Post by reverend on Sept 17, 2010 12:35:20 GMT
Location: Allied training camp
Time: 0800
Weather: sunny with a few clouds, light southwesterly winds.
A group of eight soldiers stood about chatting quietly amongst themselves by a dirt road surrounded by trees, each man carried an entrenching tool and there was a pile of small cut logs and sandbags stacked behind them. They had been only waiting for a few minutes when a voice cut though their conversations.
“You are all dead.” The men looked around for the voice but couldn’t see anyone. A few seconds later a section of ground lifted up and three men climbed out of a well camouflaged foxhole. Lieutenant James Goodwill marched over to the soldiers and they snapped to attention.
“All of you have just been killed by a machinegun nest.” James pointed to the foxhole and the other two soldiers removed the branches and sticks that had hidden the firing port of the foxhole, protruding from the hole was the barrel of a Browning .30 Cal machinegun. The soldiers where standing no more then twenty feet away from it, and a few seconds of strafe firing would have dropped all eight of them.
“You have been selected for a special ambush mission that is to take place at an time and location as yet unspecified. This training mission has been designed to prepare you for the mission. You will be taught the proper way of building and camouflaging a defensive fighting position.” James gestured to his foxhole. The two men he was with had pulled the cover off.
“This is what your foxhole should look like when you finish, you will have four hours to complete your holes, at the end of witch you will be assessed on it. You will split up into four fire teams of two and build two holes on either side of the road.” James looked at each soldier in turn.
“Begin!” He shouted and walked back to his foxhole, dropping down into it and taking a long drink from his canteen.
“You two can return to the main camp, let them know that the ambush training exercise has begun.” The two men saluted and marched off back though the trees towards the camp. James climbed out of his foxhole and watched the soldiers as they worked.
“Your hole should be rectangular, eight feet by four feet. The walls should be deep enough for you to sand fully with only your head and shoulders above ground when standing on the firing step, and fully concealed when in the pit. The advantages of having a two-man foxhole are it lightens the workload, also in a time of combat; one man can dig while the other provides cover. This also means that during a quiet time in battle, one man may sleep or rest while the other keeps watch, meaning that the front line always has a pair of eyes on it.”
James paced along the road as he spoke, his arms clasped behind his back, his head on a swivel as he watched the men dig. They where lucky to be in teams of two, James had built his own foxhole alone. The two machine gunners had joined him just as he was setting the last of the branches into place.
“Another advantage of this type of position is that you are not alone, you have someone to talk to, there is less of a chance of you getting bored and losing focus, plus…” James stopped and smiled at the men.
“If you get shot, the position is still manned, and therefore still able to repel the enemy.” He continued pacing and the holes got deeper.
“Once you have reached the proper depth you will dig a grenade sump. Your sumps should be four or five inches wide and stretch the entire width of the hole on the left and right sides. Make these at least two feet deep. These are there so you can dispose of any grenades that are thrown into your foxhole.” Once the sumps had been dug James let the men have a quick five minute rest, giving them water and letting them catch their breath before continueing.
“About a foot and a half in front of the hole, place a row of sandbags two bags high that span the length of your hole. Similarly, place rows of sandbags to the left and right sides of the hole three bags high. These support the roof and provide protection from shrapnel and bullets. It is a sorry solider indeed who forgets to protect his sides. In the rear, place a centered row of sandbags two sandbags high about a foot away from the hole but only two bags long. This will give you protection from the rear, and allow you to vacate your hole quickly should the need arise.”
James watched as the men followed his commands, he could have just told them what to do and how to do it. But he wanted to make sure they knew why they did it this way, the stages of the foxhole meant that at any part of its construction it could be used for protection from a sudden enemy attack. Be it half a hole that only one man can lay down in or a fully built and camouflaged position. It would provide a measure of protection. These boys where lucky that the sand bags where already filled and the logs pre-cut, anyone else would not have shown such a small mercy. Maybe James shouldn’t have, he should have made the men fill the bags themselves and cut the logs or find branches. What if this small mercy got them all killed because they couldn’t find a suitable replacement for a log or they didn’t know how to use the dirt from the holes to build a parapet. He had to make sure these boys could think.
“Who can tell me what would be used for walls should you find yourself without any sand bags?” James shouted. He looked around and one man put up his hand.
“Sir, we could pile dirt where the sand bags should be and pack it down tight.” James smiled with relief, at least one man here could think, or was at least capable of voicing his thoughts.
“The proper term for that pile of dirt is a parapet. Who else can tell me what would be used for roof supports should, for some unknown reason, you where unable find a stack of nicely cut-to-size logs out in the field?” A few men laughed while another spoke up.
“Sir, Branches would be suitable.”
“Very good, place the logs arcoss the side walls of your holes, cover with a tarpaulin or a poncho or even a couple of raincoats for waterproofing, then cover with a small layer of soil. This provides for shelter from the elements and fragmentation. Camouflage the entire thing and be sure to hide or disguise the displaced soil.”
James smiled as the men walked off to find branches and shrubs to help camouflage their holes. While they where gone James inspected each hole, they all passed his inspection. When the men returned and had their holes consealed James let them in for the second part of this exercise.
“Now that you have your Defencive Fighting Position ready, you must now man it and wait for a squad to come through. The squad could take half an hour, or it could take two days to come. The squad will be performing a training exercise in spotting and distroying ambush positions, your mission is to assasinate the comanding officer. I will be in my own foxhole inoder to watch the mission progress and decide if the mission was a success or if it was a failure.” James walked over to his hole and pulled out a few packs of supplies, divided up the contents and handed them to the men.
“We have enough food and water to last two days, pleanty for this exercise.” James checked his watch.
“Part two begins in half an hour, don’t let me down.” He said as he jumped back into his foxhole and repaired the camouflage. It would be a long wait.
