The Greek Style of War

 

Recommended Reading:

     Victor Davis Hanson, The Western Way of War.  Infantry Battle in Classical Greece, New York, 1989.

 

 

 

Hoplites      fully-armed Greek infantry

 

panoply       the complete arms and armor of a warrior

 

hoplon        Greek word for armor; also means shield

 

helmet        tall and crested; typically Corinthian

 

bell corslet  body armor: breastplate and backplate

 

greaves       shin-guards

 

 

thrusting spear    6 to 8’ long; 2 to 4 lbs

 

short sword        two-edged, made of iron, up to 2’ long

 

 

phalanx       a tight rectangle;

a compact or close-knit body of people;

a formation of infantry carrying overlapping shields and spears;

the fundamental hoplite formation

 

490-479BC     Persian Wars

490           Battle of Marathon

479           Battle of Platea

 

Macedonia     region north of Greece

 

Philip of Macedon; King, 359-336 BC

Alexander the Great; King, 336-323 BC

 

Companions of the King

 

sarissa       very long spear: 8 to 14’; even 18 to 21’

 

 

 

Roman Warfare

 

Recommended Reading: Peter Connolly, Greece and Rome at War.

 

 

SCUTUM             shield

 

PILUM (PILA)       javelin(s)

 

GLADIUS            sword

 

 

 

CENTURY            smallest unit in the Roman army

 

CENTURION          commander of a century

 

MANIPLE            the basic tactical unit; 2 centuries

 

LEGION             4,200 to 5,500 soldiers; maniples, skirmishers, cavalry

 

 

EQUITES            cavalry

 

VELITES            skirmishers, initiated the battle

 

HASTATI            1st line of maniples; “spearmen”

 

PRINCIPES          2nd line of maniples; “chief men”

 

TRIARII            3rd line of maniples; “veterans”

 

 

COHORT             originated c. 100 BC; composed of 6 centuries; 10 cohorts made up a Legion

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Medieval Warfare

 

Recommended Reading:

     Michael Prestwich, Armies and Warfare in the Middle Ages.  The English Experience, 1996.

     John France, Western Warfare in the Age of the Crusades, 1000-1300, 1999.

 

 

     Knight: an armored warrior, fighting on horseback.  In French, a chevalier (cheval means horse); in German, a ritter (rider). 

 

     Stirrups, introduced 700 to 1000 AD.

 

Armor:

    

     Hauberk (from an Old Norse word, berserk, for bear shirt or frenzied warrior): a long shirt of chain mail, a shirt of riveted metal rings.

 

     Plate armor

 

     Helmets:

          Round or cone-shaped helmet.

          The “Great Helm,” a large helmet in the shape of a tin can, with a flat top changing to a tapered or pointed top.

          The basinet: an open-faced helmet, with a movable visor; dome-like in shape and appearance.

 

     Shields:

          circle, in the form of a kite, then taking the shape of a triangle

 

Weapons: knights used edged weapons, not missile weapons

    

     Lance—a spear used by cavalry; made of strong, hard wood; about 14’ long; with a slender steel head and 2 cutting edges.

     Sword—both for cutting and thrusting.

          “Italian great sword”

          The English “Falchion”

     Percussion weapons—the mace, the war hammer, and the ax.

 

 

Infantry

 

     Armor: the “kettle hat”

 

 

     Weapons:

          Staff or pole weapons:

the pike: long and heavy, 6’ at least; with a sharp pont

              the halberd: shorter, combined spear and ax

the poleax: similar to the halberd, but added a war hammer to smash armor

 

          Missile weapons:

              crossbow: a mechanical bow; range: 100 to 200 meters; about 4 arrows or bolts per minute.

              longbow: perhaps 6’ in length, a 3’ arrow topped with a barbed iron head, 10 to 20 arrows per minute

 

 

Siege Warfare

 

     the balista: a large crossbow

     the onager: a catapult

     the trebuchet: machine for hurling stones

     the battering ram

     movable siege towers

 

The Gunpowder Revolution

 

Recommended Reading: Bert S. Hall, Weapons and Warfare in Renaissance Europe

 

     Ingredients in gunpowder: saltpeter (for the potassium nitrate), sulfur, and charcoal.

 

Artillery: Siege and Field

 

     Illustration of the “Milimete” gun: from Walter of Milimete, an English cleric who in 1326 wrote a manuscript with this illustration.

