Close Combat Question

[august winter]

Hi, i remember some time ago, reading an article which said that after the second world war, hundreds of allied troops were interviewed and asked wether they had shot at the enemy with intent to kill in close combat. I cant recall the actual statistics, but the bottom line was that maybe only 15 - 20 percent of the troops interviewed said that they had shot to kill. Apparantly the rest would just fire in the general direction of the enemy (if at all).

Anyway, does anyone know if anything similair was ever done with german troops after the war??

hope to hear from someone on this....

cheers

[Mansal D]

I've never heard of this from either side. I would imagine in the heat of battle, the multitude of things running through your mind is unimaginable.

[Pirx]

Yes, i saw once on TV documentary about soldiers that shoot over enemy in close combat. This situation was noticed first time due american civil war 1861-1865. Officers noticed that almost 80% shoots missed target. Most enemy soldiers were wounded or killed then they break down lines and run away.
In this movie was also talk about WWI, WWII and Korea, but i don't remember numbers.

[lwd]

I believe the info above was from Marshal's "study". His actual numbers have been pretty much discredited from what I remember. The short hand is he saw a problem and in order to fix the problem wasn't very careful with the numbers he used to get enough attention to do so.

[stab131]

SLA Marshal's study (Men Against Fire)

see http://warchronicle.com/us/combat_histo ... llfire.htm

Jeff

[Reb]

He misread the data (at best). American troops had been trained to shoot when they had a target. It was difficult to get them to do area fire or marching fire as a result since their instinct was not to shoot except at an identifed target.

Wasn't about moral qualms.

I'm unaware of any other armed force about whom this question has even been raised. Americans aren't such saints that we'd be the only ones if this phenomen were true.

cheers
Reb

[Commissar D, the Evil]

I have to agree with Reb to an extent and add this: Americans will shoot at any enemy. Marshall's study was more about the nature of warfare than about the nature of any nation's particular soldiers.

By the way, by WWII, everyone knew that an MG team was more efficient than an ordinary rifleman, one of the points Marshall made in his study. Crew-fired weapons are usually more deadly than some poor isolated sod with a weapon who has to seek cover for his survival.

Beyond the studies, if you truly want to understand S.L.A. Marshall's take on the American Army, read, "The River and the Guantlet", it is his classic story of the American Fighting Man, although it details a defeat.
Best,
David

[WT]

Here is a link to a US Army article which discusses Marshall's work and his errors.


http://carlisle-www.army.mil/usawc/Para ... ambers.pdf