Infantry ammo loads: Malaya & Vietnam?

[Infanteer]

Then again, the Bundeswehr practically stuck to the dominant '34-'43 model of a squad being a machinegunner (80% firepower) with his escort and porters (20%) until few years ago. The average peacetime rifleman never really understood that his rifle was not his dominant raison d'tre.

('44-'45 saw experiments with an emphasis on assault rifles or with two GPMG per squad).

Which model was better?

[slapout9]

1-The 5.56 ammo was issued in a bandoleer with 5 pouches. Inside each pouch was 2-10 round stripper clips. The old timmers told us to take 2 bandoleers (=10 twenty round mags) as a basic load, empty mags were put in a empty claymore bag,grenades were put inside the original issue 20 round M-16 ammo pouches.

2-Our basic load was as Ken said 7 twenty round magazines, except when we were alerted during Yom Kippur War(spelling) OCT 73, the basic issue was 10 mags and they even gave us an extra ammo pouch and then they took it all back after the alert

[Fuchs]

Which model was better?

Not sure, but keep in mind that the all assault rifle model was a very offensive one - basically an assault squad model.

The 2 machine gun model was a very defensive one.

Strangely, the rather offensively-employed Panzergrenadiere with their support from AFV machineguns were the ones who took 2 MG 42 with them... (maybe simply because they could thanks to AFV ammo support).

In practice, all the TO&E squads were usually depleted to a single machinegunner and few escorts/porters; groups of 6 were quite common. German TO&Es from the 1942-1945 period are almost worthless; units varied a lot and were rarely at full strength.
A battalion being led by a 1st Lt and only about 150 strong with an above proportional qty of extant machineguns wasn't uncommon.


In the end, soldiers usually carry as much as they can because their superiors order it. Superiors tend to exploit their resources fully, there's little intentional self-restraint in play.

[JMA]

Which model was better?

I suggest that since 1945 such issues would be based purely on theoretical guess work in the German army. Ask rather where they got the idea from.

I have suggested that this issue (TO&E) be approached rather as a golfer does with his bag of clubs. Pick your club for the shot required.

I found that different equipment and ammo scales were required for just about every different type of deployment and in each different geographic area. I suggest that fixed TO&E are about as stupid as fixed tactical drills.

All this of course returns to the need for experience retention in units at all levels/ranks. Virgin units take losses that can/should be avoided.