“Position and camouflage are more important than I learned in the States. In training bear down on cover and concealment; bear down on the avoidance of the blundering approach, on patrols, on fire and maneuver—which are equally important.
“Battles move slowly; patrols can’t dash about.
“My battalion, instead of using ‘Scouts Out,’ used a full squad in wedge formation to do the job.”
★
Size of Patrols Lieutenant Colonel W. A. Walker, Tank Destroyer Battalion Commander, Tunisia: “Many men were lost in Tunisia by using squad patrols. The Germans used stronger patrols and just gobbled them up. A patrol should be either a sneak patrol, small enough to escape detection, or a combat patrol, large enough to fight its way out of difficulty. Never allow one man to go out alone.
Say It With Pictures! “The value of hasty sketches illustrating reconnaissance reports was proved many times during this campaign, but it is difficult to get such sketches out of untrained personnel. All reconnaisance personnel should receive sketching training.”
INFANTRY WEAPONS
IN JUNGLE WARFARE
The following comments on the use and effectiveness of infantry weapons in jungle warfare appear in the report of the 43d Division on the Munda Campaign—New Georgia:
Basic Weapons “The M1 rifle is doubtless the best all-around weapon possessed by our troops. Its serviceability under existing campaign conditions is excellent. Ammunition supply was adequate, since the rifle was normally fired only at observed targets. The Japs possessed a number of our M1 rifles, apparently considering them a superior weapon to their own.