Tactics of World War II
World War II saw many new tactics used as technology advanced as the years went on. But also many old tactics were used during this time period as well.
German BlitzkriegOne new tactic for war was the German “blitzkrieg” or lightning war. This tactic was first used by the Germans in Poland when the Germans invaded them in 1939. The main objective of the Germans was to create disorganization in the enemy lines through mobile forces like tanks and infantry and then concentrated firepower. This was very successful in short military campaigns that would limit total human loses. The tactic was used successfully in Poland, Belgium, the Netherlands and also in France during 1940. The tactic was also used in North Africa by Erwin Rommel and then U.S. commander General George Patton used this tactic in the European Theater.
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Carrier PigeonsOne tactic that may surprise some people, is that carrier pigeons were used heavily in the Second World War. Just the British alone used around 250,000 homing pigeons to carry secret messages around. This was not the first time pigeons were used, the tactic dates back to the ancient Persian Army. Pigeons were used because unlike communication signals, pigeons were rarely caught by enemy forces. Although some were shot down by German shooters, they were very hard to detect. This allowed the British to become less reliant on radio signals that could be picked up by the Germans.
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Amphibious LandingAnother tactic used in World War II was the amphibious landing of multiple men onto a beach or shore. This tactic was pretty new because of the difficulty of landing a large force from the sea. The United States used amphibious landings heavily during the Pacific Theater when they fought the Japanese. The largest of these landings occurred on June 6th, 1944, also known as the D-Day Landings at Normandy.
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