 

     The first cannon: made of welded strips of iron

The “barrel” of a gun: from the techniques of a cooper (i.e, a barrel maker)

The “built-up” gun

 

     Gunpowder techniques:

At first, like flour or meal

Then, “corned” or granular (like grains)

 

     “Gunstone”:  200 lbs. to 1,500 lbs.

 

     “Bombards,” 1430-1460: very large, iron-forged

Used to batter the walls and gates of a fortress.

     The “Mons Meg”: 13’ long; 5 tons; a gunstone of 549 lbs.  Now on display at Edinburgh.

 

     Later 1400s: casting guns from bronze

     Now muzzle loaders—i.e., from the end of the barrel that fires, not breech loaders, i.e., from behind the barrel

 

     1494: Charles VIII of France invaded Italy with reasonably mobile siege guns

     Niccolò Machiavelli: Italian author and statesman, The Prince, On the Art of War, etc.

     Francesco Guicciardini, diplomat and historian

 

     Battle of Ravenna (1512)

 

The New Fortress

 

     The “Italian style” fortress: low thick masonry and earth wall

The “angled bastion,” a 4-sided projection, a quadrilateral

     Wide ditch

     Ravelin: a detached fortress

     Glacis: a landscaped slope

 

Portable Firearms: the “fiery weapons”

 

The musket

 

     Arquebus, from the German hackenbüsche, or “hook gun”

     Long-barrel, about a yard long…mounted on a stock…smooth-bore…fired from a fork…fired a 1-ounce iron ball…range: 80 to 100 yards…muzzle-loading

     The “match-lock”: and its difficulties

 

     Musket: originally a longer, heavier version of the arquebus

     Barrel 2-meters long, 10 to 20 lbs, 2-ounce iron ball

     Battle of Cerignola (Naples), 1503, France vs. Spain

     Battle of Pavia (Lombardy), 1515, France against Spain

 

The wheel lock pistol (pistala: Bohemian word for tube)

 

     From a hard steel disk, serrated, 25 to 40 mm in diameter, turned by a spring; when you pull the trigger, you produce a shower of sparks from a piece of stone

 

Reinventing Infantry

    

     The “pikeman,” most important soldier on the battlefield

     pike: a spear, 13 to 18’ long, topped with a steel head 10” long, girded with metal strips down from the point

     The Swiss square formation: 2,500 to 10,000 men

    

Firepowder on the Battlefield, 1600-1789

 

Recommended Reading: Geoffrey Parker, The Military Revolution.  Military Innovation and the Rise of the West, 1500-1800; Brent Nosworthy, The Anatomy of Victory.  Battle Tactics 1689-1763

 

Echelon formation of Swiss infantry squares: each unit aligns itself to the right or left of the unit in front of it, forming an oblique line; a formation like a staircase

 

tercio(s)the essential tactical formation of Spanish infantry; squares; about 3,000 men

 

Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange (1567-1625), captain general and admiral of the United Netherlands

 

Files and Ranks

     A file is a column of soldiers running from the front of the formation to its rear, along its depth.

     A rank is a row of soldiers running from left to right, along its width.

 

caracole—a technique of delivering fire, in which the front rank discharges its weapon, and then wheels to the right or left to move to the rear, while the next rank moves up; based on quarter or half turns; used by cavalry primarily but also by infantry

 

 

Gustavus Adolphus (1594-1632), King of Sweden (1611-1632)

 

Battle of Breitenfeld, 1631

 

bayonet (from city of Bayonne)

     knife tied to the end of a musket

     plug bayonet

     socket bayonet

 

flintlock musket

prepackaged paper cartridges

 

the volley and linear tactics

 

Frederick II (1712-1786), King of Prussia, 1740-1786 (“Frederick the Great”)

    

The Prussian Army:

drill and discipline   

platoon firing

cadenced marching

the “oblique attack”

    

Silesia and the Seven Years War (1756-1763)

 

Battle of Rossbach: 5 November 1757

 

Battle of Leuthen: 5 December 1757

 

Joseph GUIBERT (1743-1790)

     General Essay on Tactics (1772)

 

ordnance”:

1) gun or cannon: flat trajectory, long barrel, high muzzle velocity; fires roundshot or canister: 3, 4, 6, 8 12, 16, and 24 pounds

2) howitzer: high trajectory, shorter barrel, lower muzzle velocity; fires shell

3) mortar: very high trajectory, squat barrel; also shell

 

windage: difference between the diameter of the cannon ball and the bore of the cannon

 

Règlement of 1791: new tactical manual of the French Army

 

 

     skirmishers

     artillery

     infantry in battalion column: shock action with the bayonet

 

Napoleonic Warfare

 

 

Recommended Reading: David Chandler, The Campaigns of Napoleon.

