The simple model for atomic displacements by electrons of Seitz and Koehler is used to calculate the total number of displaced atoms in germanium and silicon due to electrons and gamma rays of energies up to 7 Mev. The calculations are compared to reported experiments in the literature. Electron damage at energies below 1 Mev requires the assumption of threshold energies less than 30 ev, while the higher energy electron damage data are fairly well explained by a 30‐ev threshold. The measured gamma‐ray cross sections for atomic displacements are an order of magnitude smaller than the calculated cross sections, even for a 30‐ev threshold both for silicon and germanium.