The Purpose with the position.
The purpose
of the Tune position
The construction was guided by the latest
developments in modern warfare
The Tune Position did not basically break with previous observations of the
latest fortification decades.
The value of advanced works was well known, and they were conscious of the
need of keeping hostile
artillery from the army and the Capitol. And
the Northern Front was exactly
built with advanced forts - supported by underlying batteries and positions.
In connection with the construction of the Western Enceinte there had also
been plans about constructing aadvanced fort at
Vallensbaek. The hole purpose with the Tune
Position was to advance the defense to a distance
from Copenhagen, where modern artillery could not reach it.
The Tune
Position came to live up to the last known experiences and principles of the
First World War.
The overriding principle was the big fields with barbed wire flanked by
small cavities
(bunkers with two recoil guns and a floodlight) and the slightly larger
galleries (bunkers with up to 8 man crew).
The fire of the flanking recoil guns on the barbed wire areas was precisely
the tactic that had required large casualties
among the attacking forces in particular the trenches in France.
Between caves and galleries, there were regular trenches alongside the
barbed wire, from where the infantry could counterattack.
The area in front of the position could off cause be aken under fire by the
underlying artillery.
The latest weapon technical and commanding experiences were used during the
the construction. Intelligence from the battlefields
came slowly but surely back to the Staffs. And there were much to report on.
The battlefields af World War one were laboratory bench for the firearms
industry - with
huge losses to follow. The military principles could not be revised as fast
as the new discoveries - and the battlefield swarmed with new creepy arms.
The machine gun with its
flanking fire had a terible
effect on the advancing troops, delayed in no mans
land by the barbed wire. It is estimated, that 5 mill. soldiers died due to this
weapon.
Gas (1914-15),
at first a relatively harmless teargas,
but later huge amounts of debilitating and deadly chlorine-
and mustardgas
1) Handgrenade(William Mills 1915),
Usefull aganst
advancing troops from the trench.
2) Eeg handgrenade with black powder
The
Flame-thrower.
Usefull against trenches and small positions.
The
Tank (Tank is the original code-
name for it)
Able to pass barbed wire and trenches
in front of the advancing troops.
The
Aeroplane.
Able to observe for the artillery and
attack targets with bombs.
Barbed wire instead of natural barriers
such as thorns and brambles.
Fields, 15-20 metres wide.
This new kind og warfare favored brand new requirements
for Blur and camouflage instead of sitting behind thick concrete walls, waiting
that the enemy came so close that you could fire him.
Now the troops and the arms were hidden until they appeared unexpectedly by an
attack.
Gone were the old colorful
uniforms. Gone were the ending rows and columns, that with felled
bayonet went marching to the final run om the enemy - often fired upon by
artillery or attacked by dragoons.
Gone were the magnificent forts with their surrounding batteries, replaced
by humble muddy trenches, caves, galleries and miles of barbed wire. Cuppolas
disappeared and were replaced with batteries hidden behind hills and slopes -
often shooting indirectly against an enemy that was only visible for the
observer.
