Tusko

i read alot of military history books (ww2 moslty) and am pretty much an armchair and a grog, but one thing i haven't found explained very well is enfilading/defilading fire. i read about it all the time, and i know its something very simply... but...

can anyone elaborate?

tropple

Enfilade is when you flank an opponents firing positions such that you can fire at them from the side. Ever see the movie Sgt. York with Gary Cooper? That's what he did when he stood at the end of the german's trench and fired down its length.

Defilade is a tricky one to describe.

Defilading is building up a defensive position so that an opposing force cannot shoot directly into it.

Think of two parallel ridges, one being higher than the other. The force that occupys the lower ridge is easily subject to fire from the force on the higher ridge. Now the force on the lower ridge, even if in a trench, are still somewhat vulnerable to easy fire from the force on the higher ridge. This, simply due to their relative positions, which allows the force above to look down into the trenchs of the force below them.

Defilading is building up a breastwork or fortification, or covering behind a natural obstruction, that is tall enough to obstruct direct fire into that trench on the lower ridge.

There's a trig calucation for the necessary height that a defilade must achieve, but I don't have it handy.

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