 

Napoleone Buon-Parte (Bonaparte) (1769-1821)

 

Organization: the Corps

 

     Corps: 2 or more divisions, artillery and cavalry, plus special units; strength varies

     Division: consists of at least 2 brigades; 5,000 to 6,000 soldiers

     Brigade: consists of 2 or more regiments

     Regiment: consists of 2 or more battalions

     Battalion: 500 or more soldiers; perhaps 12 battalions to a division

 

The Combat Arms:

     Infantry: armed with the 1777 musket

     Cavalry: heavy (cuirassiers and carabiniers) and light (hussars and lancers)

     Artillery: favored 6 and 12-pound cannon

     Imperial Guard

         

Strategy:

     The destruction of the enemy army

     The movement on the rear, the “indirect approach”

     The movement of the central position

 

Scenario of Battle

 

Italian Campaign, 1796-1797

 

1799: First Consul

1804: Emperor

1805-1807: War of the Third Coalition: Britain, Austria, and Russia

 

 

 

Danube Campaign, 1805:

     Boulogne and the Grand Army

     General Mack and the Ulm Fortress

     6-7 October: Napoleon on the Danube

     20 October: capitulation of Ulm

     12-13 November: Vienna

     Moravia: Austerlitz and the Pratzen Heights

     Olmütz: Emperor Francis of Austria and Tsar Alexander; General Michael Kutusov

     2 December: Battle of Austerlitz

 

Waterloo

 

Recommended Reading: Jac Weller, Wellington at Waterloo.

 

 

Field Marshal Gebhard Leberecht von BLÜCHER (1742-1819), commander of the Prussian Army.

 

General Arthur Wellesley, Duke of WELLINGTON (1769-1852), commander of the Anglo-Dutch Army.  Experience: Flanders, 1793-94; India, 1799, 1803; Spain (the Peninsular Campaign), 1808-1813; southern France, 1814.

 

His Army in 1815:

     Infantry

     Artillery

     Cavalry (note the Earl of Uxbridge)

 

16 June 1815: Battle of LIGNY

     Wellington at QUATRE-BRAS

     Prussians retreat to the east

 

17 June:  Wellington deploys across the main road to Brussels, just south of the Forest of Soignes, along the crest of a lateral ridge.

 

     Wellington’s right: Chateau of Hougoumont: long rectangular stone buildings; attached walled garden; orchard.

     Wellington’s center right: La Haye Sainte farmhouse; compound of masonry and brick buildings, with connecting walls.

     Wellington’s center left: twin farms of Papelotte and La Haye and the hamlet of Smohain; this the direction from which Blücher was expected.

 

18 June:  Battle of Waterloo

 

Keegan’s 5 phases of the Battle:

 

1.

2.

3.

4.

5—the “Crisis”

     General Maitland, commander of the 1st Foot Guards

     Colonel Colborne, commander of the 52nd Light Infantry Regiment

 

Military Technology and the Path to World War I

 

      

Wars:

     1854-1856: Crimean War

     1859-1860: War of Italian Unification

     1866: Austro-Prussian War

     1870-1871: Franco-Prussian War

     1899-1902: Anglo-Boer War

     1905-1906: Russo-Japanese War

 

Railroads

 

The Combat Rifle

     Musket and Percussion Cap

     Rifling and the “rifled musket”

     Claude Minié and the Minié bullet

     Breach loading

     The Prussian “needle gun”

     Johann Nikolaus von Dreyse

     Antoine Alphonse Chassepot

 

     The bolt-action, breach-loading, magazine-fed repeating rifle:

 

     French Lebel, 1886: first to use a smokeless powder cartridge

     German Mauser, 1898, the Gewehr [rifle] 98

     British Lee-Enfield, 1895/1902/1907

     Austrian Männlicher

     American Springfield

 

 

 

Artillery

     Alfred Krupp

          Steel-cast artillery, breach-loading, rifled

     General Gustav von Hindersin, Inspector General, Prussian Artillery

 

     French 75-mm cannon, the “soixante-quinze”

          Quick-firing, absorbed recoil

    

     German field howitzers 

 

Henry Shrapnel

 

Machine Guns 

     The American Gatling gun    

     Richard Jordan Gatling

     The French mitrailleuse

Hiram Maxim

          Maxim/Vickers

     Hotchkiss gun (French)

 

Armies of the European Powers

 

“Army Race”

The Russian “Great Program,” 1913-1914

     German Army Law, July 1913

     Austro-Hungary, March 1914

     French Army Law, August 1913

 

“Cult of the Offensive”

 

     (General Robert S. Baden-Powell [1857-1941] commanded troops in the Boer War and founded the Boy Scouts and Girl Guides, 1908.)

