INFANTRY-TANK TEAM
Opportunity Lost Captain Putnam, Infantry, Sicily: “The infantry should be given practical training in cooperation with tanks. I don’t mean the armored infantry—they’re part of the armored division and work with them all the time. I mean ordinary infantry like us. I know our regiment didn’t have any training with tanks in preparation for combat. At Branieri we just didn’t know how to work with the attached tank unit. When our tanks came up to support us after we had broken up the German attack, we did not follow up the tanks properly as they went forward. Had we done so we could have cleaned out almost a battalion of Germans. We had not been trained to work with tanks, and we remained in position after they went forward. If we had known how to go forward with them we could have done a much better job and could have gotten all of the Germans’ vehicles and matériel. After this experience, we strongly recommend that all infantry be given practical training in cooperation with tanks in action. Get the infantrymen used to tanks and how to fight together with them.”
Lesson Learned First Marine Division, Guadalcanal: “The initial assault by our five tanks across the field east of our 3d Battalion lines at the ‘Battle of Bloody Ridge’ on Guadalcanal was entirely successful. They caused much havoc among the enemy and returned unharmed. Within an hour, they attacked again over the same terrain. Meanwhile, the Japs had had time to move 37mm AT guns into position along the edge of the woods at the eastern side of the field. These guns knocked out three of our tanks during the second assault. It thus proved extremely unwise to launch a second attack over the same route and terrain. This is especially true if there is sufficient elapsed time for the enemy to move AT guns into position.”
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Infantry-Tank Attack Lieutenant Colonel Perkins, Tank Battalion Commander, Italy: “Shortly after landing at Salerno we attacked a hill south of the town of Oliveto. The attack was up a winding road. The medium tanks moved down into the bottoms at the foot of the hill into a covered position and covered the light tanks as they went up. As the light tanks went up the hill both the lights and mediums fired on the enemy infantry. When they spotted enemy soldiers going into buildings the mediums took care of the buildings, leaving the light tanks to take care of the infantry and the machine guns. Both the lights and mediums stayed until the infantry took over.
“The ‘rush-to-battle’ idea is wrong. Here we creep up. Each tank should overwatch another tank; each section should overwatch another section; each platoon another platoon.”