This feels just like the incident with the machine gun platoon, but with more fire support, indirect and direct, on the German side. Same old result however. I wonder if it occurred to the platoon leader here to reinforce the machine gun platoon instead of just falling back?
I think that you have hit upon a major difference between British and German tactics in this period. As you will see in the last post of this series, the author of the report makes note of the degree to which German small units of various kinds are able to cooperate with each other without too much worry about the places in the wire diagram occupied by their respective roosts.
Agreed and the concept of a Kampfgruppe clearly predates WW II. It certainly requires a solid and common understanding of tactics, as well as a willingness to not worry about egos and, as you note, established hierarchies to work well, but the payoff is obvious. Just look at what happened in Crete during Operation Mercury, where von Moltke the Elder’s dictum about plans smacked everyone involved right in the face. Might it also have something to do with straightforward plans and a relentless focus on mission and objective (task and purpose?)?
This feels just like the incident with the machine gun platoon, but with more fire support, indirect and direct, on the German side. Same old result however. I wonder if it occurred to the platoon leader here to reinforce the machine gun platoon instead of just falling back?
I think that you have hit upon a major difference between British and German tactics in this period. As you will see in the last post of this series, the author of the report makes note of the degree to which German small units of various kinds are able to cooperate with each other without too much worry about the places in the wire diagram occupied by their respective roosts.
Agreed and the concept of a Kampfgruppe clearly predates WW II. It certainly requires a solid and common understanding of tactics, as well as a willingness to not worry about egos and, as you note, established hierarchies to work well, but the payoff is obvious. Just look at what happened in Crete during Operation Mercury, where von Moltke the Elder’s dictum about plans smacked everyone involved right in the face. Might it also have something to do with straightforward plans and a relentless focus on mission and objective (task and purpose?)?