BOOK REPORT
1. TITLE: Battle Leadership
2. AUTHOR: Adolf Von Schell
3. PUBLISHER: The Beginning Herald
4. PUBLISHED: 1933
5. PAGES: 104
6. COST: $22.50
7. SUBJECT:
Personal experiences of a young officer Capt. Adolf Von Schell of the German Army with observations on battle tactics and the psychological reactions of troops in campaign in the first World War. Discusses how to lead men in combat, how to handle different personalities, how to prepare your troops psychologically for combat and how to instill confidence in them.
8. OPINION:
Although Captain Von Schell wrote this book 80 years ago and wrote only of his experience in WWI it relates to today’s way of battle. This book is brilliantly written giving examples of leadership traits and decision making that can still be used today. Although the book is basically an AAR of WWI and what the Germans learned from their mistakes it is written broad enough that most lessons learned can be implemented into any combat situation.
9. INTRODUCTION:
Captain Adolf Von Schell entered the imperial German Army a few years prior to the outbreak of the world war. In 1914 he became a commander of an infantry platoon of Westphalin VII Corps during the mobilization. He participated in The Battle of the Marine, took part in several battles during the historic “Race to the Sea” and was wounded the first of several times during the war which caused him to be sent home. In 1915 he returned and part of the winter battles of the Mazurian lakes and later part of the Austro-German assault on the Polish Salient. From 1916 to 1918 he went from the East working with the Austrians to Ukraine, the Crimea and Caucasus where repeated engagements gave him a wide experience in the open warfare tactics of small units. Once the armistice came he was sent to operate against the Bolsheviki.
10. BODY:
In battle leadership the major question asked is, what does it take for a military leader to effectively lead men into...