Post by volkssturm on May 10, 2016 18:07:50 GMT -5
The thing about military history is there's always so damned much of it. I've been reading about military topics for 50+ years and this is the first time I've come across this. I'm currently reading "Operation Sea Lion," by Leo McKinstry about how Britain prepared to face a German invasion in 1940. He mentions that British Major General (ret.) J.F.C. "Boney" Fuller, strategistand prolific military writer, was a supporter of British fascist Oswald Moseley and a member of the British Union of Fascists. He escaped detention during the war because of his many powerful connections. I've heard of Fuller but am not that familiar with him, so I looked him up. He was a staff oficer in WWI and among other things was one of the authors of "Plan 1919." From Wikipedia:
"Plan 1919 was a military strategy drawn up by J.F.C. Fuller in 1918 during World War I. His plan criticised the practice of physically destroying the enemy, and instead called for tanks to rapidly advance into the enemy's rear area to destroy supply bases and lines of communication, which would also be bombed. He suggested a lightning thrust toward the command center of the German Army:"
"... every available bombing machine should concentrate on the various supply and road centres. The signal communication should not be destroyed, for it is important that the confusion resulting from the dual attack carried out by the Medium D tanks and aeroplanes should be circulated by the enemy. Bad news confuses, confusion stimulates panic .... (then) a carefully mounted tank, infantry and artillery attack should be launched, the objective of which is the zone of the enemy's guns: namely the secondary tactical zone some 10,000 yeards deep.[1]"
"so does an army depend for its power on the will of its Commander and his Staff: cut that will off and the army will be paralyzed. He proposed using Medium D tanks to disorganise the enemy’s Command in rear of the entrenched zone.[2]"
"The Allied advance and German retreat across France and Belgium in 1918 had begun to show some of the pace and aspects that would mark later mechanized warfare; British tanks played an increasing role, and German rear-guard defenses focused on stopping their advance.[citation needed] Although never implemented, Plan 1919 would have carried these trends forward earlier, and can be said to have formed the basis for later blitzkrieg tactics and the Soviet theories of Deep Battle and Deep Operations[citation needed]"
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plan_1919
If the British and French high commands had been paying attention to Fuller, they wouldn't have been so surprised in 1940.
"Plan 1919 was a military strategy drawn up by J.F.C. Fuller in 1918 during World War I. His plan criticised the practice of physically destroying the enemy, and instead called for tanks to rapidly advance into the enemy's rear area to destroy supply bases and lines of communication, which would also be bombed. He suggested a lightning thrust toward the command center of the German Army:"
"... every available bombing machine should concentrate on the various supply and road centres. The signal communication should not be destroyed, for it is important that the confusion resulting from the dual attack carried out by the Medium D tanks and aeroplanes should be circulated by the enemy. Bad news confuses, confusion stimulates panic .... (then) a carefully mounted tank, infantry and artillery attack should be launched, the objective of which is the zone of the enemy's guns: namely the secondary tactical zone some 10,000 yeards deep.[1]"
"so does an army depend for its power on the will of its Commander and his Staff: cut that will off and the army will be paralyzed. He proposed using Medium D tanks to disorganise the enemy’s Command in rear of the entrenched zone.[2]"
"The Allied advance and German retreat across France and Belgium in 1918 had begun to show some of the pace and aspects that would mark later mechanized warfare; British tanks played an increasing role, and German rear-guard defenses focused on stopping their advance.[citation needed] Although never implemented, Plan 1919 would have carried these trends forward earlier, and can be said to have formed the basis for later blitzkrieg tactics and the Soviet theories of Deep Battle and Deep Operations[citation needed]"
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plan_1919
If the British and French high commands had been paying attention to Fuller, they wouldn't have been so surprised in 1940.