 

Ivan (or Jean) de BLOCH (1836-1902), author of La Guerre Future, 6 vols., Paris, 1898, partly translated as Is War Now Impossible?  The Future of War in Its Technical, Economic, and Political Relations, 1899.  The first operational analysis of modern warfare.

 

War Plans

 

The German General Staff

 

 

 

     General Joseph J. Joffre  (1852-1931), chief of the French General Staff (1911-1916), developed “Plan XVII.”  Commanded the French Army in 1914 and through most of 1916.  Relieved of command but promoted to Marshal of France and shared in the honor of the final victory, when it came.

 

     Count Alfred von Schlieffen (1833-1913), chief of German General Staff, 1891-1905, chief architect of the so-called “Schlieffen Plan” (“the rightmost soldier will brush the English Channel with its sleeve,” “It must come to a fight.  Only make the right wing strong.”)

 

     Count Helmuth von Moltke (1848-1916), chief of the German General Staff (1906-1914), inherited the Schlieffen Plan and revised it somewhat; nephew of Count Helmuth von Moltke (1800-1891), chief of the Prussian and German General Staff, architect of victories over Austria (1866) and France (1870-1871).

 

1914

 

Recommended Reading: Barbara Tuchman, Guns of August; John Keegan, The First World War; Dennis Showalter, Tannenberg, Clash of Empires

 

 

Belgian fortress of Liège (on the Meuse river)

     Designed by General Henri Brialmont (1821-1903)

     Large German howitzers, from the factory of Gustav Krupp

           420-mm, the “Big Bertha”

           305-mm, from Skoda, Austria-Hungary

     Fort Pontisse

British Expeditionary Force (the BEF)

     4 infantry divisions; 80,000 men; then raised to 5 divisions; 100,000 men in principle

     Sir John FRENCH (1852-1925), age 63, Chief of the Imperial General Staff since 1912 and commander of the BEF, 1914-1915

The German Field Army

     Field Marshal Helmuth von MOLTKE (1848-1916), age 66, Chief of the Imperial General Staff since 1906; commander of the German Field Army, 1914; blamed for defeat, relieved of his post; died before the war ended

     1st Army: General Alexander von Kluck

     2nd Army: Field Marshal Karl von Bülow

     3rd Army: General Max von Hausen

     4th Army: Field Marshal Albrecht, duke of Württemberg

     5th Army: Crown Prince Wilhelm

     6th Army: Field Marshal Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria

     7th Army: General Josias von Heeringen

 

The French Field Army

     Marshal Joseph Jacques JOFFRE (1852-1931), age 63; Chief of the French General Staff since 1911 and commander of the French Field Army, 1914-1916; relieved of command before the war ended, later restored to honor

     1st Army: General Augustin Dubail

     2nd Army: General Eduard de Castelnau

     3rd Army: General Pierre Ruffey

     4th Army: General Fernand de Langle de Cary

     5th Army: General Charles Lanrezac, then General Louis Franchet d’Esperey

Battle of the Frontiers: 20-24 August 1914

     Battle of Lorraine: French 1st and 2nd Armies against German 6th and 7th

     Battle of the Ardennes: French 3rd and 4th Armies against German 4th and 5th

     Battle of Charleroi: French 5th against German 2nd and then 3rd

     Battle of the Mons Canal: BEF against elements of the German 1st Army

           (Mons Canal: extended the River Sambre so as to carry barges and other craft to the English Channel by way of the River Scheldt.)

