Military zone

“ Then I bethought me once more of the letter given me by the War Office. I would go straight to military headquarters and ask them for an automobile. She vaguely directed me, and once more I started forth, leaving my things in her charge. The woman had told me to turn to the right. As I was leaving the girl called out that I must turn to the left. I revolved with that helpless feeling one has occasionally in the war zone, and they both began to talk at once, as is the habit of French people of that class when giving advice. ”

“ Traveling by automobile in the war zone is far more complicated than by train. Even in a gray military car, with two men in horizon blue on the front seat, you are held up at the entrance and exit of every town and hamlet, and often half way between, by the sudden appearance of a sentinel in the middle of the road, holding his gun horizontally above his head. ”

“ Combat zone in this sense is to be understood as the space in which normally a battle between two armies is carried on, thus extending to a depth of about 20 kilometers from the advance line. Places exposed to possible aerial attacks, however, do not belong to the combat zone. In this age of air warfare there no longer exists any sure shelter. ”

“ Provide such logistic support, including communications and transportation facilities, as may be required by the Military Armistice Commission and the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission and their Teams.
i. Each construct, operate, and maintain a suitable airfield in their respective ports of the Demilitarized Zone in the vicinity of the headquarters of the Military Armistice Commission, for such uses as the Commission may determine. ”

“ I am submitting it to the Tribunal as Exhibit Dönitz-93.
Will you please explain what can be seen on that map.
WAGNER: In the middle of the map you will find the British Isles. The large part of the ocean which is shaded on the edge shows the afore-mentioned American combat zone. The shaded parts of the sea near the British coast are those parts which were ordered to be German submarine operational zones. They were given letters from A to F in accordance with the time when they were set up.
FLOTTENRICHTER KRANZBÜHLER: Can you tell us up to which depth these German operational zones went? ”

“ Where temporary restricted land or water military zones and temporary land or water military administrative zones need to be designated for temporary military installations set up by the military for the fulfillment of their missions, said zones shall be jointly designated by the local people's governments at or above the county level and the relevant military organs at or above the regiment level, which shall file separate reports to authorities at the next higher level for filing. ”

“ Restricted military zones and military administrative zones shall be designated according to the nature, the functions, the security and confidentiality demands, and the requirements for effective utilization of military installations, and specific designation standards and determination procedures shall be prescribed by the State Council and the Central Military Commission. ”

“ Facing away from Paris, one looked over a valley, and in the distance could distinctly hear the boom of guns in action.
We were now at the outer line of the defense zone, within which all the roads, bridges, and valleys were held by infantry working in conjunction with the large forts placed at intervals in the great circle. Outside of this zone is open country in which battles are being fought ”

“ Lying still farther back is the third zone, which serves for the accommodation of reserves of troops, and is also prepared for defence, as a last resort, in case the enemy should penetrate the battle zone. ”

“ A zone of operations is a certain fraction of the whole theater of war, which may be traversed by an army in the attainment of its object, whether it act singly or in concert with other and secondary armies. For example, in the plan of campaign of 1796, Italy was the zone of the right, Bavaria that of the center, Franconia that of the left army. ”

“ The total area of the war zone is 174,000 square miles, of which the Western theater of the war, in France and Belgium, stretches over an area of 19,500 square miles, and it contains over 3,000 cities, villages, and hamlets, great manufacturing and agricultural districts, of which some have been totally annihilated and some heavily affected. ”

“ If the choice of a zone of operations involves no extensive combinations, since there can never be more than two or three zones on each theater, and the advantages generally result from the localities, it is somewhat different with lines of operations, as they are divided into different classes, according to their relations to the different positions of the enemy, to the communications upon the strategic field, and to the enterprises projected by the commander. ”

“ Many circumstances influence this selection, such as mountains, rivers, roads, forests, cities, fortifications, military dépôts, means of subsistence, &c. If the frontier of a state contain strong natural or artificial barriers, it may serve not only as a good base for offensive operations, but also as an excellent line of defence against invasion. A single frontier line may, however, be penetrated by the enemy, and in that case a second or third base further in the interior becomes indispensable for a good defence. ”

“ In what I will particularise as the —— area of the War zone, there is a small village-by-a-stream where Generals stride about the narrow streets or whirl through them in gigantic cars, and guards at every corner clank and turn out umpty times a day. ”

“ There was our forward zone, consisting of an outpost line and redoubts, very cleverly sited, and a line of resistance. Well behind it were the trenches which formed the battle-zone. Both zones were heavily wired, and we had plenty of machine-guns; I wish I could say we had plenty of men who knew how to use them. ”

“ THE OUTPOST ZONE.—For the Active Defence of a position the defensive system will consist of an Outpost Zone and a Battle Position. The Outpost Zone is garrisoned by a protective force which keeps a constant watch on the enemy and absorbs the first shock of the attack, watch being kept by means of well-concealed sentry posts on the Line of Observation, supported by a chain of small self-contained defensive posts, while resistance is offered by a series of self-contained, mutually supporting defence posts on the Outpost Line of Resistance. ”

“ At the Bureau de Place an imposing official read my carnet rouge, looked at my picture and record on the first page, and then turned to me with narrowed eyelids. I drew a short breath and shifted from one foot to the other. Frenchmen have very keen eyes and when they half close them you feel as if blinking aside a knife-blade. If I had had a guilty secret during that trip into the war zone I should have given it up. ”

