US vs German Squads (Mid-1944) Who was Superior? | Animated History

On a sweltering July morning in 1944, a squad of US Army infantrymen marches into an abandoned French town. Although their squad leader is vigilant, his senses are more used to the cramped alleyways of inner-city Boston than the rural French architecture that now surrounds him and his squad. As he gazes down the street, he hesitates momentarily, raising his fist to a halt. Something is wrong. Is it the lack of birdsong? Perhaps there was a footstep nearby. Or was it just the wind, whistling through the empty streets? He tenses up, certain that something is out of the ordinary, but he is unable to decide exactly how to proceed. His indecision proves fatal, as it gives the concealed German MG42 gunner the perfect opportunity to line up an opening burst, centered directly on the hapless staff sergeant. As their leader falls, the other Americans scatter, but more gunshots ring out from nearby buildings, dropping both their grenadier and an unfortunate rifleman. The streets offer adequate cover though, and the nine remaining men cower in confusion as the MG42 chews up the masonry around them. The trapped soldiers desperately return fire at the advancing column, but they are unable to break the German's formation or silence their gunner. Transcribed by https://otter.ai Hi, I'm Griffin Johnson, the Armchair Historian. On this channel, we're no strangers to the Second World War. But this video will be different from our usual format. Rather than recounting an event, we're giving a perspective. Today, we'll be examining this question. In 1944, between the United States and Germany, who had the superior regular infantry squad? Using modern day insight, can one gather enough evidence to get a definitive answer? Maybe not in a single YouTube video. However, we can look at the facts and at least try to get a basic idea of who had the edge. And of course, this is ultimately just our opinion, and the events depicted are entirely fictional. So then, how did we make our judgment? Our team researched the tactics, mentality, training, and weapons of both armies as they were in mid-1944. And we have used this information to develop a program which simulates thousands of squad-level engagements. Our simulations ignore outside variables, like supplies and support from other branches, in order to give each 10-12 man squad a level playing field to test their abilities. In this video, we will choose three random simulations to demonstrate the advantages and disadvantages which each side had. The third and final simulation will reveal which squad ultimately won war. The American squad is still pinned down from the German machine gunner, but all is not lost. Thinking quickly, the American assistant squad leader, a burly Texan known for his quick temper, primes a grenade from his belt and flings it out into the street. The sudden violent explosion sends up a plume of smoke and dust, and with a harsh bellow, the Texan rallies his men for a counterattack. While the German NCO yells for his stunned gunner to resume firing, the Americans plunge through the concealing haze created by the grenade and enter close combat, brandishing bayonets on their M1 Garands. As they charge, several riflemen throw more grenades, while the BAR operator hoses down the building concealing the German machine gunner, suppressing him at a crucial moment. Flushed from their cover by the explosions, several German riflemen are quickly shot dead, but others retain the presence of mind to return fire. In the ensuing chaos, the German NCO rallies the machine gun crew, and the Americans are caught in the crossfire. When the smoke clears, the American squad will have been reduced to only a few injured survivors, but their coordination and bravery in the face of the ambush have cost the Germans several casualties as well. A good effort from the Americans, but what went wrong? First, the Americans left themselves vulnerable to an ambush, and as a result, they lost their non-commissioned officer. But their extensive training allowed them to regroup effectively without a leader in the face of the overwhelming firepower of the MG-42. But despite the heroic Texan sergeant's best efforts, the heavily experienced Gruppenfuhrer, or squad leader, maintained his fire superiority and overwhelmed the Americans. Now, let's speed up the simulation a bit and analyze another engagement. A sudden shout of alarm makes the American squad instinctively dive for cover, saving the lives of a half-dozen men as the MG-42 opens fire. The German squad leader swears in his Swabian dialect as the enemy takes cover, and then orders the gunner to fire in bursts, not wanting his machine gun, the centerpiece of the German squad, to overheat at a critical moment. The Americans begin exchanging rounds with their opponents, their M1 Garands and the BAR issuing a retort to the MG-42 and the Kar98ks. What could be better than the M1 Garand? How about a genuine made in America magazine-fed M1918 Browning automatic rifle? This lovely chatterbox is there to support you and your brothers on the battlefield. Sorry Kraut, our boys won't be visiting G.I. Jesus today, and remember Private, with only 20 rounds per magazine, you'd better master the fine art of trigger discipline. While the Germans are engaged, the American squad leader issues a series of quick orders, splitting his 12-man squad into three smaller groups. Choosing to direct from the rear, he stays with his machine gunner, grenadier, and two riflemen, leaning out of cover to spray his Thompson submachine gun down the street. Meanwhile, the assistant squad leader leads the two other elements on a flanking maneuver. Then, a nervous rifleman stumbles over a loose cobblestone. Because of his inexperience, he has forgotten to take his finger off the trigger of his weapon and it accidentally discharges, startling the Germans and drawing their attention to the right flank. Unsure what to do, several German riflemen continue supporting the MG-42, but others realize the danger and turn to fire on the seven Americans caught in