfaces. Only a narrow unsmeared slit on the windshield is left to obtain vision. Wheel tracks are everywhere and cannot be disguised or obliterated.
A liberal application of dull yellow paint—the color of the sand—has been found to be the best method of rendering both artillery pieces and motor trucks less visible in the desert. The outlines of a piece are broken by the use of scrub and sand mats. The barrel and cradle are sometimes painted a dull sandy color, except for a 1-foot diagonal stripe of light brown or green to break up the pattern of the gun. Motor vehicles carry camouflage nets, which are stretched taut from a central position on the roof of the vehicle at an angle of not more than 45°, and then pegged to the ground and covered with threaded screen and bleached canvas, or with pieces of sandbags 50 to 70 percent of which are painted dull yellowish white. The vehicles themselves are painted cream white, broken by irregular patches of light brown or green. The object is to neutralize dark shadows by an equivalent amount of dull white. Germans and British have adopted this sand color as camouflage. During recent operations German tanks were painted black, evidently to aid their antitank gunners in quick daytime identifications while also serving as night camouflage.
As a security measure and to prevent unauthorized persons gaining information regarding the identification of units and movement of troops, by observing motor transport movements, the practice of marking vehicles with unit designations has been discontinued. A code system, employing color and combinations of colors with numbers to indicate various tactical organizations has been adopted.
COMMUNICATION
a. General
Distance is the principal problem encountered in desert communications. Radio is used extensively, as wire is laid only when there is time—an element often lacking in desert operations. Radio presents a unique problem of security, because radio communication is like shouting from place to place—all who will can listen. This has necessitated the development of various codes and devices for the secret transmission of data by radio.
b. Visual Signals
Although visual signals are not used extensively for transmitting artillery data, flag signals are employed by both sides for short messages and for identification, especially in small tank units. Recently, the Ge
rmans had radio sets in a ratio of one set to three tanks. The three operated as a unit, flag signals being used to control the tanks which had no radio. Great use has also been made of pyrotechnic signals. Recently, two signals were used by the Germans to identify their tanks to German aircraft: a Very signal of three white stars, and an orange-colored smoke. Large flags have sometimes been used for the same purpose. Rockets have been used in profusion at night, apparently both to rally forces which were scattered when dark fell, and to confuse and harass the enemy. It is not known what method the Germans use to identify tanks to friendly antitank and artillery weapons. When the British used the method of approaching friendly troops with turrent guns pointing to the rear, the Germans were quick to adopt the same method for purposes of deception, in order to approach close to hostile weapons.
c. Wire
Although the speed of operations in the desert may on occasion preclude the use of telephone lines, a greater degree of security and dependability is achieved by using wire. Almost all lines are laid on the ground. Motor vehicles traveling across the desert constantly are running over the wires. The results of bruising of wire are not so serious in the desert, since ordinary field wire operates better over the desert surface than it would over damp or moist ground. Also, laying and picking up wire are much less difficult in the desert than in swampy or wooded country. Of course, overhead wire circuits are more desirable when the situation becomes at all static. Communication over long field lines in most cases is good in the desert.
The wide dispersion of guns has made necessary the use of an enunciator system between the executive and the individual sections of the firing batteries. Such a system permits the executive to coordinate and command his guns in such a manner as to control rapidly the guns for effective concentrated fire.
d. Radio
Radio is the most important means of communication in the desert. During the summer of 1941 one British armored division conducted its entire communication network by radio. Every command vehicle had a receiving set. Each artillery troop has three No. 11 sets using one principal frequency, and, for emergency use, one switch in "frequency."
Each troop of this armored division was part of a mobile column, which furnished No. 9 command sets. Switch frequencies were in the overlap band of No. 10 and No. 11 sets, permitting use of No. 9 in displacement by a half-troop in case no extra infantry No. 11 set was available for the purpose. Artillery troops normally operated with two OP's using No. 11 sets. A third OP could be manned for emergency use by diverting a set from the infantry of the mobile columns.
Only one radio set could be provided to each gun position. This may have been caused by the fact that British radio sets are heavy and cannot be removed from the vehicle in which they are mounted. The range of the No. 11 set—voice, 15 miles—has been considered adequate for all troops used during the summer of 1941.
e. Codes
During active operations all messages below the division are usually sent in the clear. Christian names of tank and unit commanders and prearranged code names for places are used. Although there is little intentional enemy interference with artillery communications, there are active and efficient Axis radio-interception intelligence units.
The use of plain language even when accompanied by code names and enciphered place names enables radio interception to be employed effectively. By keeping a careful record of all names, key words, and numbers, both the Italians and the Germans have been able to bring their order-of-battle information up to date by a process of sifting and cross indexing. Officers' names, either family name or given name, are the principle keys used in identifying intercepted messages. Captured German documents indicate that the careful compilation of names made by the Germans has enabled them to work out British code names. In addition to names, references to the personnel arm, such as "Gunner Smith," or "Rifleman Jones," have helped the Axis forces to identify said units.
One of the most interesting methods of enabling map references to be sent in the clear with security is the "thrust line" method used by the Germans. (This method is similar to the code described in FM 18-5, "Organization and Tactics of Tank Destroyer Units," June 16, 1942, paragraph 231 b (2) (e).) It consists of a line drawn upon a map which theoretically may run in any direction but which actually usually extends in the proposed direction of advance or down the axis of a reconnaissance unit.
