Second World War Infantry Tactics

The European Theatre

Stephen Bull

• Publisher: Pen & Sword Military
• Year: 2012
• eBook ISBN:
  9781781598108
• Print ISBN:
  9781848840706

This wide-ranging military study examines WWII infantry tactics and operations on both sides through the battlefields of Europe.
The dirty and dangerous frontlines of World War II belonged to the men who fought in the infantry. Yet the history of infantry tactics is too rarely studied and often misunderstood. Stephen Bull corrects this oversight with an in-depth account of infantry theory and combat experience, covering the British, German, and American Armies in the European theater of operations.
Bull's close analysis of the rules of engagement, the tactical manuals, the training, and the equipment is balanced by vivid descriptions of the tactics as they were tested in action. These operational examples show how infantry tactics on all sides developed as the war progressed, and they give a telling insight into the realities of infantry warfare.

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Preface
• Chapter One - The Human Resource
• Chapter Two - The Germans
• Chapter Three - The British
• Chapter Four - The Americans
• Chapter Five - Fighting in Built-up Areas
• Chapter Six - Anti-tank Tactics
• Chapter Seven - Schnelltruppen and Tank Co-operation
• Conclusion
• Appendix 1 - US Rifle Platoon, From the Manual Rifle Battalion, 1940
• Appendix 2 - US Rifle Company, From the Manual Rifle Battalion, 1940
• Appendix 3 - Scale of Ammunition Distribution in German Rifle Companies, From Handbook of the German Army, 1940
• Appendix 4 - British Issue of Battalion Weapons, Vehicles, and Ammunition, From Provisional War Equipment Table for an Infantry Battalion, 1941
• Appendix 5 - British Combat Section, From the Manual Light Machine Gun, 1942
• Appendix 6 - German Infantry Platoon, From The Regimental Officer’s Handbook of the German Army, 1943
• Appendix 7 - US Armoured Rifle Platoon, Establishment of September 1943
• Appendix 8 - Organisation of a British Infantry Platoon, From the Manual Infantry Training, March 1944
• Appendix 9 - German Infantry Small-unit Organisations of Late 1944, From Handbook on German Military Forces, March 1945
• Appendix 10 - US Infantry Company, From Tables of Organisation and Equipment, 1944
• Appendix 11 - Specialist US Small-unit Infantry Organisations 1944, From FM-31-50 Attack on a Fortified Position and Combat in Towns, and J Balkowski’s Beyond the Beachhead
• Appendix 12 - Establishment of a Volksgrenadier Infantry Company, From Handbook on German Military Forces, March 1945
• Appendix 13 - German Infantry in Action (Minor Tactics), 1941
• Bibliography
• Index