Battle of the Marne: 5-10 September 1914

     Von Kluck’s turn

     Army of Paris

 

Battle of Tannenberg

 

East Prussia

Masurian Lakes

 

Military District of Warsaw

 

Russian 1st Army: General Paul RENNENKAMPF, 61; attacking from Vilna, Lithuania, north of the Lakes, and into East Prussia

 

Russian 2nd Army: General Alexander SAMSONOV, 55; attacking from Warsaw, south of the Lakes, and into the German flank and rear

 

German 8th Army: General Max von PRITTWITZ (“fatty’), 65

 

Battle of GUMBINNEN: August 20, Russian 1st Army against German 8th Army

 

General Paul von HINDENBURG (1847-1934), 67; succeeded Prittwitz as commander of the 8th Army

General Erich LUDENDORFF (1856-1937), 59; new Chief of Staff of 8th Army

 

Battle of TANNENBERG: August 26-30: 8th Army against Russian 2nd Army

 

Battle of MASURIAN LAKES: September 5-9: 8th Army against Russian 1st Army

 

 

Tanks, Planes, and Poison Gas

 

Recommended Reading: None, really; but try Charles Lindbergh, The Spirit of Saint-Louis (1953; Pulitzer Prize)

 

TANKS

Lt. Col. (later Maj. General Sir) Ernest D. Swinton

Col. J.E. Estienne

 

Winston Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty

Landships Committee

 

tank”: a codeword, associated with containers, cisterns

 

the “Mark I”: also known as “Big Willie: and “Mother”

     shaped like a rhomboid, tracks running around the outline of its body, tail wheels at the back; well-armored; mounting machine guns and 2 6-pound naval guns; 3.7 mph.  Approved for use in battle in February 1916; made their first appearance on 15 September 1916, in the Somme

 

French manufacturers

     Schneider/Saint-Chamond/Renault

 

Cambrai: 20 November 1917: British attack with 378 Mark IV’s

 

PLANES

 

Count Ferdinand Von Zeppelin, 1906 and 1908

 

Orville and Wilbur Wright, 1903

 

tractors” and “pushers”/ stability and instability

 

 

 

Anthony Fokker

     The E (for Eindecker, or monoplane) Is, IIs, and IIIs

 

Nieuport 17

 

The “aces”:

Georges Guynemer, France; 54 victories; d. 1917

Charles Nungesser, France; 21 victories; d. 1927

Albert Ball, Great Britain: 44 victories; d. 1917

Oswald Boelcke, Germany; 40 victories, d. 1916

Manfred von Richthofen, Germany: 80 victories, d. 1918

Eddie Rickenbacker, USA; 26 victories; survived

 

Main types in 1918:

     Sopwith Camel, Great Britain

     Royal Aircraft Factory SE 5a, Great Britain

     Spad 13, France

     Fokker D.VII, Germany

     Fokker E.V/D.VIII, Germany

    

POISON GAS

 

Fritz Haber (1868-1934); distinguished German chemist, Nobel Prize, 1918

April 1915: YPRES, in Flanders

          chlorine

          phosgene

          mustard” gas

 

Verdun

 

 

Recommended reading: Alistair Horne, The Price of Glory.  Verdun 1916.

 

General Erich von FALKENHAYN (1861-1922)

     An experienced soldier and minister of war of Prussia since 1913; chosen to replace Moltke as Chief of the General Staff in 1914; rebuilt the German army after the failure of the Schlieffen Plan; architect of the attack upon the French fortress system at Verdun; replaced in August 1916 by Hindenburg and Ludendorff.

 

VERDUN:

     A fortress complex in the loop of the Meuse river, anchored on the city of Verdun.

 

Fort Douaumont and Fort Vaux: strongpoints of the Verdun complex.

 

General Henri Philippe PÉTAIN (1856-1951)

     Only a colonel in 1914, after 30 years in the Army, he rose to become commander of the French 2nd Army in 1916; sent to Verdun to direct its defense; Commander in Chief of the French Army in 1917, known for the care he took to spare the lives of his soldiers, who admired him; the great French hero of World War I.  But after the Germans defeated France in 1940, he became chief of state of the collaborationist Vichy regime.  When the Allies won the war after all, he was convicted of treason (!) and sentenced to death (!!).  The acting president of France, General Charles de Gaulle, who had served under Pétain in World War I, commuted the death sentence to life imprisonment, but Pétain was allowed to leave prison when he fell ill and died at a private home.

 

General Robert Charles NIVELLE (1856-1924)

     Took over at Verdun from Pétain.  A strong believer in offensive warfare, he led the successful French counter-offensive there.  As Commander in Chief of the Army in 1917, however, he launched a disastrous, costly offensive and provoked a mutiny in the army.  Replaced as Commander by, ironically, Pétain.