Time: 0800
Weather: sunny with a few clouds, light southwesterly winds.
A group of eight soldiers stood about chatting quietly amongst themselves by a dirt road surrounded by trees, each man carried an entrenching tool and there was a pile of small cut logs and sandbags stacked behind them. They had been only waiting for a few minutes when a voice cut though their conversations.
“You are all dead.” The men looked around for the voice but couldn’t see anyone. A few seconds later a section of ground lifted up and three men climbed out of a well camouflaged foxhole. Lieutenant James Goodwill marched over to the soldiers and they snapped to attention.
“All of you have just been killed by a machinegun nest.” James pointed to the foxhole and the other two soldiers removed the branches and sticks that had hidden the firing port of the foxhole, protruding from the hole was the barrel of a Browning .30 Cal machinegun. The soldiers where standing no more then twenty feet away from it, and a few seconds of strafe firing would have dropped all eight of them.
“You have been selected for a special ambush mission that is to take place at an time and location as yet unspecified. This training mission has been designed to prepare you for the mission. You will be taught the proper way of building and camouflaging a defensive fighting position.” James gestured to his foxhole. The two men he was with had pulled the cover off.
“This is what your foxhole should look like when you finish, you will have four hours to complete your holes, at the end of witch you will be assessed on it. You will split up into four fire teams of two and build two holes on either side of the road.” James looked at each soldier in turn.
“Begin!” He shouted and walked back to his foxhole, dropping down into it and taking a long drink from his canteen.
“You two can return to the main camp, let them know that the ambush training exercise has begun.” The two men saluted and marched off back though the trees towards the camp. James climbed out of his foxhole and watched the soldiers as they worked.
“Your hole should be rectangular, eight feet by four feet. The walls should be deep enough for you to sand fully with only your head and shoulders above ground when standing on the firing step, and fully concealed when in the pit. The advantages of having a two-man foxhole are it lightens the workload, also in a time of combat; one man can dig while the other provides cover. This also means that during a quiet time in battle, one man may sleep or rest while the other keeps watch, meaning that the front line always has a pair of eyes on it.”
James paced along the road as he spoke, his arms clasped behind his back, his head on a swivel as he watched the men dig. They where lucky to be in teams of two, James had built his own foxhole alone. The two machine gunners had joined him just as he was setting the last of the branches into place.
“Another advantage of this type of position is that you are not alone, you have someone to talk to, there is less of a chance of you getting bored and losing focus, plus…” James stopped and smiled at the men.
“If you get shot, the position is still manned, and therefore still able to repel the enemy.” He continued pacing and the holes got deeper.
“Once you have reached the proper depth you will dig a grenade sump. Your sumps should be four or five inches wide and stretch the entire width of the hole on the left and right sides. Make these at least two feet deep. These are there so you can dispose of any grenades that are thrown into your foxhole.” Once the sumps had been dug James let the men have a quick five minute rest, giving them water and letting them catch their breath before continueing.
“About a foot and a half in front of the hole, place a row of sandbags two bags high that span the length of your hole. Similarly, place rows of sandbags to the left and right sides of the hole three bags high. These support the roof and provide protection from shrapnel and bullets. It is a sorry solider indeed who forgets to protect his sides. In the rear, place a centered row of sandbags two sandbags high about a foot away from the hole but only two bags long. This will give you protection from the rear, and allow you to vacate your hole quickly should the need arise.”
James watched as the men followed his commands, he could have just told them what to do and how to do it. But he wanted to make sure they knew why they did it this way, the stages of the foxhole meant that at any part of its construction it could be used for protection from a sudden enemy attack. Be it half a hole that only one man can lay down in or a fully built and camouflaged position. It would provide a measure of protection. These boys where lucky that the sand bags where already filled and the logs pre-cut, anyone else would not have shown such a small mercy. Maybe James shouldn’t have, he should have made the men fill the bags themselves and cut the logs or find branches. What if this small mercy got them all killed because they couldn’t find a suitable replacement for a log or they didn’t know how to use the dirt from the holes to build a parapet. He had to make sure these boys could think.
“Who can tell me what would be used for walls should you find yourself without any sand bags?” James shouted. He looked around and one man put up his hand.
“Sir, we could pile dirt where the sand bags should be and pack it down tight.” James smiled with relief, at least one man here could think, or was at least capable of voicing his thoughts.
“The proper term for that pile of dirt is a parapet. Who else can tell me what would be used for roof supports should, for some unknown reason, you where unable find a stack of nicely cut-to-size logs out in the field?” A few men laughed while another spoke up.
“Sir, Branches would be suitable.”
“Very good, place the logs arcoss the side walls of your holes, cover with a tarpaulin or a poncho or even a couple of raincoats for waterproofing, then cover with a small layer of soil. This provides for shelter from the elements and fragmentation. Camouflage the entire thing and be sure to hide or disguise the displaced soil.”
James smiled as the men walked off to find branches and shrubs to help camouflage their holes. While they where gone James inspected each hole, they all passed his inspection. When the men returned and had their holes consealed James let them in for the second part of this exercise.
“Now that you have your Defencive Fighting Position ready, you must now man it and wait for a squad to come through. The squad could take half an hour, or it could take two days to come. The squad will be performing a training exercise in spotting and distroying ambush positions, your mission is to assasinate the comanding officer. I will be in my own foxhole inoder to watch the mission progress and decide if the mission was a success or if it was a failure.” James walked over to his hole and pulled out a few packs of supplies, divided up the contents and handed them to the men.
“We have enough food and water to last two days, pleanty for this exercise.” James checked his watch.
“Part two begins in half an hour, don’t let me down.” He said as he jumped back into his foxhole and repaired the camouflage. It would be a long wait.
