Anti-Tank Ditches

What is the purpose of the anti-tank ditch? Is it to stop a tank cause if it is they usssualy do a bad job. Slow a tank down or expose the belly of the tank to fire. The last two make sense to me but I am really not sure.

 

If it's wide enough & deep enough, the tanks can't croos without specialist Engineer help & equipment.

See Tobruk Anti tank ditch mid 1941 - mid 1942.

 

That's what I think too. Even the best tank has it's off-road limits. If you fill a really deep ditch witn water you can also take advantage of the tanks' fording limits.

 

A ditch that it too deep, too wide or too steep-sided can stop a tank. However, a little help from engineers, or even a light bombardment, can neutralise this ability.

The true value of an anti-tank ditch, like barbed wire, is that it slows the enemy advance, and can force the enemy to only advance in certain areas.

 

Which could be helpful in a scenario like: the enemy forces are advancing towards your frontline, and you have an inferior defence force. Really deep ditches coupled with indirect fire support could force the enemy to advance only in some place like a valley, and you could position your tanks at the top of the valley for an ambush.

 

All tanks have a certain trench crossing ability and a certain maximum climb. If a ditch is wide enough to negate the former and its slopes steep enough to surpass the latter, an anti-tank ditch is a formidable obstacle for a tank. If it would drive in, it would simply get stuck nose-first in the dirt. Facing such a ditch, a tank would have to either wait for the engineers, or take a (no doubt fortified) single road across.

 

Or if there was one handy, dump in a facine. Problem with anti tank ditches is they take thousands of man hours to dig but can be nutralised fairly easily.

 

That depends on which tools you use. With diggin machinery, a ditch can be made in a few days.

Furthermore, a fachine will only allow tanks to cross at a certain point, making this point an easy target for anti-tank gunners.

 

Even with machinary it still takes more time to create a AT ditch than it does to defeat it. A tank with a facine or bridge can be cross in minutes. The only situation where an AT ditch is going to be a runner is where you're able to cover its entire length with AT guns.

 

True, but that is because the ditch will be crossed at one particular location - if the ditch was to be crossed in its entire width, it's take much longer. This makes anti-tank ditches well-suited for anti-tank warfare, because it allows the available anti-tank guns to be concentrated.

Furthermore, isn't it true for all fortifications that they take longer to make than it does to defeat them?

 

That is true Ebar but evan thought there is a weak section in a line is it not better for the weak line to resist and wait for reinforcements rather than to retreat? Evan if you cannot cover the whole area with AT guns but it is possible to slow down the enemy and reinforce the area being attacked, or it could be part of a more elaborate defence.

 

The only time I can think that a AT ditch was really effective was 1940.

Its call the English Channel

 

AT diches are like minefields. They have to be guarded to be effective. Main purpose is to stop or slow down enemy advance. Secondary role is also forcing enemy to advance in area you want into prepared kill zone.
AT dich can easily be overcome if not under guard, but this none the less takes time, giving defenders time to concentrate/redeploy their defences. Guarded AT dich can also be formidable obsticle to enemy infantry.
Now they are a bit outdated since minefields are easier to construct and are way less obvious.

 

LOL

Very true.

 

Mine fields don't always have to be guarded. the remaining ones in third-world countries are doing a good job of killing civillians even years after thier initial purpose has passed.

English Channel....indeed a very very big ditch!!

 

You've hit on the key point there -- to civilians they are still dangerous. To the military an undefended minefield is an obstacle that will slow down an advance but can be cleared easily given enough time and/or material. It does serve to pin advancing troops in a known position so they can be attacked by other means.

 

something else

people forget that the ditch does not have to be at 90 degrees to the tank. a ditch at a 45 degree angle to the line of travel will often strip a track from a tank. of course you have to create a place where the tank has to cross at an angle but such places are easier to find that you might think. like at the bottom of a road cut or on top of a causeway where the ground is too soft to bypass the ditch. add a few AP and AT mines and the odd AT gun and you will slow things up a lot.

 

Indeed, and it should be noted that there are few things as important in positional warfare as control over the terrain. Like I said earlier, a proper AT ditch can force the enemy to advance along prepared corridors or at predictable points, which can be much more easily defended than the entirety of the front line. In practice, defensive positions always have strongpoints and long stretches of barely defended terrain; an AT ditch is a good way to deny the enemy an otherwise vulnerable part of the front line.

 

Rommel made great use of AT ditches in North Africa to defend the remaining parts of Tunisia from the Brits and other assorted commonwealth troops.

The allies suffered in crossing those defenses dispite have air supremecy and overwhelming artilery support

FNG

 

Acctualy those ditches were part of old French fortifications against Italians built pre and early in the war.