 

Victory (?) in World War I

 

Recommended reading: Paddy Griffith, Battle Tactics of the Western Front.  The British Army’s Art of Attack, 1916-18

 

New, improved weapons

     artillery: creeping barrage (“neutralizing” fire); no pre-registration

     flame throwers, portable: range, 30 to 100 yards

     trench mortars, portable: Frederick W. Stokes; range: 400 to 1,250 yards

     grenades: the British “Mills” grenade, for William Mills; the German stick grenade or “potato-masher.”  1 ½ lbs. Range: depends upon your throwing arm, maybe 30 yards.

     light machine gun/automatic rifle: British Lewis gun, about 30 lbs; German Model 08/15, about 43 lbs.  600 rounds per minute.  Range: varies.

 

 

 

New infantry tactics

     composition of rifle platoon

     importance of small units

 

The German and Allied Armies in the West, 1918

     192 divisions vs. 169

     BEF, now 57 divisions and 1.9 million men; commanded by Gen. Douglas Haig

     1917: Passchendaele, Flanders: 900,000 casualties

     1917: French Army: 600,000 casualties and mutiny

 

Operation “Michael”: the Plan

     Gen. Erich von Ludendorff

     Attack along a 50-mile front from Saint-Quentin to La Fère

 

Operation “Michael”: Execution

     21 March 1918

     72 divisions vs. 25

     British 3rd Army, Gen. Sir Julian Byng

     British 5th Army, Gen. Sir Hubert Gough

     Forward Zone and Battle Zone

     100 square miles

 

     Marshal Ferdinand FOCH  (1851-1929), France’s best general of World War I; appointed commander-in-chief of all Allied armies on the Western Front, including the American Army, on March 26, 1918; architect of the victory of 1918.

 

     June 1918: French counter-attack at Soissons, notable for use of French light tanks, in quantity.

 

     July 1918: French counter-attack at Villers-Cotterets, with American support.

 

     8 August 1918: British counter-attack at Amiens, the “black day” of the German Army.

 

American Expeditionary Force (AEF)

 

     General John J. PERSHING (1860-1948), commander of the AEF

 

     Col. George C. Marshall

     Col. Douglas MacArthur

     Lt. Col. George S. Patton

     Lt. Col. Jonathan Wainwright

     Capt. Harry S. Truman

 

     Aisne-Marne (July 25-August 2, 1918)

     Saint-Mihiel (September 12-17, 1918)

     Meuse-Argonne (September 26-November 11, 1918)

President Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921)

Peace of Paris/Treaty of Versailles

League of Nations, Geneva, Switzerland

 

Towards World War II

 

Cultural Pessimism:

     Robert Graves, Goodbye to All That, 1929.

     Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms, 1929.

     Erich Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front, 1929.

     Vera Brittain, A Testament of Youth, 1933.

     “All Quiet on the Western Front,” U.S., 1930.

     “The Grand Illusion,” France (Jean Renoir), 1937.

Political Instability:

     Russia and Bolshevik/Communist Revolution

     Weimar Republic in Germany

     Adolf Hitler (1889-1945)

     Nationalist Socialist German Workers Party (NAZI)

 

German rearmament:

     Hans von Seeckt (1866-1936). Chief of the German General Staff, 1919-1926; father of the revived German Army.

     Ernst Volckheim; author, The Tank in Modern Warfare, 1924; best German theoretician of tank wafare.

     Heinz Guderian (1888-1953): author of Achtung! Panzer (1937); major general and corps commander, 1937-1941; led attacks upon Poland, France, and Russia; relieved of command by Hitler in 1941, recalled to service in 1943, relieved again in 1945; one of the few top generals not to be charged with war crimes once Germany was defeated.

 

German Tanks:

     Panzer I: a 2-man light tank, 6 tons, 2 machine guns.

     Panzer II: a 3-man light tank, 10 tons, a 20-mm cannon and a machine gun.

     Panzer III: a 5-man medium tank, 20 tons, a 37-mm gun soon upgraded to a 50-mm gun; 1 machine gun; a torsion bar suspension system designed by Ferdinand Porsche.

     Panzer IV: also a 5-man medium tank, similar to the Mark III, but mounting a 75-mm gun; 2 machine guns.  Became the mainstay of the German army.

German Planes:

     Junkers JU-87 dive bomber, the “Stuka,” a 2-seat assault plane. In 1939: maximum speed: 210 mph; maximum range: 370 miles.  4 machine guns and a 4,000-lb bomb load. 

     Plus fighters.

 

German Army:

     “Triangular” infantry division.

     Panzer (armored divisions).

