A defensive fighting position (DFP) is a type of earthwork constructed in a military context, generally large enough to accommodate anything from one soldier to a fire team (or similar sized unit).

Terminology

Tobruk type positions are named after the system of defensive positions constructed, initially, by the

Italian Army "The safeguard of the republic shall be the supreme law" , colors = , colors_labels = , march = ''Parata d'Eroi'' ("Heroes's parade") by Francesco Pellegrino, ''4 Maggio'' (May 4) ...

Tobruk Tobruk or Tobruck (; grc, Ἀντίπυργος, ''Antipyrgos''; la, Antipyrgus; it, Tobruch; ar, طبرق, Tubruq ''Ṭubruq''; also transliterated as ''Tobruch'' and ''Tubruk'') is a port city on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near ...

, Libya. After Tobruk fell to the Allies in January 1941, the existing positions were modified and significantly expanded by the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (CA), who ...

which, along with other Allied forces, reused them in the

Siege of Tobruk The siege of Tobruk lasted for 241 days in 1941, after Axis forces advanced through Cyrenaica from El Agheila in Operation Sonnenblume against Allied forces in Libya, during the Western Desert Campaign (1940–1943) of the Second World ...

. A foxhole is one type of defensive strategic position. It is a "small pit used for cover, usually for one or two personnel, and so constructed that the occupants can effectively fire from it". It is known more commonly within

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

slang as a "fighting position" or as a "ranger grave". It is known as a "fighting hole" in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through c ...

, a "gun-pit" in

terminology Terminology is a group of specialized words and respective meanings in a particular field, and also the study of such terms and their use; the latter meaning is also known as terminology science. A ''term'' is a word, compound word, or multi-wo ...

, and a "fighting pit" in the New Zealand Army. In British and

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

military

argot A cant is the jargon or language of a group, often employed to exclude or mislead people outside the group.McArthur, T. (ed.) ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (1992) Oxford University Press It may also be called a cryptolect, argo ...

it equates to a range of terms including slit trench, or fire trench (a trench deep enough for a soldier to stand in), a sangar (sandbagged fire position above ground) or shell scrape (a shallow depression that affords protection in the prone position), or simply—but less accurately—as a " trench". During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

the term "rifle pit" was recognized by both U.S. Army and Confederate Army forces. A protected emplacement or concealed post in which one or several machine guns are set up is known in U.S. English as a machine gun nest.

History

During the fighting in

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

(1942–43), U.S. forces employed the

shell scrape Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses ** Thin-shell structure Science Biology * Seashell, a hard ou ...

. This was a very shallow excavation allowing one soldier to lie horizontally while shielding his body from nearby shell bursts and

small arms A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions). The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes ...

fire. The shell scrape soon proved inadequate in this role, as the few inches of dirt above the soldier's body could often be penetrated by bullets or shell fragments. It also exposed the user to assault by enemy

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful ...

s, which could crush a soldier inside a shallow shell scrape by driving into it, then making a simple half-turn. After the Battle of Kasserine Pass (early 1943), U.S. troops increasingly adopted the modern ''

foxhole Foxhole may refer to: * Foxhole, a type of defensive fighting position constructed in a military context * Foxholes, Hertford, an eastern suburb of Hertford * Foxholes, North Yorkshire, a village and civil parish in Northern England * Foxhole, Cor ...

'', a vertical, bottle-shaped hole that allowed a soldier to stand and fight with head and shoulders exposed. The foxhole widened near the bottom to allow a soldier to crouch down while under intense

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during si ...

fire or tank attack. Foxholes could be enlarged to two-soldier fighting positions, as well as excavated with firing steps for crew-served weapons or sumps for water drainage or live enemy grenade disposal.

Tobruks

The Germans used hardened fortifications in North Africa and later in other fortifications, such as the

Atlantic Wall The Atlantic Wall (german: link=no, Atlantikwall) was an extensive system of coastal defences and fortifications built by Nazi Germany between 1942 and 1944 along the coast of continental Europe and Scandinavia as a defence against an anticip ...

