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IU 7 : 2/&1'otW. 11 . .1"o . 10 19 .lhi r it 1911

ARMYTALKSBrains, Guts and Concrete

RestrictedARMY TALKS is a classified of ficial publication of the United States Army in the EuropeanTheater of Operations. The material contained herein may not be quoted or republished, inwhole or in part, nor may it be communicated, directly or indirectly, to persons not authorizedto receive it, except by authority of the Commanding General, ETO USA.EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS, UNITED STATES ARMY

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HEADQUARTERSEUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONSUNITED STATES ARMY RPF/JKM/obe

AG 353 MGC- 29 August, 1943SUBJECT : Education in Military and Current AffairsTO : Commanding General, V Corps

i . In the training of the American soldier the purely military and technical aspectsare usually stressed . It is essential, however, that in addition, the soldier be mentallyprepared for battle. He must know and understand the vital necessity for the successfulconclusion of the war .r

2. To assist in accomplishing this end, it is desired that you establish within theelements of your command a weekly Education Program to instill in all military personnelthe following :a.- Confidence in the command.b. ,Pride in service and a sense of personal participation.c.- Knowledge of the causes and progress of the war.d. A better understanding of our allies.e.- An interest in current events and their relation to the war and the establishment

of the peace.3 . To further these ends, each separate unit commander will arrange to have mattersof current interest as designated in paragraph 2c, d and e above, and matters of leadershipand confidence in the command as indicated in paragraph 2a and b above, discussedperiodically within his command Such discussion should be by company commanderspersonally or by selected Officers and NCO's from the, command as deemed best bythe unit commander . It is desired to make it clear that the proper presentationof this material is a command function, and should be handled as such . Youare authorized to devote one (I) hour of training time per week to this program.4. The Special Service Section, SOS, ETOUSA, will prepare and distribute thematerial for such weekly discussions, maintaining in their discretion a reasonable balancebetween the significance and progress of military events and current events, relationswith our allies, etc. This material will be dated and delivered sufficiently in advancefor consideration by the staffs concerned at least two days before ultimate use.5 . Direct communication between your headquarters and Special Service Section,SOS, ETOUSA, is authorized in conducting this program.6 . In order to . make the plan effective it will be necessary to provide and train anEducation Officer of suitable rank in your headquarters, and in each of your subordinateheadquarters down to and including divisions.

By command of Lieutenant General DEVERS :RICHARD P. FISK,Lt. Colonel, A.G.D .,Assistant Adjutant General.

It is suggested t hat the discussion leader call this mat ter to the aueasias of hisCoot nmiding Officer

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ARMY TALKSEUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS

B R A IN S , ( L T TS AND CO NCR E'T'ECL OS E behind the fighting dependent reinforced concrete block-lr German Army, which routed houses with overlapping fields of firethe Allies on the Continent in 1940, from steelshuttered embrasureswas another Nazi force armed with went most of the cement and steelthe tools of the heavy construction from the captured countries.trades . They were members of the The purpose of the defense chain" Organization Todt," and their was, of course, to delay an attemptmission was to build the fortifications to invade the continent by sea.on which the Wehrmacht would Those halfburied concrete forts,rely if, and when, the counter with their barbed wire, their antiattack came from across the tank blocks and their supportingChannel. artillery and machinegun positionsTodt Engineers Build form the outer shell of Hitler sdefenses . They w ill have to beA "Second Westwall" cracked first in any successful

In those days, weeks and months invasion of the continent of Europeafter Dunkirk, when Germany was from the West.confident that Britain would bebeaten to her knees by the Luftwaffe, Maginot, Old Westwalland the invasion across the Channelwas a plan for the near future, Todt Are Reserve Defenseengineers probably wondered a Far behind the outer walllittle why they were hard at work skirting the old FrancoGermanerecting fortifications they would border-s the second line . Itnever need. consists of the Frenchbuilt MaginotBut whether they wondered or Line and the original Germannot, they and their thousands of Westwall, which faces it.uniformed, swastikabadged, shovel By now, it is safe to assume, bothsoldiers turned to the Maginot andto construct a" second West T his issue of A R M Y TA LK S deals the original Westwall have beenwall " from Kirk with G erm an fo rtifications and linked into oneenes, near theNorth Cape, tothe FrancoSpanish Frontier.Into these forti-ficationsrough-ly, the plan is a the m ethods w hich w ill be used inblasting a path throug h them . Itw as prepared by a mem ber of theA R M Y T A L KS staff, w ho gatheredfirsthand m aterial in a we ek at anA ssault Training Center in the ET Oand from an account of the To dtOrganiz ation printed by the Inf antryJournal. integrated defensesystem with thefavorite German"hedgehog"defenses whereverthe terra in isfavorable for theirchain of inter construction.