 

Blitzkrieg, or lightning war

 

 

Battle of France

 

The Maginot Line, French frontier defenses, built 1930-1935

     André Maginot, French minister of war, 1929-1932

 

Franco-British Situation

     General (Lord) John Gort, 54, commander of the BEF, 5 to 10 divisons

     General Maurice Gamelin, 68, commander in chief of the French Army

     Advance to the River Dyle, in Belgium

     Eben Emael Fortress, on the Albert Canal, at border with Holland and Germany

 

The German Plan (Operation Sickle Stroke)

     North: Army Group B, General Feodor von Bock: invade Belgium and Holland and lure the British and the French to advance into Belgium

     South: Army Group C, General Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb: attack the Maginot Line

     Center: Army Group A, General Gerd von Rundstedt: drive through the Ardennes Forest and cross the Meuse River at Sedan; with 7 panzer divisions, including the XIXth Panzer Corps, commanded by General Guderian

 

Balance of Forces:

     Troops: Allies (British, French, Belgians, Dutch), 136 divisions; Germans, 135 divisions

     Tanks: 3,600 for the Allies and 2,574 for the Germans (French Somua tank, with an advanced design)

     Planes: 3,200 for the Germans and 2,000 for the British and the French

 

 

The Campaign:

     9 April: Germans overrun Denmark and Norway

     10 May: Operation Sickle Stroke

     10 to 14 May: advance of the 7 panzer divisions

     12 May: Meuse

     13-14 May: Cross the Meuse at Dinant and Sedan

     15 May: advance to the Channel begins

     20 May: Guderian reaches Amiens and Abbeville, at the mouth of the Somme

     23 May: British withdraw to Dunkirk

     27 May: Belgium surrenders

     14 June: German Army enters Paris

     22 June: French seek armistice

     25 June: France surrenders

 

Battle of Britain

 

Guilio DOUHET (1869-1930), The Command of the Air, 1921

 

Operation “Sea Lion”

 

Royal Air Force

     Bomber Command

     Fighter Command, commanded by Air Marshal Sir Hugh DOWDING

 

Luftwaffe

     Commanded by Hermann GOERING (1893-1946), commander of the Luftwaffe and Reichminister for Air; promoted to Reichsmarschall in 1939

 

Fighter Planes

 

German:

     Messerschmitt Bf (Bayerische Flugzuegwerke) 109; designed by Willy Messerschmitt, known as the Me 109.  A single engine monoplane.  Armament: 2 machine guns; 2 20-mm cannon.  Speed: 357 mph, powered by a supercharged Daimler-Benz engine, 1,100 hp.  Range: 412 miles.

 

     Messerschmitt Bf 110.  A twin-engine escort fighter, with a crew of two.  Armament: 5 machine guns (1 in rear), 2 20-mm cannon.  Speed: 349 mph.  Range: 530 miles.  Not as good as the Me 109.

 

 

 

British:

     Hawker Hurricane; Hawker Engineering Company; designed by Sydney Camm.  A single engine monoplane.  Armament: 8 Browning machine guns, 4 in each wing.  Speed: 328 mph, powered by the Rolls Royce PV-1200 engine, known as the Merlin; 1,300 hp.  Range: 505 miles.

     Supermarine Spitfire; Supermarine Company; designed by Reginald Mitchell.  A single engine monoplane. Same armament as the Hurricane.  Speed: 362 mph.  Merlin engine.  Range: 395 miles.

    

Bombers

 

German:

     Dornier Do 17Z and Heinkel He 111: both slow and underpowered, vulnerable to fighters, neither effective as a strategic bomber.

     Junkers Ju 88: the Luftwaffe’s only decent bomber, stood a chance against Fighter Command when properly escorted.  Speed: 286 mph.  Bombload: almost 4,000 pounds.

 

 

Committee for the Scientific Survey of Air Defense

Robert a Watson-Watt of the National Physical Laboratory

RADAR (Radio Direction and Ranging)

“Chain Home”

“Chain Home Low”

 

Enigma Machine

Ultra Secret

 

Battle of Britain, 10 July to 31 October 1940

1) Preliminary, the “Channel Battle”: 10 July to early August

2) 1st Phase, 8-18 August: Operation Eagle

3) 2nd Phase, 24 August to 6 September: attack on infrastructure of Fighter Command

4) Battle of London: 7-30 September

5) Conclusion: 30 September to 31 October

 

U.S. Army in World War II

 

Recommended Reading: Peter R. Mansoor, The GI Offensive in Europe.  The Triumph of American Infantry Divisions, 1941-1945.

