[billl]

My Dad was US Army Signal Corps in New Guinea, which meant he was part of scratch infantry units as required.

He told a story about serving under the Aussies. He said the officer didn't carry a firearm and kept standing up. When he asked him to stop doing that and asked why (both of those things) the officer said how else could he lead the men and it was his sergeant's job to protect him.

He did teach them how to load a clip of 5 and a bullet in the chamber so if the Japs counted to 5 waiting to reload, they'd surprise them with that 6th one.

[68skylark]

He said the officer didn't carry a firearm and kept standing up.

Thanks for your comments -- it's interesting to compare and contrast the way we fight and the way our friend and allies fight.

I just finished an amazing book by John Keegan, The Face of Battle. He described how officers in the British military by WWI often didn't carry a weapon and seemed to think that killing an enemy was a little bit below them. I figured that tradition was gone by WWII, but maybe it lived on awhile longer in the British military and other militaries (like Australia) that come from the British.