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4 ARMY TALKSThis, then, is the twopart Second getting their special training now.Front problem : Before they take off across the short(i) How to smash through the strip of ,sea water between Great

coastal defenses and envelop and Britain and the European Coastdefeat the main German Armies each man will know his jobandbefore they re-tire behind theMaginot Westwall. If thatshould fail andany considerableportion of theGerman Armiesin WesternEurope do suc-ceed in escaping,the second part ofthe operation willbe :(2) ' How tocrack the Magin-

otWestwall andwhip the Nazis ontheir homegrounds.This sounds likea p ret ty b igorder. It is . Be-cause it is so big,only the besttrained , bestequipped andbestled troops inthe world can doit. To score, itwill take a verybig team, with fastbacks and plentyof weight in theline.The technique-f pillbox bu ting

THE IDEA of attacking concrete ,pillboxes, armed with machinegunsand protected by barbed wire andmine fields, may seem like a good wayto collect $10,000but a poor way toplan for the future . Put that way, itmight sound so to an ignorant oruninformed soldier.ANY MAN, however, who haswatched or participated in a " liveammunition run " at any of theAssault Training Centers gets a muchmore optimistic point of view.Suddenlyon his belly and facingyards of tangled barbed wirehe willsee a 15yard path for him Mown asclean as a whistle.

BLASTING shells from his ownartillery smother the concrete fort infront of him. Chattering machinegunskick up sand and dust in the dangerarea ahead. Then, perhaps for thefirst time, that man realizes that he'splaying on a mighty big team, amighty powerful teama team whichcan' t and won' t lose the biggest gameof all. This issue of ARMY TALKSwill certainly suggest something of theway we ll win to men who, themselves,may not draw that exact assignmentwhen the show starts . It will outlinethe procedure for men who have notyet had the special assault training,and it will serve to recall much tothose who have already had theinstruction . We and our people athome, as well as our friends here inBritain, will be justly proud of themen with the brains and guts to breakthrough and winand keep on going,first to Paris and then to Berlin

will have a prettygood idea of whathe is going to be upagainst . The goingwill be toughbut the techniqueis good.The remainderof this issue ofARMY TALKSwill describe in asdetailed form assecurity_ provis-ions permit : (i )What kind of de-fense works theGermans havebuilt ; and (2)how they can betaken by courag-eous, welltrainedand properlyequipped men.

One battletriedveteran ofa crackAmerican divi-sion, which foughtin North Africa, inSicily and in Italy,summed it up inthese words :"Gee, Sergeant,if we'd had thiskind of trainingbefore we wentinto Sicily . . .Well, we'd havewhich they will use is the result of done the job quickerand cheaper . "all available information on German That decorated soldier may notfield defenses, plus the battle experi have known it, but he put intoence of North Africa, Sicily and the words the policy governing the grandItalian mainland. strategy of the United States inThe United Nations troops who their coming attack " quickerwill be in the assault waves are and cheaper ."

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59 April, 1944GeneralSir BernardL . M ont-

gomery ,Britain ' sN o r t hAfrican hero,stressed theneed forspeed in ar e c e n tspeech whenhe said that as far as he wasconcerned, this war had been goingon a long time and he wanted toget it over with in a hurry.General Dwight D . Eisenhower,Supreme Commander of the AlliedForces, has stated several timesrecently that he plans to win withas little loss of life as possible.

And that s what that anonymoussoldier meant when he stared out,Boo yards, at a barrage of burstingAmerican shells that chopped upbarbed wire and smothered pill-boxesjust one jump ahead of theflame throwers and the demolitionmen of an assault team making alive ammunition run.

SUMMARY 1 nW here they w on, the Germansdug in building a " Second

Westwall "from Nor-way to theSpanishFrenchfrontier.The workw as doneby the TodtOrgan-ation,which had

originally built roads for Hitler.Concrete blockhouses which willwithstand almost anything, antilank bells and dug in artilleryform the defenses . The U nitedNations have devised a schemeof attack , which, in the eyesof veterans from North !i frica andSicily and Italy, w ill do the job.The m en who will use the planare in training now.From what we know of them,what are the German fortifications

like ? What kind of troops canbreak through them ? How muchof the ir ability to do so willdepend on the men's confidencein their command ? What clueshave been given by G eneralsEisenhower and Montgomery asto the principles of their attackplan?

