What would you fear most on the battlefield?

You can include circumstances, possible scenarios and that sort of thing if you wish.

For me? Well after watching this video (YouTube - King Tiger Growls) I came to the conclusion that I was not aware of how menacing the King Tiger really was. I imagine that upon seeing one of these that my trousers would smell of feces moments later.

 

When I asked veterans of my father's infantry unit this same question some years back, the general concensus seemed to be they feared letting down their comrades. In a sense, they fought for the guy next to them. But more tangibly, I think I would fear artillery barrages or mortar attacks. The noise and destruction, and the "not knowing" where the next round could land must be a terribly frightening experience.

Greg C.

 

The artillery, which you cannot see, run away from or hit back at. It is insidious and deadly.

 

Perhaps being under aerial attack. Bombs dropping and planes strafing everywhere...the sirens on the Ju-87 must have been quite dreadful to hear if you were on the ground.

 

Burned alive by flamethrower,napalm etc.

Being shot in my stomach in the middle of nowhere.

Wearing summerclothing in -40 C degrees in Russia and fighting a war.

Wearing SS clothing and getting suddenly caught by partisans7Red Army soldiers

Hearing the Katjusha´s being launched..

Finding myself in Stalingrad on January 1st 1943

 

Nebelwerfers, napalm, Japs creeping into the foxhole at night, ambushes in the jungle, trees exploding in the forest, getting eaten by sharks after the ship is torpedoed, burning alive in a cockpit, getting mutilated and eaten by Japs, being sent as a human wave to clear out mindfields the list goes on forever.

 

As mentioned by others, not the bullet with "your name on it". That would in most cases be an "unknown suprise". My fear would be the bomb, mortar, grenade, artillery shell or rocket addressed "to whom it may concern".

 

I think I would be afraid of everything. Everything I could see and could not see, everything I could hear and could not hear, everything I could feel and could not feel, everything I could do and could not do. I would fear being afraid and fear the moment when I became so afraid that I stopped being afraid, because then I would die.

 

are we talking WW 2 only or Nam or present day mid-east duty ? would say there were and are slight changes during "my" period Nam to present. Fear of the enemy you can't see, in other words when everyone looks of the same nationality, dressed is the same or similar attire, not trusting anyone outside your private circle though many of did and do travel alone on the front and behind the lines

 

Definitely artillery, mortars and air attacks (As an infantryman). Both would be hell if you were stuck in one. Also being separated from my squad would scare the hell out of me, especially in somewhere like Burma were the Japanese were everywhere.

 

Interesting thread question.

I'd be afraid of alot of things, but I think what would scare me the most would either be artillery or having to charge through an open field raked by bullets without cover (AKA like Cole's Charge).

Having grenades being thrown at me also would be up there.

 

in normandy my grandad said nebelwerfers were bloody awful,terrifying.

 

From what ive read, the Scream when it fired was enough to make you shudder...let alone the explosion..

 

Being on the USS Indianapolis on July 30, 1945

 

I would hate to be right in the middle of hamburg when the city started to burn from the fires. Not a pleasant experience when you could become a walking flame.

 

Artillery would have to be number 1. Mines would also keep you on edge.

 

Just like dgmitchell, I'd be fearful of just about everything. But then, I'd be more fearful of letting down my buddies, I hope. Almost all the veterans I've heard and read about said this was the one fear that helped them to act despite the other dreadful things they dreaded or fear.

 

you guys might be all surprised when it gets tough and how your adrenilin responds to the nature of the beast and it kicks in and takes over with your will at whatever cost to survive.........

could ask our WW 2 vets here

 

I agree. It's the "Fight or Flight Response" instinct in all of us.
Oh yeah, when I asked my father what he would fear most in a battlefield, his answer was: "A fresh graduate from a military academy."
When I prodded him further, he replied: "Here lies so and so because he followed textbook solution." Then he reminded me that mistakes by a fresh graduate invariably gets others hurt and at worst, killed.