Lee Enfield at War

[Bruce_in_Oz]

It was a better bet for the Germans to "melt away" into the next trench-line back and then heave a LOT of nasty H.E. stuff into the recently vacated trench.

To this day, "FRIENDLY" position data, (and potential enemy "form-up" points), are always given to their supporting MGs, mortars and artillery. These "defensive fire tasks" enable beleaguered troops to call down Hell on their own position if things go really pear-shaped. Even a simple "shell-scrape" will offer some protection, even if a lot of that is "psychological". This practice continues to this day.

In the 1960s, the Australian troops slugging it out at Long Tan called in artillery on their own positions. Anyone lying on the floor of the rain-drenched rubber-tree plantation was in some danger. Anyone standing up / advancing into that position was in deep trouble from shell splinters and chunks of shredded rubber tree.

Nothing "pretty" about it at all.

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[Sentryduty]

In the 1960s, the Australian troops slugging it out at Long Tan called in artillery on their own positions. Anyone lying on the floor of the rain-drenched rubber-tree plantation was in some danger. Anyone standing up / advancing into that position was in deep trouble from shell splinters and chunks of shredded rubber tree.

Smaller scale but similar concept, had things go a bit wrong with an M67 Fragmentation Grenade on a live fire section attack range, a grenade came to rest 3m (12ft) from my position. It was flat ground with no cover, no choice but to stay flat and hope for the best, after what seemed like and eternity, the grenade detonated and the shockwave rolled past. No injury to me, I wasn't in the cone of fragmentation even though I was well inside the 5m killing radius of the grenade.

[ufo8mydog]

1940. Australian soldiers boarding a troop train in Liverpool NSW Australia.