Go Underground for SafetySiHistory of Todt Organiza-tion . The "express highways"of Germany . France bu ildsM aginot Line . G erm anycounters with " W estwall ."Early battles no test of forti-fications' strength . Hitlerbuilds his Fortress Europe.What we face.When Hitler became Chancellorof the German Reich in 1933 one or

his most ardent supporters was thehead of a big German constructionfirm named Fritz Todt . H e hadbeen a Nazi Party member sinceStu ra l u ng 1923 and (StormTroop) man since '31. Unlikemany business and professional menwho became avowed Nazis, Todtwas a thoroughly capable andsuccessful man in his own fieldengineering

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6 A R M Y T A LK S

i/-,-THE ROAD TO WAR "His Nazi background was sogood, and his services so valuable,that party honor after honor washeaped upon him . At one time heeven held more Nazi offices thanGoering himself.Builds Road Network

With Hitler in power, Todt wasable to cash in on his record as an" old fighter ." The Fuehrer gaveTodt the profitable assignment ofbuilding the network of " expresshighways " which used to impresstourists with the " good job thatfellow Hitler is doing . "Although they were always des-cribed as " a work of peace, " thefact is that the " express highways "formed a net of military roads,intended primarily for the use ofthe Army in the war which eventhen was being planned.The only reason theywere not carried furtherwas, it is believed, therealization on the part ofthe German General Staffthat if Germany went towar with an enemy moreplentifully supplied withmotor transport, thosevery roads would be broadavenues of invasion . Theroad building programslowed down waitingfor the German arms

"DRAGONS TEETH"industry to motorize the Wehr-macht.In the meantime France, alarmedat the rise of Hitler and his party,rushed the Maginot Line to com-pletion.Hitler called upon Todt to builda counterdefense line, facing theMaginot . Upon foundations startedby German military engineers in1936, Todt began, in late May andJune of 1938, his biggest piece ofwork to date.

Organization ShapedPrivate industry was drained ofequipment, workers were assembledand the " Organization Todt " came

into being in its present form . Athird of all the concrete mixers inGermany was turned over to Todt ;15,000 trucks were assigned ; theGerman railroads madeavailable 6,000, later

8,000, cars a day.Work started on July20, 1938, with 35,000men on the job . A weeklater the Todt payrollscarried 45,000 names andfrom then on the organ-ization snowballed untilon October 6 342,000 menwere employed . ByDecember, 1939, the Westwall was finished, Hitlerwas satisfied and Todt had

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79, April, 1944gained enormous experience inmilitary fortification building.

Todt Dies In CrashWith the outbreak of war, Todtwas commissioned a major general(reserve) in the German Air Forcebut early in 1942, before he couldreally take hisplace in the Naziwar setup, hewas killed in an

airplane accident.Todt 's deathdid not disruptthe huge organ-ization he hadbuilt . The leader-ship passed to anarchitect andengineer namedSpeer, anotherfavorite ofHitler' s.Service in theOT took on amore militarycharacter, em-ployees worebrown uniformswith swastikaarm bands andthe whole outfitbecame some-thing like an aux-iliary corps ofengineers-utwith the flexibil-ity at the topwhich their civil-ian status gave Todt heads.The biggest job the OT has beencalled upon to do since the deathof its founder was the constructionof the socalled " Second Westwall . "This is the line of fortificationsintended to defend the Europeancoast from Norway to Spain.Its basis, like that of the Westwall

from which it gets its name, is aseries of concrete strongpoints, soplaced that their fields of fire overlap.They are strengthened by supportingmachine gun positions and protectedby minefields, bands of barbed wireand concrete and steel tank barriers.Artillery positions to the rear givesupporting fire.Perhaps be-cause the mostspectacularUnited Nationsvictories havebeen won, exceptfor the EasternFront, in territorywhere only hastyfield fortificationswere encounter-ed, there is a ten-dency on the partof many officersand men alike tothink that the as-sault of stronglyheld positions willpresent a new andmuch more diffi-cult kind of war-fare . They forget

that the Germansbreached the sup-posedly " attackproof" MaginotLine-lthoughthe main Battle ofFrance was foughtby troops whoskirted the defensezone . The Russians have met long-emplaced German troops andbroken through.

