Infantry Tactics of the Second World War

Physical demands Soldiers of all nationalities soon learned that there were gaps between what they had learned in training, and what happened in the field. In terms of clothing and equipment peacetime theory and wartime practice could be poles apart.The British manual writers were soon instructing the troops not to polish their ‘brass’, nor shine their boots; and officialdom joined the soldiery in accepting that the gas mask was just too big and awkward, introducing a lightweight model midway through the war. An Army Training Memorandum of 1944 suggested to baggage-laden British officers that they could limit their entire kit to ‘valise, pack, and haversack’ – and still not sacrifice their pyjamas. The Germans, with experience on many fronts, frequently wore their light fatigue uniform in warm weather, and discarded their old-fashioned Tornister or knapsack pack in favour of a small triangular canvas frame or ‘assault pack’; the versatile rucksack issued to mountain troops was also popular with those who could get them.

For US units untried prior to D-Day the impact of reality was abrupt. The result, as one 90th Division commentator recorded, was a ‘GI litter’ of items shed by the wayside:

You must understand that planners decided the basic infantryman must have, besides his weapon, a shelter half (half of a pup tent), a blanket, a mess kit complete with knife, fork and spoon, a gas mask, an entrenching tool, a raincoat, a couple of hand grenades and bandoleers of extra ammunition. The uniform was steel helmets and chemically treated fatigues … more or less resistant to poison gas. The treatment rendered the clothing virtually impermeable. Hence, it was hot. As we plodded along we sweated excessively and began to feel the weight of all the ‘essential’ equipment.

When unchecked the jettisoning of kit could become an epidemic. While most naturally hung on to weapons, ammunition and digging tools, the blankets, raincoats and gas masks often disappeared. Some decided the mess kit was a luxury, though the spoon was generally kept. Even K-rations came in for rationalization, with men gobbling down as much as they could and throwing away surplus packaging. Some US units became wise to the dumping, and had a truck trail the marching men to pick up discarded items for reissue, with admonishments, later on.

The transformation from the neatly attired novice going into battle to the veteran coming out could be remarkable. Pfc Egger recorded his cold weather combat gear as consisting of raincoat or wool overcoat, boots with overshoes, gloves, wool underwear, shirt and uniform, helmet with liner, and scarf tied over the head. One golden rule was never to look like an officer. A lieutenant of the US 35th Division going into the line was puzzled to see the dishevelled men of the 29th (‘Blue and Gray’) wearing their field jackets inside out. The blanket cloth lining had a duller, darker surface than the exterior, and this odd fashion was improvised camouflage. Not infrequently the long canvas leggings, which were time-consuming to lace, were thrown away – but this occasionally proved dangerous, as the result could look like a loose-fitting pair of German fatigues.What could be thrust into the pockets almost defied belief. Writing home on 28 January 1945, Egger examined the contents of his own, to find: a billfold, a pay book, two boxes of ammunition, two tooth brushes, water purification tablets, no fewer than eight bars of chocolate, a Bible, a can opener, cocoa powder, string, matches, a knife and ‘other pieces of equipment’. The US Combat Infantry Badge was a proud but dressy novelty, so much so that many men mailed them home and never actually wore them in the field.