 

 

The “triangular” division:

     3 infantry regiments, division artillery, plus combat and support troops

     each regiment consisted of 3 battalions; each battalion consisted of 3 rifle companies, a heavy weapons company, and a headquarters company; each rifle company (6 officers and 187 enlisted men) consisted of three rifle platoons, a weapons platoon (one .50-caliber machine gun, two .30-caliber machine guns, three mortars and three bazookas), and a small headquarters section; the heart of the triangular division was its 27 rifle companies, numbering 5,211 officers and combat infantrymen.

 

Basic American weapons:

Sherman Medium Tank M4

          Crew of 5; 75-mm main gun, plus machine guns; maximum speed, 29 mph; maximum range: 100 miles.

     Artillery: heavy: 155-mm howitzer; field: 105-mm howitzer.

Rifle: Garand M1 (John C. Garand)

Airplane: Republic P-47 Thunderbolt

 

Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969)

     Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force, 1944-1945; directed Operation Overlord, 1944; president, Columbia University, 1948-1950; author, Crusade in Europe (1948); commander of NATO forces, 1950-1952; president, United States, 1953-1961; retired to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

 

George C. Marshall (1880-1959)

     Chief of Staff, Army, 1939-1945; chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff; secretary of state, 1947-1953

 

Sir Bernard Law Montgomery (1887-1976)

     Commanded British 8th Army in Egypt, 1942-1943; commanded 21st Army Group in the invasion of France; promoted to field marshal; after the war created Viscount Montgomery of Alamein (his famous victory) and served briefly as chairman of the Imperial General Staff.

 

Campaign in Europe/Victory in Europe

         

Recommended Reading: Richard Overy, Why the Allies Won (1995)

 

Battle of the Atlantic (1940-43)

 

The War in Russia

 

     Battle of Stalingrad (on the Volga River), 1942-43

     General (later Marshal) Georgiy Zhukov (1896-1974)

     Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus (1890-1957), surrendered January 30, 1943

 

     Battle of Kursk (in Ukraine), 5 to 23 July 1943; the greatest tank battle in history, the largest battle of the war

 

Strategic Bombing

 

     British Bomber Command, commanded by Air Marshal Arthur Harris

     U.S. Eighth Air Force, commanded by General Carl Spaatz

 

     British Avro 683 Lancaster

          maximum speed: 287 mph; range: 1,600 miles

          could carry a 10-ton bomb

          7 .30-caliber machine guns

          crew of 7

 

     U.S. Boeing B-17: the “Flying Fortress”

          maximum speed: 290 mph; range 2,000 miles

          bombload: 5,000 pounds

          13 .50-caliber machine guns

          crew of 10

 

     U.S. Boeing B-24 Liberator

          maximum speed: 303 mph; range 2,850 miles 

          10 .50-caliber machine guns

          bombload: 8,800 pounds

          crew of 10

 

     North American P-51 Mustang (fighter-bomber)

          US-built Rolls-Royce Merlin engine

          maximum speed: 445 mph; range 1,500 to 2,000 miles with 2 130-gal drop tanks

          6 .50-caliber machine guns; 2 500-bombs; or 8 75-mm rockets in place of drop tanks

 

     Messerschmitt ME 262: the world’s first operational jet plane

          maximum speed: 540 mph

          4 .30-mm nose cannon, plus rockets

 

     V-1

 

     V-2

 

Battle of the Bulge (16 December 1944-45)

     Ardennes Forest

     Antwerp

     Sixth Panzer Army

     Malmédy

Lt. Col. Jochen Peiper

     Bastogne: 101st Airborne and 10th Armored Division

 

 

Study Questions/Ambrose, D-Day

 

What advantages did the Germans have in defending the coast of France?

 

What advantages did the Allies have in planning the invasion?

 

Why did the Allies choose to invade on the Calvados coast of Normandy?

 

Why not the Pas de Calais?

 

What was “Mulberry”?

 

What was “Fortitude”?

 

What was the mission of the Airborne divisions?

 

How much help did the Air Force plan to give the Army?

 

Explain how Rommel planned to defend the coast.

 

What forces did he have for the defense?

 

What obstacles did Rommel place on the invasion beaches?

 

How did “Overlord” plan to overcome these defenses?

 

Know what was planned to happen at the various beaches, and know their “code names.”

 

Explain Eisenhower’s dilemma with the weather on the eve of the invasion?

 

How did the airborne invasion fare?  Both paratroops and gliders.

 

Assess the effectiveness of the air raids against the Germans.

 

Assess the role of the Navy.

 

What was the problem at Utah?

 

What were the problems at Omaha?

 

Explain the ingredients that contributed to the success of Overlord.