Forts Can Be CapturedThese two factsthat the Germansbroke through the Maginot Lineand that the Russians pierced Nazidefences in the Eastmean that

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8determined troops, properly trained,equipped and led can and docapture even the strongest forts ofconcrete and steel.

French Could HaveAttacked WestwallThe fact that the French, in theearly days of the war, never reachedanything but the outer fringes of theGerman Westwall, means only thattheir plan of campaign did not callfor a determined attack . It doesnot mean that such an attack couldnot have beenmade.There arecertain factsregarding anyfixed forti-fication, suchas a block-house, whichmake it easyprey for anattacker if hehas the cor-rect weaponsand uses themproperly . Firstand foremost CROSS SECTIONis the fact thatit cannot OF GERMANmove. Once L.M.G. PITan enemy blockhouse is located andidentified, it remains a target foreverything the attacker has.Already there have been proofsof this weakness.Although they did not form along fortified zone like the Westwallor the Maginot Line, the defensesof Sevastopol, on the Russian Front,were as strong as anything made of'steel and concrete can reasonablybe . Yet the defense points wereblotted out, one by one . AtStalingrad, however, early bombingreduced most of the city to a mass

ARMY TALKSof ruins in which the Russianslocated their machine guns and lightmortars . There were no fixedtargets for the German guns toblast.Applying this to the AtlanticWall and the Westwall, it becomesapparent that, all other things beingequal, the defense does not reallyhave anywhere near the superioritywhich might at first be imagined.

When the assault troops go intothe beaches, probably the first thingthey will encounter will be barbedwire entangle-ments at thehighwatermark since, sofar, no satis-f a c t o r ymethod hasbeen found of'buildingunder waterbarbed wireentangle-ments whichtide and stormbreakers willnot washaway or teardown eventu-ally.

Block Houses AreOn Rising Terrain

Behind them, minefields may beencountered, then more wire . Asthe ground rises, the first of theblockhouses will be met . Theywill probably be dug into theforward slopes of hills or ridges,with steel shuttered embrasuresthrough which machine guns andlight artillery will fire toward thebeaches.A second and perhaps third lineof these pillboxes will support the

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99 April, 1944

first . It is only reasonable toassume that light machine guns,from camouflaged slittrenchpositions, will cover the " fortlets ."Guns Unlimited

There is no limit, within reason,to the number of embrasures andthe number of guns which one ofthese strong points can have . Itwould hardly be practical, however,to build them too big, since thebigger they are the easier they wouldbe to locate and the better targetthey would present.

Depending on the nature of theterrain, the forward defense zoneof minefields, wire and blockhouseswould be perhaps 2,000 yards indepth . What con trols it is thedistance back from the water linefrom which direct fire from smallarms and machine guns may belaid on the beach itself.

It is in this 2,000yard zone thatthe landing battle will develop.Here it is that the first victory mustbe won . And it is here that thetechnique by which heavy bands ofbarbed wire, minefields, machinegun posts and concrete blockhousesare overcome, will . be used . Once

that area is cleared of enemy fire,the rest of the landing can becarried out.Only when the beaches, and the2,000yard zone behind them, havebeen " disinfected " can the heavyequipment be landed . Always insuch operations there is a criticalmoment when a determined counter-attack, by a large enough force ofenemy armor, can imperil thelanding.It happened at Salerno, in Italy,and jubilant German radio broad-casters announced that the Alliedlanding force had been pushedback into the sea . It hadn't beenhut it took quick thinking andfaster action by the Allied com-manders, American and British, toward off the blow and make thelandings stick.From Salerno to TarawaIt is a long way from Salerno tothe South Pacific, but the bits ofinformation picked up at first handin the fighting in both areashaveyielded a fairly composite pictureof what the enemy's shore fortifica-tions are like . In the Pacific island

fighting, the great battleships ofthe American Fleet pounded the

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10shore line for hours with theirheaviest guns.

We Learned LessonFrom Island JapsBut when the Marines wadedashore at Tarawa, Jap machineguns opened upjust as if therehadn't been any 14 and 16inchshells churning up the coral sandand smashing the palm trees into

match wood . We learned a lessonfrom that.Some enemy blockhouses, drenchedwith fire from flamethrowers andblasted by demolition charges, werestill able to return fire . When theywere finally taken their secret wasdivulged . Information from Africa,from Sicily and from Italy ; informa-tion from Russia and from the SouthPacific ; information from Attu andKiska ; even information from theGermans themselves, is available.

