The following report from Tactical and Technical Trends, No. 27, June 17, 1943, describes the tactics of German tanks in night attacks in Tunisia. [DISCLAIMER: The following text is taken from the U.S. War Department publication Tactical and Technical Trends. As with all wartime intelligence information, data may be incomplete or inaccurate. No attempt has been made to update or correct the text. Any views or opinions expressed do not necessarily represent those of the website.]

FIRE FROM GERMAN TANKS IN A NIGHT ATTACK A U.S. Army observer in Tunisia reports that in a German night tank attack against one of our tank destroyer units, the German tanks would fire their coaxially mounted machine guns at every object that had the slightest resemblance to a tank or armored vehicle. If the tracer ricocheted (indicating that it had struck a hard surface), it would be followed immediately by a round from the tank gun. Apparently the Germans did not mind wasting ammunition on rock piles, bushes, haystacks, etc., on the chance of perhaps getting a destroyer. Comment: German tanks often fire on suspected antitank gun positions. In Tunisia the "rock piles, bushes, haystacks, etc." were, of course, often used for camouflage.

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