Comments by "Arthur Mosel" (@arthurmosel808) on "Trench Warfare Legacy" video.

  1. Chris, please do research before pontificating. The Brist and the US among others used 8 men under a corporal as an administrative volunteer element. They formed a much larger platoon or company which was the lowest deployed combat unit. During the war the platoons wer re broken up into specialized squads or groups for an attack. The Germans did deploy an eight or nine man assault element in their storm troops which were disrupt the enemies rear areas,y headquarter, communications and supplies. The new infantry formation which was what initially used in WWII was a battle family of a machinegun eleme nt under its commander and a supporting/maneuver element with grenades and rifles. SMGs were to be used in both. The SMGs weren't delivere d in sufficient numbers and the battle families weren't completely organized due to losses and battlefield conditions. You will find that the French followed much the same logic. The US and Britain didn't follow that pathway. The US didn't adopted a true light MG, using the BAR to provide much the same role and reverted to larger sections. Manpower reductions reduced the number of these sections in the platoon during peacetime. By WWII, the US was planning on 12 an squads with no LMG or BAR and a dedicated BAR squad added to the platoon. The British on the other hand also went back to an 8 man "squad" probably as a cost cutting and manpower issue. Some form of LMG was added until they adopted the. BREN Gun which armed one man, they eventually increased their squad size to 10 as well. Now to LMGs and firepower. Germany didn't originate the. LMG. One example of an early one was the Danish Madsen (which the Germans used for awhile, going so far as equipping entire battalions with it to stop breakthroughs. Before the German MP18 came out they used various Mauser (no extra sized magazies since it did not have a detachable magazine) and Lugar variants that had detachable shoulder stocks, and 32 round drum magazines. There is a great deal more details, but you should look for yourself.
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