“ A few yards behind the mouths of the communication trenches are the first dressing-stations, everywhere and always one of war's most ghastly spots. Paths make their way from these dressing-stations down the mountain-sides until they become roads, and, once they have become roads, our work begins.
Nowhere else are foreign soldiers upon German soil. Nowhere else, from Ypres to Belfort, do the lines face each other in a mountain range of commanding summits and ever-visible village-dotted valleys. ”

“ Special attention has of late years been given to the defence of the north-western frontier. Plans have been drawn up for the construction of more fortresses and of strategic railways and military roads. ”

“ The top of the summit is flat tableland, and afforded a very eligible site for strong military works. It was first occupied by the Americans early in 1776, when they commenced the erection of batteries, barracks, and houses, with the view of making it a place of general rendezvous, and a recruiting station for the army of the north. ”

“ It follows that each frontier should have one or two large fortresses as places of refuge, besides secondary forts and small posts to facilitate military operations. Walled cities with a shallow ditch may be very useful in the interior of a country, to contain depots, hospitals, &c, when they are strong enough to resist the attacks of any small bodies that may traverse the vicinity. They will be particularly serviceable if they can be defended by the militia, so as not to weaken the active army. ”

“ When a general enters a country offensively, he should form eventual or temporary bases,—which, of course, are neither so safe nor so strong as his own frontiers. A river with têtes de ponts, and one or two large towns secure from a coup de main to cover the depots of the army and to serve as points of assembling for the reserve troops, would be an excellent base of this kind. Of course, such a line could not be a temporary base if a hostile force were near the line of operations leading to the real base on the frontiers. ”

“ From this brief sketch of the railroad organization that feeds the front, we pass to a consideration of the war-freight which it carries.
2. Organization of the munition parks. At the rear of every army there is a “Main Artillery Park,” located at a point of easy communication with the distributing station and the front beyond. Military railways connect it with the “Army-Park Depots” farther on, which in turn are similarly connected with the “Army-Corps Parks,” and the latter with “Divisional Parks.” ”

“ A 'military station' is merely synonymous with the term 'military post,' and means a place where troops are assembled, where military stores, animate or inanimate, are kept or distributed, where military duty is performed or military protection afforded,-where something, in short, more or less closely connected with arms or war is kept or is to be done. ”

“ In the latter case it will always be prudent to have a second base in rear; for, although an army in its own country will everywhere find a point of support, there is still a vast difference between those parts of the country without military positions and means, as forts, arsenals, and fortified depots, and those other portions where these military resources are found; and these latter alone can be considered as safe bases of operations. An army may have in succession a number of bases: for instance, a French army in Germany will have the Rhine for its first base ”

“ The foregoing facts explain the significance of the Central Zone of nations for the German Drang nach Osten. The smaller nations and states have not been able so far to offer an effective resistance to the greater states either economically or by force of arms. ”

“ If the force is likely to remain halted for several days, especially if the operations are likely to lapse into Position Warfare, commanding ground is of great value to the artillery, and the Outpost Line of Resistance will probably develop into the Outpost zone of a defensive position. ”

“ The ridge which contained the front line shielded all the immediate back area from direct observation, so that even the garrisons of the support trenches could wander about in the open, while if there was "nothing doing," the men back in reserve could lie out in the long grass and bask in the sunshine. This was all very comforting and relieved the strain of war very considerably, but the advantages in the matter of organisation were illimitable. ”

“ The very trenches shout it at you, these universal thoughts of Home. Look at some of the names: Oxford Street, Petticoat Lane, The Empire, Toronto Avenue, Bayou Italien—even the German trenches have their Wilhelmstrasse! Each nation in arms is alike in this respect. Every front-line soldier longs for Home.
A singer whose voice was chiefly remarkable for its sympathetic quality, gave a concert within sound of the guns. A battalion, just out of the trenches, went to hear her. ”

“ Are certain salient points in a national boundary, strong by nature and art, and ordinarily projecting somewhat beyond the general line. The effect of these flanks is to protect the whole frontier against an enemy, as he dare not penetrate between, with the risk of their garrisons, reinforced from their own territories, attacking his rear, and cutting off communication between him and his base. ”

“ Numeral (5) refers to enemy soldiers in uniform who are captured in open combat by own troops stationed in the immediate combat zone of the beachhead or who surrender. "Own troops stationed in the immediate combat zone" applies in this sense to those of combat divisions on line as well as reserves up to and including general staffs.
3. In cases of doubt enemy personnel falling into our hands alive will be turned over to the SD, which will be responsible for the examination as to whether the order concerning commandos is applicable or not. ”

“ Far behind the front line trenches the ramifications of the services extend; for though a brigade may be holding a frontage of a couple of thousand yards, its section runs back through miles of land crowded with reserves, with light and heavy artillery, with transport services, hospitals and depots, and all the paraphernalia of modern war. ”

“ In the first place the territory occupied by each German army corps was divided into two zones, the first of which might be under observation of the Allies' lookouts, and the other only from captive balloons which had a wide radius of view. According to German army orders, infantry occupying the first zone were forbidden on clear days to move in any greater number (p. 304) than four men together, mounted men not more than two together, and vehicles not more than two at a time, with a minimum of 300 yards between groups. ”

“ When information has been obtained as to the enemy's position and that the direction of his advance is not directly at right angles to our front, or if the direction of march of our own army changes, it may be necessary to make repeated changes in the zones of reconnaissance. The manner in which this can best be done is a matter which experience alone can show us. The change of zones will often be possible in conjunction with the recall of detached squadrons and the sending forward of fresh ones in a new direction, or during the relief of reconnoitring squadrons. ”