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EVOLUTION OF SMALL UNIT TACTICS

Discussion in 'Military Training, Doctrine, and Planning' started by Cate Blanchett, Feb 27, 2008.

  1. Cate Blanchett

    Cate Blanchett recruit

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    AND I just love the comment..."multiple pages of details required to move a latrine 50 yards east".....LMAO at that one!

    Other users looking at this may well hoot too!!!!...I appreciate your time, Got!
     
  2. Gothard

    Gothard New Member

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    Lol! You don't want to know that I regard the Hungarian Army the best in the world during WW2 on a human material level then =) ... may discredit me =0

    Finns coming in a close second Higge
     
  3. Cate Blanchett

    Cate Blanchett recruit

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    My personal choice would be the Australians and New Zealanders in the Jungle, Finns in the winter regions, particularly Sissi comandoes.

    But the prize for human material should go to the Army that best personifies this personal touch.....hard one to call, and would have to be based on a LOT of personal accounts from the people that they fought. National pride would get in the way, so, a hard one to call.........What about the Canadians.....or the Gurkhas?.....Morrocan Goumiers?

    And for that matter, from the other side of the coin, who would you consider to have the WORST human material? Albanians get my vote (with apologies to Albanian site users)...........Madagascans had an attitude all their own.......and who has ever heard of Brazillian actions of any kind in WW2, even though they were an Allied country (supposedly) ? Of the Major powers, France would get my vote as having the least motivated effort of WW2.....

    but this post is very subjective and based entirely on personal opinions that do not necessarily reflect the views of the site administrator or it's sponsors and supporters in a pure and legally binding sence.....
     
  4. Gothard

    Gothard New Member

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    Were talking human material. The Hungarians were the most honorable, hard fighting motivated force on the planet. Worst would have to be Yugoslavia. Not pointing any fingers at any particular group but the fighting there was totally insane. Units like Aussies and Zealanders I would need to look at more closely and I really have no interests in that area. Looking at what they were fighting I really can't give them a whole lot of credit. Japanese were excellent in the pre-war era but they were really weak as regards civilian populations and that totally destroys their amazing tenacity and resourcefulness. I believe human material also encompasses personal honour. The Hungarians - Of all the peoples involved in the conflict were the only Nation with a legitimate claim to War and they fought to the death.
     
  5. Cate Blanchett

    Cate Blanchett recruit

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    Sorry Got...missed that post....Japanese, I think, suffered from their overconfidence, and the truly thickheaded tactics they sometimes used in the Pacific....it worked OK against untrained Chinese, but against a well trained and nicely equipped force, they were sometimes easy meat.
    The Americans in the Pacific come off a poor third, particularly the US Army units. US Marines could probably be an exception, but they too, suffered from the very speed at which their operations were pushed to completion, which, doctrinally, was the complete opposite of how the Army units saw their role....Marines were trained to complete their mission as quickley as possible to minimize the time of exposure of the Fleet support elements that had landed them on the beach-head....The loss of the aircraft carrier LISCOMBE BAY bears out this fact at Makin attol....over 500 US sailors lost their lives, many times the casualties suffered on Makin itself....As for others in the Pacific...Phillipinos, Malays etc, their training was sparse and their equipment even more , so performance suffered no matter how brave and valorous they might have been.....
     

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