Trained American officers, whohad lived for long periods of timein Germanywho had superimposeda thorough knowledge of thelanguage and customs of Germanybefore the war on their own tech-nical trainingpored over GermanArmy publications, picking up ahint here, a clue there." Paralysis Gas " MythThey found out how the Germanshad reduced the supposedly " im-

pregnable " Belgian fortress of EbenEmeal in the early months of' thewar from what the Germ ansthemselves said about the assaultof fortified positions.They discovered that the dreaded" paralysis gas, " which the Naziswere supposed to have used, wassheer fantasy.All this battlefield information,

ARMY . TALK Sall the results of this research, nowform the basis for the training whichthe assault troops are getting.

The neat section of this ARMYTALKS pamphlet will outline, so faras security provisions permit, whatall this boils down to . What mustbe done to take a German hedgehogis no secret to the Germans . Exactlyhow we will do it they will discoverin due course of time-nd thatmeans the hard way, not from anAmerican Army publication likeARMY TALKS.SUMM~RY -

Hitler's European defenses werebuilt for . him by the huge. TodtOrganiation, which gained experi-ence m aking roads, went on' toconstruct the - W estwall, and finallywas given the job of m aking thecoast secure _ from Norway to 'Spain.Barbed w ire, m inefields, tankbarriers and concrete b lock houses arewhat the enemy relies on . Informa-tion from all , the world 's battlefronts makes up the picture, and toprovide the answer to the biggestquestion of all : " How can w ecrack it ? "

Is the Tod t Org anization stillcontrolled by its founder ? If not,w ho does run i t ? H ave ei therthe French M aginot Line or theGerm an W estwall had a real testin this war ? W hat is the weaknessof a fixed fortification ? W here,are blockho uses m ost likely tobe encountered ? W hat controlsthe area which m ust be taken inthe first assault ? What is the ch4danger in a landing, and haw canit be met ?

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19 April, 1944 it

How to Capture a PillboxThe Assault Team, its

make-up, mission andweapons. The successivestages of an attack . Therole of support ing arm s.Com bat Engineers and tanks.Com bat com m unications .R eorganizing the positionagainst arm ored counter-attack.Any soldier using intelligence andimagination can take a pencil anda sheet of paper and draw a prettyfair plan for a hedgehog positionon the basis of what has been saidin the preceding passage.In doing so, he would locate wire,mines and pillboxes in such amanner as to make an attack lookalmost impossible.If every reader of this pamphletwill, for the time being, consider

that he is the commanding officerof an amphibious force with ordersto make a landing on a fortifiedenemy coast, he will be able tofollow constructively these para-graphs.If he will establish an atmosphere

''m which the members of his dis-cussion group consider themselvesas junior officers or noncorns of

assault teams, much will be gainedfrom the remaining pages.The problem would resolve itself,roughly, into these factors :How can I get enough men andenough equipment ashore, at thedesignated point, to take and holda beachhead ?Long range shelling, from shipsat sea, and bombardment from theair, would be the first part of theanswer. But in Taraw a, Navyguns and planes didn ' t knock outthe Jap machine guns . Thebombardment did, however, serveto keep the defenders under coverand hamper their defensive moves.Advance Shelling HelpsSo the commander of an assaultingforce would be justified in assumingthat shelling and bombing, whileit might not be the final answer

would, :ievertheless, permit assaulttroops to get to close quarters.The bombardment does provideadvance cover for the attack.As the barrage must be liftedbefore the men in the landingboats can set foot on the beach,naturally a question arises :What's to prevent the defendersfrom staying under cover until the

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12 A R M Y T A L K S

barrage moves inland, and thencoming up with machine guns tospray the crowded barges beforethey reach the beach and unload ?Assault Team FireKeeps Foe DuckingIt is a reasonable question . Theanswer is that the smoke, dust andgeneral confusion of those critical

few minutes are just enoughwiththe splitsecond timing of modernattack techniqueto allow theassault teams to get to the beach,take cover and open fire themselves.Then their own rifle, rocket, mortarand Browning Automatic Rifle firetakes over the job of keeping theenemy at the bottom of his deepestholes.