, that were in essence foxholes made from concrete. The Germans knew them officially as ''Ringstände''; the Allies called them "Tobruks" because they had first encountered the structures during the fighting in Africa.Zaloga, Steven J. ''D-Day Fortifications in Normandy'' (Osprey Publishing Ltd.) p.21 Frequently, the Germans put a turret from an obsolete French or German tank on the foxhole. This gave the Tobruk enhanced firepower and the gunner protection from shrapnel and small arms. Image:German turret at Omaha Beach.jpg, German VK 3001H prototype turret mounted on "Tobruk" at Omaha Beach, June 1944 File:Tobruk at the CI Military Museum.JPG, Tobruk protecting the entrance to the bunker that now houses the Channel Islands Military Museum. This turret from a

Renault R35 The Renault R35, an abbreviation of ''Char léger Modèle 1935 R'' or R 35, was a French light infantry tank of the Second World War. Designed from 1933 onwards and produced from 1936, the type was intended as an infantry support light tank, ...

was originally employed on a Tobruk at Saint Aubin's Fort,

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label= Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west France. It is the ...

Modern designs

Modern militaries publish and distribute elaborate field manuals for the proper construction of DFPs in stages. Initially, a shallow "shell scrape" is dug, often called a ranger grave, which provides very limited protection. Each stage develops the fighting position, gradually increasing its effectiveness, while always maintaining functionality. In this way, a soldier can improve the position over time, while being able to stop at any time and use the position in a fight. Typically, a DFP is a pit or trench dug deep enough to stand in, with only the head exposed, and a small step at the bottom, called a fire step, that allows the soldier to crouch on to avoid fire and

treads. The fire step usually slopes down into a deeper narrow slit called a grenade sump at the bottom to allow for live grenades to be kicked in to minimize damage from grenade fragments. When possible, DFPs are revetted with corrugated iron, star pickets and wire or local substitutes. Ideally, the revetting will also be dug in below ground level so as to minimise damage from fire and tank tracks. The revetting helps the DFP resist cave-in from near misses from artillery or mortars and tank tracks. Time permitting, DFPs can be enlarged to allow a

machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles ...

crew and

ammunition Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other we ...

to be protected, as well as additional overhead cover via timbers. In training, DFPs are usually dug by hand or in some cases by mechanical trench diggers. On operations, explosives, especially shaped charges ("beehives"), may be used to increase the speed of development. Developing and maintaining DFPs is a constant and ongoing task for soldiers deployed in combat areas. For this reason, in some armies, infantry soldiers are referred to as "gravel technicians", as they spend so much time digging. Because of the large expenditure in effort and materials required to build a DFP, it is important to ensure that the DFP is correctly sited. In order to site the DFP, the officer in charge ("OIC") should view the ground from the same level that the intended user's weapons will be sighted from. Normally, the OIC will need to lie on his belly to obtain the required perspective. This ensures that the position will be able to cover the desired sector. File:3rd Battalion 4th Marines dig in near Iraqi border 2003-03-20.JPEG, US Marines digging 'fighting holes' near the Iraqi border, 2003. File:US_Navy_030209-N-5319A-005_Seabees_of_Naval_Mobile_Construction_Battalion_Seventy-Four_(NMCB-74)_have_only_ten_minutes_to_dig.jpg, US Navy Seabees digging 'hasty scrapes', 2003. File:US Navy 030209-N-5319A-006 Construction Electrician 3rd Class Justin Vizcarrondo assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion Seventy-Four (NMCB-74) uses an entrenching tool to dig a hasty scrape.jpg, US Navy Seabees near completed fighting position, 2003. File:US Navy 101104-N-8816D-008 Chief Steelworker Corey Mead, assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 133, digs a fighting position during training.jpg, US Navy Seabees constructing a defensive machine gun position during training, 2010. File:US Navy 081104-N-7367K-011 Seabees assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 1 keep guard the protective lines from a fighting position at forward operating base zero.jpg, US Navy Seabees with a completed defensive machine gun position during training, 2008. File:US Navy 101017-N-4440L-022 Equipment Operator Constructionman Travis Love, assigned to the air detail of Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB).jpg, US Navy Seabees completed defensive machine gun position during training with camouflage netting and timber supports, 2010.

Notes

References

External links

U.S. WWII Newsmap, "Foxholes are Life Savers"
hosted by th
UNT Libraries Digital Collections
{{Authority control Military tactics Land warfare Fortifications by type