Rock

It's not the number of artillery pieces, it's 30 minutes into the engagement and both sides used artillery sparingly and they are effectively out of artillery support.

I'm pretty sure that if you read the AAR of 38th Calvary Recon Squadron for Jan 1945 they used hundreds of Trip Flare in their defense of the Siegfried line. "The trip flare continued to prove it's value over that of the anti-personnel mine. On several occasions they were tripped by animals which were easily identified in the illumination and would have made simple targets had they been Germans. The explosion of a booby-trap warning may get the tripper, but it reveals nothing and leaves the defender literally in the dark, causing unnecessary tension which generally results in confusion and a waste of ammunition." You can find the AAR's at this web site http://carlisle-www.army.mil/usamhi/DL/AtoZ.htm. If you also look at the Combat Lessons No.4 War Department Pamphlet, 1944 it will show how to make a Silent Sentry. All of the AAR's for the 38th Calvary Recon Squadron is interesting, you find: Bridges that are blown as they reach them, Sep 1944. There are several occurrences of tank destroyers and medium tanks being used in battery. Also look at the supplemental Dec 1944 AAR and pay attention to the amount of artillery used. Fionn and Martin did not have adequate artillery support for an assault on a town. [This message has been edited by Rock (edited 09-24-99).]

WORLD WAR II MEDAL OF HONOR RECIPIENT ANDERSON, BEAUFORT T. Rank and organization: Technical Sergeant, U.S. Army, 381st Infantry, 96th Infantry Division. Place and date: Okinawa, 13 April 1945. Entered service at: Soldiers Grove, Wis. Birth: Eagle, Wis. G.O. No.: 63, 27 June 1946. Citation: He displayed conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty. When a powerfully conducted predawn Japanese counterattack struck his unit's flank, he ordered his men to take cover in an old tomb, and then, armed only with a carbine, faced the onslaught alone. After emptying 1 magazine at pointblank range into the screaming attackers, he seized an enemy mortar dud and threw it back among the charging Japs, killing several as it burst. Securing a box of mortar shells, he extracted the safety pins, banged the bases upon a rock to arm them and proceeded alternately to hurl shells and fire his piece among the fanatical foe, finally forcing them to withdraw. Despite the protests of his comrades, and bleeding profusely from a severe shrapnel wound, he made his way to his company commander to report the action. T/Sgt. Anderson's intrepid conduct in the face of overwhelming odds accounted for 25 enemy killed and several machineguns and knee mortars destroyed, thus single-handedly removing a serious threat to the company's flank http://www4.army.mil/cmh-pg/moh1.htm [This message has been edited by Rock (edited 07-23-99).]