can you be more specific? as far as i know, British unit infantry tactics have been pretty much the same for a hundred years, from your standard walks and crawls, to how to brief a section, section formations, section battle drills, target indication, firing and manouevre. i picked up an old infantry training manual from just after the second world war and although the uniforms and weapons were different the instructions were the same. if it works dont mess it around i guess.
What I really wanted to know was if they were similar to those used today. I've been doing research on the British Army from 1944 - 1945. Many historians cite that the British army was unable to learn from their mistakes made previously and that the lessons learnt which forged one of the most effective armies in the world at the end of the first world war were largely forgotten.
These historians contend that the British, compared with the Germans, were not as versed in fighting methods as their Wehrmacht or US counterparts. However what these historians say rarely corresponds with what German veterans said about their opposing armies. What do the majority of people on this board think?
This message has been edited by Foxtrot_Red on May 21, 2006 5:14 PM
The Malaysian Army adopted the British small unit tactics. The MAF commandoes are the primary proponent whilst the infantry battalions also have their own 'elite' platoon specialising in such operation.
Historically, I have no clue as to how it evolved. But my guess is from the SAS. Small in number, big firepower, all round expertise, highly mobile, and can live off the land.
From what i can see i get the opposite image, that small unit tactics were highly advanced, from the commando raids during the second world war, the birth of the SAS in the north african desert and Chindit operations in Burma.
rather it is the British army operating in larger formations that were more limited in their capability compared to their counterparts.
i dont know about infantry development during the interwar years, i would think it declined along with everything else. but after ww2 we had the best small infantry unit capability in the world as displayed in numerous colonial operations.
I doubt it came from Commando raids. At the end of WWI it is said that the British army was the most effective in the world, a result of the Somme an the 3rd Ypres, but I doubt that the doctrine was the same as WWII. Did they copy the Germans?
A major change in infantry tactics occured in WW1. Infantry changed from mass employment to detailed employment due to machineguns and modern artillary. British forces had developed effective combined arms tactics by the end of WW1. These practices lead to Lydel Hart's work and the German blitzkrig of WW2. Combined arms had to be relearnt by British forces in N Africa.
Automatic rifles changes small unit tactics. A squad uniformly equipted with assualt rifles is both more effective and easier to control than the earlier bolt-action rifles plus automatic support weapons. Another factor effecting contempory western infantry is man power limitations (due to wage costs). Also the section must fit into standard APCs. Thus the infantry squad of today is smaller than the WW2 equivilent (8-9 men). This may limit it's effectiveness comared to WW2 infantry sections (note: US marines still use 12-13 man squads).
"this are all so few we need more, much more" GER_mark
