COMPANY C, 49th A. I. B.     APO 258
23rd June, 1945

SUBJECT : Battle Experiences

TO           : Major DUGAS S-3 Hq., 49th Armd. Inf. Bn.,
                  APO 258, U. S. Army

1. In compliance with Par. 1 a. (2) BATTLE EXPERIENCES No. 103, 19th May 1945, the following report is submitted:

'I've been reading reams of material on how the Germans lost the damn war. That old goat, Von Rundstedt, claims our Air Force jambed them up. Thousands of experts from various branches of the army, navy, air force, WACS and what-not, have all put their two-bits worth in claiming this or that, and what's more, backing up their arguments with charts, maps, schematic drawings and a maze of figures.

'I'm prone to look on all this with a very jaundiced eye. I'll admit, Germany made a multitude of minor blunders that helped hasten the end; however, the real reason for their crushing and disastrous downfall is a fact so simple, so evident, so glaring that it has been completely overlooked.

'The German's greatest blunder that shattered their every hope of world conquest dates from the day their dopey ordnance designed all those fancy pistols. And when they passed them out, real lavish like, to every damn "Joe" in the German army, they cut their own throats from ear to ear.

'Couple this fact with the American soldier's propensity for collecting fancy revolvers and pistols, and there-in lies the answer to the disaster that befell that invincible 'Kraut' Army. Simply a question of Supply and Demand. The Ordnance, Q. M., Medics, Artillery, Air Force, M. P's, Engineers and the instinct of acquisition in the Infantry created an over-whelming demand. The "Krauts" were the only source of supply. The rest is now history.

'The fact that the Germans continued to flaunt their small arms in front of the American "Doughs" and then believe in their ability to hang on to them is inconceivable to me. Had any far-sighted German strategist seen fit to cause huge quantities of Mausers, Luggers, P-38's, P-37s', P-35's and P-what-nots to be manufactured and then shipped them direct, free of charge, to the American Infantry, glutting the market and driving the value down, we might have had a longer war to fight.

'In spite of this apparent blunder of the German High Command few combat leaders took the fullest advantage of this German weakness. I might say with some pride that I never issued a combat order without going over the enemy situation carefully in regard to their probable supply of revolvers and pistols, ending with the latest market quotations from other branches of the service.

'The effect was electrifying. Combat fatigue cases straightened up, the color came back to their cheeks, their eyes took on a healthy speculating glint. Platoon leaders never asked for volunteers for a dangerous scouting mission; the platoons just took off on a dead run, operating on the theory" first there, first served". The boys from the middle-western states probably had the edge on garnering pistols from applying the corn-husking technique on searching prisoners!

'The efficiency and success of a combat unit can be ascertained quickly by simply checking on the number of German revolvers and pistols to be found in the supply room. If a few stumps of arms are still clutching the weapons you have further evidence of a very hard hitting and impetuous outfit. Which brings to mind another mistake the Germans made. They designed the trigger guards too small on their pistols, making it difficult for the owners to let go of the weapon fast enough -- resulting in their losing an arm by having it pulled out by the roots.

'In closing I might add, on looking over an Intelligence Bulletin on Jap weapons I see they make something pretty snappy in regard to a pistol -!'