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Bracketing the Enemy - Forward Observers in World War II (Paperback)
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Bracketing the Enemy - Forward Observers in World War II (Paperback)
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After the end of World War II, General George Patton declared that
artillery had won the war. Yet howitzers did not achieve victory on
their own. Crucial to the success of these big guns were forward
observers, artillerymen on the front lines who directed the
artillery fire. Until now, the vital role of forward observers in
ground combat has received little scholarly attention. In
Bracketing the Enemy, John R. Walker remedies this oversight by
offering the first full-length history of forward observer teams
during World War II. As early as the U.S. Civil War, artillery fire
could reach as far as two miles, but without an ""FO"" (forward
observer) to report where the first shot had landed in relation to
the target, and to direct subsequent fire by outlining or
""bracketing"" the targeted range, many of the advantages of
longer-range fire were wasted. During World War II, FOs accompanied
infantrymen on the front lines. Now, for the first time, gun crews
could bring deadly accurate fire on enemy positions immediately as
advancing riflemen encountered these enemy strongpoints. According
to Walker, this transition from direct to indirect fire was one of
the most important innovations to have occurred in ground combat in
centuries. Using the 37th Division in the Pacific Theater and the
87th in Europe as case studies, Walker presents a vivid picture of
the dangers involved in FO duty and shows how vitally important
forward observers were to the success of ground operations in a
variety of scenarios. FO personnel not only performed a vital
support function as artillerymen but often transcended their combat
role by fighting as infantrymen, sometimes even leading soldiers
into battle. And yet, although forward observers lived, fought, and
bled with the infantry, they were ineligible to wear the Combat
Infantryman's Badge awarded to the riflemen they supported. Forward
observers are thus among the unsung heroes of World War II.
Bracketing the Enemy signals a long-overdue recognition of their
distinguished service.
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