BarbedWire First JobIt is known that permanentbarbedwire installations have beenseldom used successfully below thehighwater mark . Anything mayhappen, however, so the landingteams must be prepared for unex-pected obstacles Shells from thenaval bombardment will havechurned up the beach, providingreadymade foxholes for the troopswhose first job will probably be totackle barbedwire defenses at thehigh water mark or just above it .

W hat is needed, then, is atechnique for cutting a path throughthe barbed wireand finding away through the minefields whichwill probably be found' behind it.But the dust and smoke are blow-ing away now and the enemy, ifwe let him, will come crawling outof his deep dugouts to man machineguns covering his own wire:A couple of BAR teamsespecially if they are aided by lightartillery on or near the beachcanmake that a very unhappy per-formance for the enemy machinegunners, and one which has prac-tically no future.BAR Team TacticsResembles Football

Here the analogy to a footballplay becomes very clear . If theBAR teams, by keeping up theirfire, can " take out " the enemy" tacklers, " then the man with thedemolition " ball " can get hisBangalore torpedoes under the wireand blow a I5foot path throughit as clean as a pool table.With a clear path through thewire, first one and ; then anotherBAR team can m'ov 'up, alongwith mortar meris :l*izoka gumand riflemen Their rrijorol jertiis the concrete p 11bok, sdrneWheahead, which anchors ' the 'defenee

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139 April, 1944of that area and . which they mustknock out to secure the beach.

If additional batads of wire areencountered, the process is repeated.Yard by yard, from shellhole toshellhole, advance elements of theassault team work upon the pillbox.As they get closer to the target theyare able to act as more and moreaccurate spotters" birddogging "the target for the mortar, the BARsand their own tank."HeatUp" EmbrasureAt last they reach the vantagepoint from which flamethrowerscan " heatup " the embrasure.Bazooka rockets and rifle grenadeswill have already chewed it up tosome extent and the defenders will

probably be crouched against theinside walls, out of reach of strayrifle or machine gun bullets whichmight skitter through jammed em-brasure flaps.Suddenly their whole world willdissolve in leaping red flamesflames which blind the vision slitsand consume the oxygen insidethe crowded concrete blockhouse.If their steel ports are still functioningthey will slam, them . shut to keep outthe red horror from the flamethrowers.The instant the flame throwerstops, even before the fire itself hasdied away, demolition men placecharges against the steel

Seconds later the charge is firedand before the dnst ' atid ' debris havesettled another jet of flame wreathesthe embrasure again . Back andforth, in and outit is a fast onetwo punch with a terrific wallopleaving the defenders groggy,shaken and punchdrunkif theyhaven't been killed outright.ByPass Pillbox,

Take up PositionIn the meantime BAR teams andriflemen have bypassed the pillboxand have taken up positions behindand to either side . Back towardthe beach, engineers have cleared apath through the minefields, if anywere encountered, and the support-

ing tanks are moving up.When and if the counterattackdevelops, as it did at Salerno,armored units, antitank guns andinfantry armed with weapons whichmake a tank a rolling deathtrap willall be in .position to meet anddefeat it.

Touchdown In BerlinIt is a power play and it s got tobe perfect.But when it is perfectwhen ourfour star quarterback calls thesignal and the play winds up in atouchdown in Berlinthen the dis-charge date for most of us will be

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14 A R M Y T A L KSa lot closer . All our hard work brains and toughening their guts.and training will have been worth They 're members of a big leant withit ! a winning play, and all they neeSUMMARY 3111 now is the starting whistle.W hat is the objective of a beachMen with guns, brains and guts landing ? W hat are the devicesthat s the combination for a success which the enemy might beful attack on the enemy's , foreifted expected to u se in an effort tocoastline . W e've got the guns. thwart it ? W hat are some of the

The men are hereand more are weapons used in such an attack ?arriving almost daily . Special H ow does it resem ble a footballassault training is quickening their play ?

'A RM YTALKS PreparationT

HE business of attack in the final stages lies in the brains and handsand feet of the infantry . It is their business and was never moreso than today . But the planning involved in taking any network

of fortifications includes air power, artillery and armored forces, togetherwith a fine sense of training and coordination among all arms.Everyone of us is concerned in the offensive regardless of where that

offensive is to be or what part we as individuals are to play . As being awellinformed soldier makes for an efficient soldier, being well informed inthe art and craft of modern warfare becomes essential to victory.

