Recently I've been reading alot about American Army tactics in World War 2, and the strangest thing I've come across are foxholes. From what I understand, the infantry would run into these foxholes when they were under bombardment from mortars, or artillery. But why did they do this? I can't see how it would give more cover. Could anyone shed light onto how they assisted in those situations?
If a shell bursts at ground level being in a foxhole puts the soldier below the level shrapnel is flying around at. Those flying bits of metal are the main killers so putting yourself out of reach is very desirable. Soldiers in a foxhole are only vulnerable to a direct hit or near miss if the shells are using impact fuses.
Obviously foxholes are much less effective against air burst rounds, but air burst fuses were only in limited use on land during WWII.