[.uk] Stormtroop Tactics: Innovation in the German Army, 1914-1918 (ISBN 0275954013)

German Innovation:
This is and excellent text on German Infantry tactics of WWI (1914-1918). The Germans were always innovators when it applied to warfare, in WWI with the trench war at a stale mate the Germans formed these elite infantry "Stormtroop" units to infiltrate and breakthrough the lines to make way for their follow on troops. In this highly detailed account of the tactics employed by these Stormtrooper you will read how they were employed in mountain and fortress warfare, how they were organized and their special assault units. It is amazing to see a lot of these types of tactics are still employed today.

One of the best books ever written on WWI infantry:
I have read this book three or four times since I first purchased it in 1989, and it never fails to impress me with the attention to detail and meticulously researched origins of modern infantry combat. The book covers events leading up to WWI that cause turmoil in the German High Command regarding the use of infantry, and how scrutiny of specific tactical employments in various battles in the early to mid stages of the war led to the first experimental stormtroop unit. The book goes on to document the unit's successes and the eventual adoption of special stormtroop units to spearhead attacks at the division level, and finally how complete divisions were organized in the stormtroop fashion. All the major personalities, weaponry, and tactics involved are described in detail, and while dramatic descriptions of the gory and macabre business of trench warfare are omitted, one can easily infer from the descriptions of sharpened entrenching tools and flame throwers how violent and terrible it was to be on the receiving end of one of those attacks. Author Gudmundsson's work interjects some objective scholarship on this subject in an age where it is not politically correct to acknowledge the German military's pioneering efforts in both world wars in establishing modern combined arms tactics.

A study of innovasion under fire:
The German Army of World War I created some of the most basic principles of what we call today 3rd Generation Warfare, which many armies worldwide are still unable to implement or even understand its essence. The book is a great contribution to the history of the innovative stormtroop tactics, how they came to prominence, what kind of problems they solved and why the Germans were the first among the belligerents to find such revolutionary solutions. The focus of the book is not so much on «assault battalions» but on their tactics, although the various personalities are well covered. Gudmundsson presents also some examples of battles on the Western and Eastern Front (First Ypres, Cambrai, Kaiserschlacht, Riga, Caporetto etc.) in a clear and fascinating way and gives ample evidence of the good results that the German Army reaped from its new doctrine. I found most interesting the part about the nature of German delegation of authority and the culture of personal iniative cultivated among the NCOs and the junior officers. It is one of the best «force multipliers» ever conceived! There are no photographs in the book, only a few diagrams and also a few primitive and rather crude maps, but the text is worth the money.

Beginning of Modern Tactics:
The German Army's prewar focus was on operational matters, and tactics were neglected. This changed with trench warfare and the resultant lack of vulnerable flanks to attack. Because Germany was a new nation, formerly composed of a myriad of small states, the army was decentralized. So in small units, commanders tried different things; they were told the objective - but not how to accomplish it. The prewar lack of officers, and a belief that men had to be controlled - influenced perhaps by the rise of socialism - reinforced the early use of company columns which, upon contact with the enemy, deployed into closed order lines. This system lead to high casualties, poor results, and a search for a better way. From the beginning, however, some units used open order lines and suffered much less under fire. Without a centralized command telling low level officers how to do their jobs, new ideas were tried, and successful ones were spread. Because of shortages of artillery ammunition, short bombardments which kept the enemy's heads down were developed - essentially shock action. Trench mortars, developed from observation of the Russo Japanese War, served the same purpose, and poison gas was developed. More importantly, through the influence of limited objective attacks and special raiding units, the traditional infantry companies were no longer composed solely of riflemen. Flame throwers, grenades, and light machine guns were added, and units were allowed to advance as far as possible into the enemy position, with squad leaders given much more freedom to act on their own. Gudmundsson focuses attention on these sorts of developments up to 1917 but relatively little on the great 1918 attacks, which brought the new methods into use on a massive scale.

A good book:
Surprisingly well written. Informative. I especially liked the comparisons between the belligerents and the role of tactics in the different armies. It takes into account the "intangibles" of combat which makes this more interesting than mere technical descriptions of what, where, when and who.