German Mountain Troops

Washington: War Department Military Intelligence Division, 1944. — 180 p.On the European Continent the proportion of rugged mountain terrain is comparatively small, but many of the most difficult masses have considerable strategic importance because they are national boundaries. (The strategic significance of the European ranges is indicated in the map) In evaluating the significance of these mountains in its war plans, the German High Command followed two fundamental lines: Mountain masses must be exploited as defensive barriers; in an offensive campaign they must be forced in order to reach and destroy the enemy in his own country. As a result of lessons learned by the German and other European armies, the German High Command reached the conclusions that ruggedness of terrain is a critical factor, and that mountain operations require troops who are specially selected, trained, and equipped. It was believed, however, that the extent to which mountain troops should be employed is affected by the degree of steepness and rockiness and by the number of trails of the mountainous region in which operations are planned. Consequently, the Germans may, when forming a task force, use ordinary troops with a small cadre of mountaineers in relatively easy mountain terrain, but in alpine regions they use mountain troops exclusively. Present German mountain units, tactics, techniques, and equipment are the culmination of a long period of growth. Little attention was paid to mountain warfare in European armies till the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78, when lack of mountaineering skill caused a loss of 10 percent of the forces involved. As result of this lesson, the French Army founded the Chasseurs Alpins.