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Tiny problem with BREN


luckyorwhat

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Originally posted by Fifty Cal':

Hi Michael Dorosh,

Thanks for the welcome smile.gif

Rather than me speculate on WWII tactics, I ain't that old :D have you seen these?

Infanty tactics

and

Infantry Anti-tank Tactics

and

Panzer small unit tactics

I have this last one as I've only a little experience of tank tactic's though I did see Chieftan's manouvering on a live range once and I got to go inside one whilst they were firing.

As for the anti-tank book, it reminds me of some great anti-tank training in Belgium, of all places, which is best retold after a few beers ;)

I own a couple of those, I was just indicating that the Bren was considered - AFAICT - adequate for the purpose it was serving in 1944, and that viewing it through the lens of modern day practice or recent experience may be doing it a disservice. I suppose a weapon is only as good as the method in which it is employed...a sniper rifle in close combat is largely wasted... ;)
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Mike,

I don't know that the Bren was criticized during the war by the Commonwealth forces that used it. In hindsight we can see that there were better solutions to providing firepower to the squad, but the Bren itself did what it was designed to do and did so reliably.

I have a book called "On Infantry" that talks about the development of the squad designs and tactics of the major armies of WWII and how they were influenced by the experience of the first world war. I didn't find any criticism of the Bren in there, but British training and doctrine are criticized.

The British were working from a view in which "artillery conquers and infantry occupies" and so they didn't place as much emphasis on the development of infantry tactics and weapons to support them as the Germans did. So the Bren was adopted because it met the requirements the British had at the time, not necessarily what hindsight tells us was the better choice. The British made perhaps the best choice they could constrained by their doctrinal view of warfare.

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Originally posted by luckyorwhat:

Perhaps the Bren could be viewed as a light support weapon?

No, it's a light machine gun and most sources agree that it was the best of its kind. Even my East German source agrees it was a great weapon. Its biggest limitation was the magazine feed.
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