Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
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ARMY
JOURNAL
I
JOURNAL
Number 157
-
June, 1962
Distribution:
The Journal is issued through Base Ordnance Depots on the scale
of One per Omcer, Omcer of Cadets. and Cadet Under OfIlCer.
AUSTRALIAN ARMY
JOURNAL
Editor:
COLONEL E. G . KEOQH, MBE, ED, (RL) .
Asststant Editor:
MAJOR W.C. NEWMAN, ED
S t a f f Artist:
MR. G . M. CAPPER.
CONTENTS
Page
Malayan Campaign 1941/42 Major J . A. Clark 5
Experiences In Short
Course Training General Frhr Geyr van Schweppenburg 18
Book Reviews 29
TOBRUK
I n the early S l n p s of World War I1 the British form
in Ua Middle End were faced b y a formidable l b l h ermy whlh
had crmved the wesiern fmnlier of Epypt and w m PrrparLa l o
nd-e M Alexandria and Cairo. The British Commander-irr
Chief. Fidd Madval Lord Wnvell, anticipated his ndveaary b y
IaurrMng an offensive with n u d r n l l y inferior forc3 on 6th
h e m h e r , 1940. I n n series of M l e v in the IIontifr area. the
Rritish I Armoured Division and I Indian Division heavily
defeated the Italiam. nnd m 3 ~ 3 4 t hJanuar), 1941. 6 Auslralirm
I X v i r i o n captured their drorqhold of Bardis.
After Rardin 6 Aur*ralian Division. s u-
d hy 7 Row1
Tank Regiment, moved on to Tohruk, a slmw Italian fo-
pmisomed by some 25,000 F p s , 200 gum a d some tanka.
E s r l y on 21cl Janusry the Divislon pnnched a hole a mile wide
ami a mile seep in the southern fare of the de(- follarrd up
rapidly sad hy the Sflemoon of the next dsy hd O Y m m
the I& pocks( of d s t a n c c . Resider 25.W pn- the boo@
included 208 pons, 87 tmdw, h m d d of motor vehider ami an
irnmenw quantity of militnry clorea.
Tht picture shows infnnlry of the Division d n r . the
Itdim w i n on the morning of Zi.( la-.
THE
MALAYAN CAMPAIGN
THE BATTLE FOR GURUN
DECEMBER, 1941
Major J. A. Clark
Royal Australian Infantry
"
0 I IO I5 10 21 50
Map I
THE BATTLE FOR G U R U N 7
c- - - . - -7
New b r i e e bvilt on &la of mad bridge over srmgd Kedah a1 Alor Star.
key personnel. But above all, ingly, both the official version
morale, already badly shaken by and our version of the battle are
events a t Jitra, was now con- given. Following these we have
siderably lower after the given the reasons for the
strenuous withdrawal of about calamity and have drawn con-
30 miles, on foot and in foul clusions.
weather over two nights. Need-
less to say the only aircraft in The Battle as k r i b e d in the
the sky were Japanese. By this British Official History
time they had been using the (see Map 2)
British stocks of bombs and The 11 Division plan for the
petrol a t the Alor Star airfield occupation of the new position
for 24 hours. placed 6 Brigade on the left
The Defensive Layout covering the railway and the
trunk road, with 28 Brigade on
The defensive position at its right and the depleted 15
Gurun had been reconnoitred Brigade about 500 strong, in
months before and the intention reserve. The 88 Field Regiment,
had been that, when required, with an extra field battery and
civilian labour would dig the three anti-tank batteries, pro-
defences. Officers had carried vided the support for both
out several Tactical Exercises brigades. Observation was how-
Without Troops in the area and ever restricted and the forward
some units had dug positions localities had only a limited Aeld
there. An elaborate position had of fire.
been p r e p a r e d f o r R e a r
Divisional Headquarters near The following is a summary
Sungei Patani. Preparation was from the official version of the
ordered on 8th December but important events in the battle:-
nothing was done as, although (a) 1400 hours 14th December.
the necessary civilian labour was About a dozen Japanese
found, in the confusion of the lorries carrying infantry and
retreat i t had dispersed. In con- preceded by three tanks,
sequence when the troops, who arrived near the cross roads.
had been flghting or on the move The presence of tanks came
for a week, arrived in the area as a great surprise. for it
they had once again to set about had been expected t h a t the
this arduous task. They had very damage to the bridges over
little time for the Japanese ad- the Kedah and other rivers
vanced far more quickly than would keep them out of the
had been expected. battle for several days. The
tanks were engaged by anti-
The Battle tank guns: one was hit and
Our examination on the the others withdrew.
ground of the defensive layout (b) 1400-1600 hours. Japanese
given in the British Omcial His- infantry steadily reinforced
tory and our discussions of their and 1/8 Punjab area pene-
official version of the battle trated. Morale was shaky
raised doubts as to the way the and some retrograde move-
battle was really fought. Accord- ments began,
ROADS
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SCALE:
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I - - MIL.%
THE R A T P I X FOR GIJRIIN II
-
utilisation of their strength, it enemy and to train that soldier
appears that a and tech- 1. Paneerwaffe: AlTnDUred troops. Inctud-
nical preparation for a military ing panzer-grenadiere (see "ate 8). h a -
"crash course" is necessary. This 22; A?"'" and 'see
EXPERIENCES IN SiiORT COURSE TRAINING 19
ALGERIA
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fiict which the hastily raised war you are looking for an example
time citizen soldiers have to be of a stout-hearted lighting NCO,
trained and prepared to cope you will find one in the squad
with. It gives anyone with no leader.
actual experience of war a useful E.G.K.
material for sober speculation. (1) The forces of the people can
How would we as a n army meet win a war against the army.
concerted guerilla activity, given (2) It is not necessary to wait
the austerity of our current for the fulfillment of all
organisation? conditions for a revolution
A few words about the conden- because the focus of insur-
sation t h a t follows are in order. rection can create them,
Repetitive material has been ( 3 ) The area for the armed
omitted. However, only a few struggle in under-developed
changes have been made in the America is the rural regions.
wording so as to insure retention Independent of a n analysis to
of the full fiavour of the original be made later, we place the fore-
work. This has meant, in some going conclusions of the Cuban
cases, retention of the tortured revolutionary experience a t the
and involved phraseology which head of this work as its basic
appears to b e charact&tic of contribution.
works of this type. War is subject to a definite
The briefings in italics at the system of scientific laws. Anyone
beginning of each section are violating them will meet defeat.
editorial insertions that do not Guerilla warfare is governed by
appear in the original. these same laws but is also sub-
- The Editors of Army. ject to special laws that derive
from the particular geographic
PART 1 - and social conditions in each-
country.
GENERAL PRINCIPLES
Our present task is to analyse
Esrentials of Guerilla Warfare this type of struggle and the
The guerilla force is the flght- rules to be followed by a people
i n g vanguard of the peoples seeking their freedom,
struggle against their oppressors First, it is necessary to deter-
a n d its agent - the professional mine the combatants in a
army. Guerillas strike and flee guerilla war. On the one side is
. . . give the enemy no rest. Their the centre of oppression and its
final purpose is t o annihilate the agent - the professional army.
enemy and t o obtain victory. On the other side is the popula-
The armed victory of the tion of the nation in question. It
Cuban people over the Batista is important to point out that
dictatorship, an epic triumph
recognised throughout the world,
clearly demonstrates the ability
of a people to free themselves,
by means of guerilla warfare,
from a government that is op-
pressing them.
The Cuban Revolution made
three fundamental contributions
to the mechanics of revolution-
a r y movements in America:
L A GUERRA de GUERRILLAS 15
(To be continued)