the open. Only the Bavarian squad leader realizes that they are in danger of being flanked, so he turns his MP40 on the enemy. The American grenadier fires a smoke grenade in a high arc in front of the German position. Slightly adjusting his aim, he fires a frag grenade a few feet beyond the smoke. Though he is unaware, he has just killed the German squad leader. With the thick phosphorus smoke obscuring their position, the Americans on the left advance quickly. One is cut down by a wild burst from the MG-42, but within moments they have closed the gap. The fight is short and brutal, with the Americans in the center joining in as soon as the MG-42 is silenced. Without a leader and surrounded by a ring of American steel, the remaining Germans are all too eager to surrender. In this engagement, we got to see the Americans showcasing their signature tactic, fire and move. While one group exposes themselves to advance, the rest of the squad draws and suppresses enemy fire from behind cover. The German tactics emphasized supporting the MG-42 and concentrating the entire squad's firepower on a single target, but the Americans spread themselves too thin for the Germans to have any clear targets, a perfect counter to this tactic. Now let's skip ahead to the final battle of the simulation and find out which infantry was truly superior. In a cool, steady downpour, a German squad marches briskly through the fog. As they pass a partially demolished church, their leader calls for them to regroup and catch their breath. Before anyone can open their canteen though, the crack of an M1 Garand breaks the stillness as the American squad launches into an ambush. The Germans quickly retreat behind the rubble of the church, and as the American infantrymen break cover, the Germans are quickly cornered. Their squad leader orders his machine gunner to the top of the cracked bell tower, while his riflemen steadily pour bullets down the cratered street. He frantically sprays his MP40 downrange, but the Americans continue to gain ground. Finally, the MG-42 erupts to life from above. As the German buzzsaw suppresses his riflemen, the American staff sergeant sees two of them cut down before his eyes. Understanding the severity of the situation, he throws away his cigarette, orders his squad to take cover, and they duck into the alleyways behind abandoned vehicles as he assesses the situation. Seeing an opportunity to separate the overextended Americans, the German squad leader pushes out of the church. His squad focuses its fire on an overturned truck. His men scattered by the enemy machine gun, the American staff sergeant gives new orders to a rifleman and a grenadier. After they disappear down an alleyway, he shouts at the rest of his squad to focus all of their fire on the MG-42. Do you know what an armed thug in the Mafia and the U.S. Army sergeant has in common? Besides bravado, both wield an M1A1 variant, a good old Chicago typewriter. Commonly referred to as the Tommy Gun, this weapon dispenses justice to America's enemies at a blistering 700 rounds per minute. We chucked away that clumsy drum magazine, and now it takes between 10 and 30 round stick magazines. Stay close to Sarge, and see the Jerry turn and run. As the MG-42 buzzes over their heads and cuts through the rain, the two detached Americans emerge from behind the church. After shaking the water out of the chambers of their rifles, they load fresh clips and sneak through a wooden door in the back of the sanctuary. Just before they make it to the stairs, however, the German squad leader spots them and orders three of his men to give chase. As they climb up the stairs in pursuit, a shot rings out, and the lead German falls backwards, nearly knocking the other two down, but not before they return fire at the Grenadier, who leans back into cover. Knowing that the Germans have to manually cycle their rifles between each shot, the Grenadier immediately reappears and takes both of them out before they even have a chance to react. Back outside, their squad is in a desperate situation. The second in command has sustained a head wound, the BAR gunner has been shot in the stomach, and the squad leader's matches are wet, which makes the predicament all the more severe. Suddenly, there's a commotion from the bell tower, screaming in German followed by the explosion of a hand grenade. Flakes of plaster splash onto the street as the entire tower begins to lean. Panicking, the Germans flee from the battlefield as it crashes onto their former position. The Staff Sergeant picks himself up, and while checking his pockets for spare matchbooks, orders his remaining men to tend to the wounded. This concludes our simulation. The Americans winning this fight represents our belief that the late-war United States Infantry Squad was marginally superior to the German equivalent. The average US soldier received more training, their cohesion was better, their tactics more adaptable, and their semi-automatic rifles gave them a distinct advantage. The German squad based its tactics around the MG42, a machine gun which outclassed the American BAR in many respects, but this created an easily exploited weakness if the MG42 was taken out. Results from our simulations show the United States winning 54% of the time, and Germany winning 46% of the time. This narrow margin of victory for the Americans goes to show how closely matched these two forces truly were. As we saw, the Americans failed to successfully ambush the Germans, and with the MG42 deployed high up in the bell tower, the Americans were almost completely immobilized. But in the close quarters of the church, we saw just how much an advantage the semi-automatic M1 Garand had over the bolt-action Kar98k when the Grenadier neutralized three German riflemen. This video is the first in a new series on this channel comparing different armies throughout history, and we plan to use this program to simulate many more matchups in the future. Leave a comment below telling us what two forces from history we should pit against each other in the next episode. And as always, thanks for watching.