Company Officer's Handbook Of The German Army - All Gauge Page

Section III.
EMPLOYMENT OF
SUPPORT WEAPONS
12. MACHINE GUNS
In siting machine guns the Germans stress the possibilities for
enfilade. During the present Italian Campaign a German division
commander criticized subordinate unit commanders because they
had violated this principle. He found that light and heavy machine
guns too often were sited frontally. This was done to avoid having
50 to 100 yards of dead space in front of their positions.
Stating that this approach to the problem was wrong, the division
commander ordered that the majority of the machine guns must be
sited to fire from flanks, and from positions screened from frontal
observation and fire (from reverse slopes, including the forward
slope in a depression, from behind cover such as hedges, etc). The
division commander went on to explain that if the enemy did succeed
in reaching the dead space, the machine guns could be shifted
quickly to previously prepared, close-range positions from which
the area could be covered.
The German division commander further objected to attempts to
obtain, also by frontal siting, a field of fire of 500 yards and more
in depth with light machine guns. He stated that light machine
guns are employed correctly when they are sited to fire at 250 yards,
because at this range light machine guns are "splendidly accurate."
The German commander concluded as follows: "When the enemy
is within this distance (250 yards) of our machine-gun positions,
he is unable, because of the area of the beaten zone of the shells,
to use his artillery against the machine-gun positions. His infantry
is then completely exposed to the devastating fire of our light
machine guns, snipers, automatic rifles, etc."
During the Tunisian Campaign the evidence also indicated that
the Germans insisted on siting their machine guns for enfilading
fire. They placed their machine guns in defiladed, well-concealed
flank positions, satisfying themselves with a small arc of fire in
order to do so. Furthermore, they employed alternate positions to
a considerable extent. The machine guns were also sited on reverse
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