This issue of ARMY TALKS is therefore devoted to a playbyplayanalysis of fortificationsGerman fortificationsand the way we aregoing to take them . I t will be no picnicin fact it is going to be a prettydirty business, but never before in the history of the American Army havewe had so many wellequipped and highlytrained men prepared to takeon the job and carry it through . Furthermore, in no other issue of ARMYTALKS have we given so factual an account of fighting cooperation.This is all in a common cause and to a common purpose . All of us arein this togetherto fight together and to win together.

The discussion leader will be placed on his mettle in preparing for thistopic . He should read the article with care, jotting down the main pointsof information on which to hinge his introductory remarks . He will beadvised to make his remarks brief and provocative . If he can prevai .,upon the engineers or the S3, ask them with three or four men in thePr,ntec'. bs Newnes 8: Pearson Printing Co ., Ltd ., Exmoor Street, N . Kensington, London, W .1O .

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19 April, 1944 15group to set up a relief map indicating the salient features of a . modernfortification sea, sand, barbed wire, pillboxes, entrenched walls andhidden gun positions . It can be done yery simply with clay or sand, oreven with dampened dirt and fragments of mirror : Then ask an . officerfrom the engineers or S2 to come to the discussion and make clear thephases of attack.

If the discussion leader is in an infantry, artillery, tank, engineer orantitank outfit he will have plenty of m en available to call upon ininitiating suggestions and questions. If he is in a service, me dical,airborne, or airforce station, he may have to work a bit harder to get thegroup moving, but the interest will be just as keen . He may be able toinvite a noncom or officer from a neighboring infantry or armored unitto come in and aid the discussion . But he should always keep it in mindwe are all in this thing together and the way we cooperate, the way wepool our resources and our knowledge, will have a definite effect on theoutcome.

Finally, the discussion leader after his leadoff talk of eight to ten minutesmust function as chairman and arbiter . He cann ot dominate thediscussion, nor should he permit any other members of the group to do so.He should attempt to gain the interest and confidence of all members.The indifferent man dozing in a corner is just as important to the successof the hour as are the halfdozen who are constantly ready to contributetheir opinions . If the discussion leader has set up an outline on a black-board or piece of brown paper, he should stick to it . Five minutes beforethe close of the hour he should summarize the discussion and point outthe main findings=both points of agreement and of disagreement.

The following questions may prove useful in setting the pace of dis-cussion. Three or four of these can be initiated by members of the group.The leader will gain the cooperation of most of the group if over a periodof six or seven meetings he calls for the support of nearly every man tomake the discussion go.

Q . Which force has the greater advantageoffensive or defensive ?W hy ?Q . What lessons have the United Nations learned from the history

of the Maginot Line ?

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_ Q . What is the extent of the " Second Westwall " ?Q. Why is the problem of the Second Front described as twofold ?

W hat are the two p arts of the problem of breaking the enemy'sfortifications ?

Q. What are the essential weaknesses of fortifications ?Q . How does teamwork eater into the success of beach assaults and

smashing fortifications ?The discussion leader will find additional material to supplement his

reading on this subject in recent issues of Time, Life and Y ank . TheMarch 13 (pp . 913) issue of Time ; the March 26 (pp . 34) issue of rank,are pertinent. Moreover, the discussion leader has rarely had a topicin which pride in service, confidence in the command, understanding ofour allies and a knowledge of the causes and progress of the war are moreimplicit . Without overemphasis they are suggested throughout.

When leaders are not receiving copies of ARMY TALKS they shouldget in touch with their Special Service Officer, or the field representative,'of Stars and Stripes. Distribution is on the basis of four to one hundred men.Copies are initially intended for the use of the discussion leaders . Afterthe discussion they should be made available to all the men.

AR!IY TALK S t The PURPOSE of ARMY TALKS is to `helpAmerican officers and enlisted personnel become betterinformed men andwomen and therefore better soldiers.

ARMY TALKS are designed to stimulate discussion and thought, and,by their very'nature, thus may often be controversial in content . They arenot to promote or to propagandize any particular causes, beliefs or theories.Rather, they draw upon all suitable sources for fact and comm ent, in theAmerican tradition, with each individual retaining his American right andheritage so far as his own opinion is concerned.

THEREFORE, the statements and opinions expressed herein are notnecessarily verified by, nor do they necessarily reflect the opinions of, theUnited States Army.THE SOURCE OF MATERIAL must therefore be made clear at eachdiscussion . All written material appearing in this publication has been writtenand edited by uniformed members of the Army and/or Navy, except whereit is stated that a civilian or other outside source is being quoted.