JUNIOR LEADERS

Dragon, 1 December 1942, Page 16

JUNIOR LEADERS

If there is one lesson more than any other that this war has taught it is that of the paramount importance of junior leadership. No matter how skilled the high command may be the efficiency of the junior leaders is the factor upon which the ultimate success or failure depends.

The Axis leaders are keen students of and great believers in mob pyschology and a book, "The Crowd," written by one, Gustav Le Bon, though almost unknown to English readers, has been referred to as "The Dictators Bible." There is no doubt that they know it thoroughly and act on the principles put forth. Le Bon stresses that a crowd and an army right from a section upwards is a crowd, when under stress and in battle it is under stress is most susceptible to example.

The Axis tactics such as the New Zealanders encountered in Greece and Crete of dive-bombing, and the terrific noise created by the Axis weapons were not so materially effective as they were a strain on nerves. The Axis leaders realise this and hope the the result will be to find elements that will give and start a retreat as, as Le Bon states, such an example is extremely likely to be followed by others under the stress so applied.

The Axis forces have achieved success by this method in more than one sphere of the present war. In certain quarters they have employed fifth columnists to start these panics, and in others they have succeeded without that method. When subjected to stress of this type, the men look to their junior leaders, the subalterns and the N.C.O.'s. If these show no signs of any weakening there will be no weakening among the men. In other words, the strength of the resistance of a modern army is the strength of the weakest junior leader.

These leaders must inspire confidence. There is no shrewder judge of their ability than the ranker. If the ranker possess confidence in their leader they will go into battle with confidence, but if they do not posses that confidence their morale is weak and constitutes a definite danger to the whole force when the stress is applied to an army. One weak link can sap the strength of the strongest chain, and it is so with an army.

Junior leaders should realise the tremendous responsibility that rests with them. They should lose no opportunity of making themselves more efficient and gaining the confidence of their men, they should endeavour to visualise the situations with which they may be faced and endeavour to visualise how they would act. They must never forget that the cardinal sin is to do nothing. It has been said, and truly said, that under a weak commander good strategic reasons can always be found for doing nothing. The only leader, if he can be so termed, who has never made a mistake, is the one who has done nothing and never will do anything else.

Since much of the matter for "The Dragon" was written, a wet canteen has come into being at our camp. Therefore, a different complexion is now thrown on some of the articles published in this issue.