The line, which begins at a fixed point and continues indefinitely in the required direction, is usually divided into centimeters for convenience. To give a map reference, a perpendicular is dropped from the reference point to the thrust line. Measurements are then taken from the point of origin to the point where the perpendicular cuts the thrust line, then along the perpendicular to the reference point. Since the point may lie on either side of the thrust line, the second figure must be prefaced by either "right" or "left", as one looks toward the enemy.
A typical reference would be "6 right 3." (See fig. 15.) The figures are always in centimeters; therefore, the actual distance on the ground will vary with the scale of the map used. The scale may start with an arbitrary figure, and have dummy figures interspersed, or it may start with the number of the thrust line when there are several in a given area. These devices make the code difficult to break rapidly.
Figure 15.—The "thrust line"
Instruments have been found consisting of a transparent ruler graduated in millimeters, with a shorter ruler similarly graduated and fixed to slide up and down at right angles to the longer ruler. Practiced operators can give references very quickly.
GERMAN TACTICS
a. General
No-strict pattern is apparent in German operations. The Germans have in most instances employed a balanced and highly coordinated team of all arms and services, whatever the size of the force. Although their procedure has thus been elastic to suit the tactical situation, they have been found to proceed in general along the following lines.
b. Effect of Terrain
The Germans make full use of the freedom of maneuver which desert terrain affords and generally have not accepted battle under unfavorable conditions. Maximum use is made of the artillery and all auxiliary arms, both ground and air.
The lack of terrain obstacles and the supply difficulties have resulted in a modification of the German use of armored units in the desert as compared with their previous use in Poland and in Western Europe. In Libya, with the exception of isolated fortified localities such as Tobruk and Halfaya, no long defensive lines exist which can be probed to find a weak spot for penetration and exploitation. Nevertheless the cardinal principle of concentrating tank strength has been followed. On those occasions when the German forces advanced in several columns, the tanks were usually concentrated in one column. The object of the tank column is to destroy the enemy force, using maneuver to defeat him in detail whenever possible.
c. Formations
Various methods of advance have been used by German armored units. Usually the formation is in considerable depth. A battalion (65 to 80 tanks) frequently uses a "V" formation with two companies leading and one in reserve, or an inverted "V" with one company leading and two in reserve. Companies are usually in line, with tanks in column of threes at about 50-yard intervals and three to five tank lengths in depth.
A German tank battalion in tactical formation moves in short rushes, taking advantage of the terrain. Frequently the whole regiment advances in mass formation with lines of tanks at regular intervals of about 50 yards, advancing in waves. The relatively close formation is more readily controlled than a widely dispersed one. Field artillery and antitank weapons are kept up close, although their location is not apparent until they go into action, usually on the flanks of the tank column. The Germans have in the past been able to bring effective artillery and antitank fire to bear on the British before the British could effectively fire upon them. In addition, RAF planes, because of the pilots' inability to distinguish between their own and German tanks, have not attacked Ge
rman tank formations in the forward areas.
d. Offensive Tactics
In the desert frontal attacks have not often been used, an effort being made more often to attack from one or both flanks. German tanks usually open fire at 1,500 to 2,000 yards, which is beyond the effective range of the hostile weapons that they have thus far encountered. When contact is made, the speed of advance is slowed down unless the movement is a quick thrust to force the withdrawal of weaker hostile forces. The 75-mm and 50-mm guns are used to keep hostile tanks out of range.
(1) Usual German objectives.—The object of the Germans is to knock out quickly as many of the antitank guns and foremost field guns as may be visible. When the German tank commander has decided to attack a position, his first objective has often been the British 25-pounders. By reconnaissance in tanks he first locates the British battery positions and makes his plans. This plan in principle always appears to be the same. He decides which battery to attack and he arranges to attack it from enfilade. His attack is made with 105-mm guns, the 88-mm dual-purpose guns, and both Mark III and IV tanks. The 105-mm guns fire from covered positions; their observation posts are in tanks. The 88-mm dual-purpose guns are towed. These guns use direct fire from their trailers after attaining defiladed positions at ranges varying from 2,000 to 2,500 yards. The Mark IV tanks assume positions in defilade and fire over open sights at ranges varying from 2,000 to 2,500 yards. The high velocity 75-mm gun in the Mark IV tank and the 88-mm dual-purpose gun have far higher muzzle velocities than any artillery that the British have had in the desert.
(2) German Mark III tanks.—The Mark III tank is used as the main striking force in attack. It has the dominant role in tank-versus-tank combat. Its heavy armor and powerful 50-mm gun give it a decided advantage over all types of tanks which it has thus far encountered in the desert. The 75-mm gun in the Mark IV tank is not an antitank gun but a close-support weapon. Its maximum range is 7,000 yards. Frequently these tanks use direct laying from a defiladed position in which, owing to the location of the gun in the turret, they offer a very small target. At other times the fire is massed, with indirect laying, and is adjusted by forward or flank observers in tanks. Tanks rarely fire while moving, although in at least one instance they were used to fire a rolling barrage at from 3,000 to 4,000 yards while advancing slowly. This forced the opposing tanks to close up doors and turrets.
German Artillery in Combat Page 13
