Tag Archives: combat lessons

Platoon Leadership vs. NCO Efficiency

Combat lessons from the troops on platoon leadership and NCO efficiency from Combat Lessons No. 9: Platoon Leadership vs. NCO Efficiency Orders Must Be Clear NCO efficiency and squad accomplishment are materially reduced when combat orders fail to give full information … Continue reading

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DUKWs at Salerno

A report on effective use of DUKWs at the Salerno landings from Combat Lessons, No. 3: DUKWs at Salerno Report of a Quartermaster Truck Battalion (DUKW), Italy: The DUKWs (amphibious 2½-ton trucks) again proved of immense value at Salerno, supplies … Continue reading

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Message to Messengers

“Message to Messengers” from Combat Lessons No. 6: Message to Messengers From Lieutenant Colonel J. D. Calidonna, Signal Officer, 34th Division, ITALY: “Messengers have to be good to do their job properly. They have to use a great deal of … Continue reading

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OP and CP Security

Observation post and command post security from Combat Lessons, No. 7: OP and CP Security Even at this late date, needless casualties, delays, and expenditures of effort are being caused by breaches of OP and CP security rules. The inevitable results … Continue reading

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De-Mechanized Warfare

From Combat Lessons No. 6: De-Mechanized Warfare In a gesture of protest against the trend toward complete mechanization, the wire team shown at work in the accompanying photo picked up an idle buggy in a front-line town, conscripted a “liberated” … Continue reading

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Tank Operations in Sicily

Combat Lessons, No. 3 described the fighting on Sicily between U.S. Sherman tanks, Panzer IIIs and Panzer IVs of the Herman Goring Panzer Division, and Tigers of sPzAbt. 504. The Herman Goring Panzer Division lost heavily in the fighting around the … Continue reading

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Don’t Scare Replacements

From “Combat Lessons” No. 7 comes the following notes on leadership and replacement orientation: Replacement Instruction—the Wrong Kind A Lieutenant comments on his ominous introduction to front-line existence: “On my way to the front as an officer replacement, I met … Continue reading

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Warning to Observation Post Kibitzers

From “Combat Lessons” No. 6: Says a Captain of a Field Artillery Battalion, France: “Well-meaning infantrymen who crowd about the OP to observe the results of the firing or to steal a look through the BC telescope should be warned … Continue reading

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More MG Ammunition at Hand

GI innovation from Combat Lessons, No. 6. Combat Lessons was published by the Operations Division of the War Department to give officers and enlisted men lessons from battle experiences of other soldiers.   More MG Ammunition at Hand This innovation … Continue reading

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