How hard would it be for a modern soldier to fight in World War II with period tactics, weapons, etc

Justice League had a few episodes where Vandal Savage transported the League back in time to WWII and Green Lantern's ring ran out of juice. So he became just another soldier fighting along with troops of that era, donning the uniform and using the weapons of the time.
Of course, it was an alt history since Vandal Savage was the new Hitler and brought with him all his tech. but the soldiers John/Lantern was fighting with had weapons appropriate to the period.


sorry, this just made me think of that.

 

A bit tangential but future tech is not always better. Consider aircraft for a moment, the fuel used has changed, so there would be technical issues fueling a modern jet in WWII. Ordinance would be limited, and beyond the ability to produce back then. Then there is the question of a heat seeking missile, would a prop plane of the time generate enough heat to meet the threshold for a target lock? A line of thought about the limitations of even knowledge being brought back, that may not function as intended.

 

Yes, except the J-20.

Granted, the likelihood of an aerial dogfight nowadays between 5th gen fighters is pretty much nil, but flyboy ace fantasies will never die in the world's top airforces (except, I guess, the PLAAF).

 

If you're able to get that close without getting swatted by SAMs, that tank column has probably been reduced to wreckage by drones and artillery by the time you get there. At least that's what seems to happen whenever someone tries to mass tank formations in Ukraine.

 

He'd probably do pretty well.

Second World War tactics are basically simpler versions of modern tactics in many ways and a properly trained infantryman would have no trouble adapting to the lack of fancy gadgets- infantry fighting in a full-on war still boils down to jumping in a trench and shooting and/or bayoneting someone. It was like that in my day and my grandfather's day. The bells and whistles to get you there just got fancier.

The size and weight of SMLE compared to the L-85A3 may be an unpleasant surprise, though, as well as the slow rate of fire of a bolt action service rifle.

 

Sorry for being late, but the F4 Phantom (1958 or so) was originally designed w/o guns. Practical combat brought them to later versions.

 

Yes. They might have had trouble 40 years ago, but modern IR missiles can track any heat signature, including air friction on the leading edge of the wings. Heck, if the seeker head is dark enough, they can even pick up a small flashlight.

 

My feeling is the soldier would have a lot of internal angst, knowing he could do so much more with modern weapons. When I was in the military—late 50s—we used the M1 Garand and later the M14 while the British use the 303. Both would pale to the M4 of today, so there would be a lot of frustration for the soldier. I was too young for Korea and too old for Vietnam. Lucky me, I guess.

 

The problem with the comparison of those weapons, is the Garand and the Enfield used rounds with stopping power. While the m16 and m4 are focused on a higher velocity round.

The logic used during the Vietnam War, was the smaller round allowed each solider to carry more ammo. Plus a round designed to wound would take multiple soldiers out of the fight, the one actually wounded, and the one to two required to assist the wounded.

Fun fact. MythBusters tested the movie trope of diving under water to escape bullets. The results were the tactic was effect against high velocity rounds which would break up in the first 10 feet, 3 meters.

 

Actually I think it would surprise you how well a modern soldier would adapt. The fundamentals of warfare have really not changed much from World War II so the ruck marching, marksmanship and such would already be developed; even more so if your time-warped soldier was SAS or SBS. A little weapons familiarization and getting acquainted with the battlefield would probably be all it takes. I am a U.S. Army soldier and I happen to own a No 2 Mk 1 LeeEnfield in .303 British used by the British in WW II and all the fundamentals of marksmanship apply to that as apply to my M4A1 in 5.56 NATO that I am issued in my unit's armory.

 

I hate to say it, but I only noticed just now that this thread was started in 2016!

Above unit level, the modern soldier might be unfamiliar with how combined arms were utilised in WW2, as a lot of modern doctrine was developed during the Cold War.

 

Interesting. Thank you for sharing your insights, Joe.

I'm not as familiar with the fundamentals of warfare as you are, but my concerns are about parts of the world surrounding the military, e.g.:

- Society's attitudes to minorities (blacks, women, gays, Jews etc.) have certainly changed since the 1940s.
- In the 1940s, most people didn't have access to conveniences such as running hot water - so, no hot showers.
- Ditto, no post-1940s technologies - e.g. computers, TV, washing machines. (Sure, some people had washing machines, and a very few had very primitive computers. But most didn't. Also, many people had no phones).
- Also, lots of foods that we now take for granted (e.g. different types of milk) simply didn't exist back then.

I'm sure a soldier from today could adapt to the conditions back then, but it would be one hell of a culture shock.

 

Duuuhhh, looking at the wrong date. I'm easily confused.

 

I didn't think they were still teaching the use of iron sights, since adopting the ACOG.

 

some units get the ACOG but most use the M68 reflex red dot. But even then tech fails so every unit I’ve been in has also taught irons. Kinda like we have GPS but still teach land navigation with a compass and protractor. Also even with scopes things like sight picture, breathing and trigger squeeze all come into play. If you fail those three, no scope is going to fix your accuracy problem.

 

Good points. We didn't have any of the fancy optics when I was in. It was the M16A1 and A2. My one complaint about the M4, is you no longer have the cleaning kit in the stock. The tolerances on the AR platform are so tight a little dirt can cause problems.