thoseconsiderationsonlydealtwiththepossibilitiesofenhancedreconnais-
sanceabilitieswithintheinfantry.DuringthefirstyearofWorldWarOne,
theseevaluationswererevisited,whenthestalemateattheWesternfrontforced
theEuropeanbelligerentstoreviewtheirinfantrytactics.²⁷⁰ThefirstGerman
fieldregulationregardingtheuseofthespecializedassaultbattalions(Sturmba-
taillone)waspublishedin 1915 .Thereafter,theconceptcontinuedtobeimproved
inaccordancewiththenewestexperience.Asaresult,Germany’sallieswereto
applyastate-of-the-arttactic;buttheyalsoadapteditsinherentinadequacies.
TheGermanassaulttrooperdoctrinebecameafullydevelopedconceptjustby
early1918.²⁷¹
Theprinciplewasasfollows:carefullyselectedvolunteersoldiers(mainly
fromthecorpsofengineers)weretrainedinspecializedsmall-scaleattacks
againstenemypositions.Theassaultsquadsweretomoveslowlyovertheshel-
ledno-mansland,creepupontheenemytrenchand,ifpossible,takeitbysur-
prise.Theyreceivedspecialequipmentforthispurpose,suchaswirecutters,
portablelightmachineguns,flamethrowers,daggers,bulletproofprotective
shields,highcapacityclipsfortheofficer’spistolsand,duringthelastphase
ofthewarwithintheGermanforces,eventhefirstsubmachineguns.Character-
isticofthestormtrooperʼsgearwerethehandgrenadepouchesmadeoutof
sandbagsthatweremountedtotheleatherwebbing.Theequipmentwascompli-
mentedbytheuseoftheM1 916 steelhelmet.Especiallythelattertwoitemswere
alsoadaptedwithintheOttomanarmy.
NotonlytheAustro-Hungarianassaulttroopers²⁷²butalsotheOttomanarmy
adoptedtheconcept.EnverPashagavetheordertorecruitanOttomanstorm
trooperbattalionbeforethebeginningofJuly 191 7, whichwastobecarried
outunderthesupervisionoftheInspectorateGeneraloftheOttomanengineer
corps.²⁷³ThisiswhythepreparationsforthedeploymentofanOttomanassault
trooperunitbeganinMay1 91 7.TheOttomanteachingstaffwastoundergoaspe-
cialbootcampontheaforementionedMaltepetraininggrounds,afteranintro-
ducorycourseinDublanyclosetoLembergintheUkrainefortheunit’scadre.
Thiscadrewastocomprise 23 officers,35NCOsand 16 privates.Beginningon
1July1 91 7theunitwastobecombinedwithpreselectedsoldiersfromother
unitstothe‘ConstantinopleAssaultBattalion’underthecommandofacertain
ŞükriEfendi,whowasundergoingspecialtraininginBerlinatthattime.The
RalfRaths,VomMassensturmzurStoßtrupptaktik:DiedeutscheLandkriegtaktikimSpiegel
vonDienstvorschriftenundPublizistik 1906 bis 1918 (Freiburg:Rombach, 20 09), 163 – 17 0.
AnthonySaunders,TrenchWarfare, 1850 – 1950 (Barnsley:Pen&Sword, 20 10),182.
Ortner,Diek.u.k.Sturmtruppen,19,22.
ATASE-BDHK1 449 D9Fi2a.
86 2ThePeakofKnowledgeTransfer