MG42 (4)

The second visit was not to the parade ground, but to an outdoor training area.

Low hills, woods, fields, and drainage ditches were jumbled together there. Hardenberg said he would let me watch an exercise in which an infantry platoon and a machine-gun detachment operated together.

The machine gun used in the exercise was an MG 01. Several men were needed to carry the receiver, water jacket, sled-type mount, water containers, and ammunition boxes. The soldiers unloaded the equipment and set up the mount with practiced ease, but given its sheer size, even experienced men needed time.

“Wouldn’t it take a long time to move that during a battle?”

“That’s why they usually choose their firing positions in advance. Then, if necessary, they move to a reserve position and continue operating from there.”

The exercise began in the way the German Army was accustomed to. The infantry platoon advanced, while the machine gun was set up on favorable ground behind them. When the enemy’s position was revealed, a flag went up to signal that the machine gun was firing, and the infantry used its fire to advance.

The exercise used blanks or flags to simulate firing rather than live ammunition, but that didn’t pose much of a problem for observing it.

At first glance, it was similar to what I had imagined.

But once the machine gun opened fire, a problem arose as soon as the infantry’s route shifted even slightly to the side. The machine gun could only track the target within the mount’s traverse range. To shift it any farther, they had to stop firing and reposition the mount.

The platoon leader sent a messenger to the machine-gun detachment. While the messenger ran over to deliver the order to change positions, the infantry remained stopped behind a low rise...