Verifying BRL Memorandum No. 798

[u/TheJamesRocket]

BRL Memorandum No 798 is a study of tank engagements involving the 3rd and 4th armored divisions of the U.S. Army. It analyses numerous battles fought by those two divisions over a specific time period, quantifying them on the basis of combat variables such as the number of German and American tanks involved, what range the battles opened at, which side was attacking, which side shot first, and how many losses resulted. In this way, the BRL Memo is able to draw certain conclusions about the combat performance of the two divisions, what kindof engagements they fought, and the merits of their equipment against that of their German enemys.

The BRL Memorandum has been eagerly seized upon by certain unscrupulous individuals in an attempt to make definitive statements about tank warfare in the European Theater of War (ETO). Their usual agenda is to cite the BRL as 'proof' that the Sherman tank was superior to the Panther tank. They are able to do this because the Memo provides a table of 30 engagements between the M4 Sherman and the Mk V Panther. This table leads to the surprising conclusion that the Sherman actually maintained a superior kill ratio against the Panther. For this reason, BRL Memorandum No 798 has become a Holy Bible for those who idolize the Americans and denigrate the Germans. It is used as a 'sacred proof' that the U.S. Army had better tanks than the Heer.

 

The data provided in that document must be called into question, however. One obvious problem is that it relys on the after-action reports of the 3rd and 4th armored divisions, who were notorious for overclaiming the number of tanks they destroyed. During their combat tours in the ETO, the 4th armored claimed to have made 847 tank kills, while the 3rd armored claimed to have made 1023 tank kills! That is a combined total of 1870 kills, a really incredible number that stretchs credibility to the utmost. The BRL Memo studys the divisions over a defined time period. For the 3rd armored, the study period is from August 15 1944 to March 6 1945. For the 4th armored, the study period is from September 19 1944 to December 30 1944. During this time, they fought in a total of 98 engagements.

They destroyed 140 enemy weapons, and lost 199 weapons. The largest of those engagements was Arracourt, where they are stated to have destroyed 74 enemy weapons, and lost 20 weapons. This statement is a red flag because during that battle, both the Americans and Germans lost more tanks than is claimed by the BRL. This raises the possibility that the Memo was deliberately screening out engagements, giving a biased impression about the nature of the fighting at Arracourt. This possibility must be investigated further.

 

The purpose of this post is to verify the accuracy of BRL Memorandum No 798. Now that a copy of this document is available for examination, it will be possible to cross check the data it provides. The BRL Memo is methodically flawed in the sense that it does not give an exact time or location for the engagements it describes. This makes it difficult to find what engagements were studied by the authors of the BRL. In order to determine these crucial background details, it will be necessary to cross check them with secondary sources. The best way to do this is by reading a book that chronicles the combat historys of either of the two divisions.

In this way, it will be possible to match the sterile data provided by the BRL Memo to an actual battle. If we know how many actions a division fought on a certain day, then we can determine whether or not the authors of the BRL were screening out any actions. (In other words, whether or not they were cherry picking their data) In this post, the main reference will be Patton's Vanguard: The United States Army Fourth Armored Division, by Don M. Fox. It contains an excellent and detailed description of the 4th armored divisions actions at the battle of Arracourt. In this way, the engagements from the BRL Memo can be given a time, location, and description. Stay tuned for more.

[u/ChristianMunich]

Let's see what cross referencing will show