Historian analyzes Second World War surveys
For many years the acknowledged expert on the reactions of modern infantrymen in battle was the American writer S.L.A. Marshall, based on his classic 1947 book, Men Against Fire. In this slim volume, Marshall maintained — on the basis of supposedly numerous and extensive mass interviews conducted immediately after battle — that most American soldiers in the Second World War did not return enemy fire. Most of them (75 to 85 per cent) did not even fire their weapons at all; a trait assigned by extension to Canadian and British fighting men.
Despite his work on what he termed "ratio of fire," which was later shown as unscientific, Marshall’s "findings" are still accepted today as authoritative statistics by many military historians and analysts. Part of the problem in refuting Marshall’s conclusions is the lack of solid, first-hand historical evidence. Previously, many of those who disputed Marshall did so based on secondary indicators — until now.
During the Second World War, as Canadian infantry captains, majors and lieutenant colonels came out of the front lines in Italy and Northwest Europe in 1944 and 1945, they were given a lengthy battle experience questionnaire to complete, designed by the British army. These surveys contain a wealth of first-hand information from officers who had seen active combat. For years, the surveys sat unanalyzed in Ottawa’s Library and Archives Canada, until a colleague mentioned them to Robert Engen, a doctoral candidate at Queen’s University.
Engen combed through this newly revealed documentation and used it as the basis for his graduate thesis. His findings are startling and a "direct refutation of Marshall’s observations of a highly ineffective ratio of fire in Allied troops." Contrary to what Marshall claimed for U.S soldiers, Engen discovered that the vast majority of Canadian infantrymen actively took part in firefights and returned enemy fire. According to Engen, "Canadian soldiers displayed initiative and imagination in battle and proved to be capable warriors, frequently out-fighting their enemies in close combat."...
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Despite his work on what he termed "ratio of fire," which was later shown as unscientific, Marshall’s "findings" are still accepted today as authoritative statistics by many military historians and analysts. Part of the problem in refuting Marshall’s conclusions is the lack of solid, first-hand historical evidence. Previously, many of those who disputed Marshall did so based on secondary indicators — until now.
During the Second World War, as Canadian infantry captains, majors and lieutenant colonels came out of the front lines in Italy and Northwest Europe in 1944 and 1945, they were given a lengthy battle experience questionnaire to complete, designed by the British army. These surveys contain a wealth of first-hand information from officers who had seen active combat. For years, the surveys sat unanalyzed in Ottawa’s Library and Archives Canada, until a colleague mentioned them to Robert Engen, a doctoral candidate at Queen’s University.
Engen combed through this newly revealed documentation and used it as the basis for his graduate thesis. His findings are startling and a "direct refutation of Marshall’s observations of a highly ineffective ratio of fire in Allied troops." Contrary to what Marshall claimed for U.S soldiers, Engen discovered that the vast majority of Canadian infantrymen actively took part in firefights and returned enemy fire. According to Engen, "Canadian soldiers displayed initiative and imagination in battle and proved to be capable warriors, frequently out-fighting their enemies in close combat."...