German Assault Troops of the First World War

To many it would later seem as if the rule book of war had been torn up and thrown away. World War I is usually characterized as a static war of attrition, but by its end a new doctrine of fire and movement emerged, with the squad as the key tactical unit, marking a fundamental shift in methods of warfare. As late as March 1918, assault detachments used these tactics to destroy the British 5th Army and take 50,000 prisoners. Stephen Bull traces the development of German storm tactics in the cont