In reality, most likely less than half of Grenadierkompanie were equipped in this manner. The 3rd Parachute Division comprised three regiments of three battalions each and in addition had in each regiment a 13th (mortar) company, 14th(antitank) company, and 15th (engineer) company. The only such division in the west during the invasion period was the 17th SS Panzer Grenadier Division (Goetz von Berlichingen). Jun 27, 2014 - Infantry Battalion Organization | 1939 infantry division 1 1944 infantry division 1 .. howitzer) and three light (105-mm. Similarly, between July and December, 2,235 artillery pieces and 1,692 antitank guns were captured or destroyed. The Germans tried to find an answer in diverting additional men, materials, and factory space into the manufacture of tanks. guns as well as guns of smaller caliber, but lacked almost a fifth of its personnel. On the first of the month, Guderian estimated that the tanks and assault guns awaiting repair equaled about nine months’ new production. Each platoon had a wagon for carrying rucks and munitions drawn by 2 light draft horses and 2 infantry carts drawn by 1 draft horse. Until the fall of 1943 German airborne forces comprised only one corps with two parachute divisions. All the infantry divisions were committed on or directly behind the coast under the command of one of the four armies or the German Armed Forces Commander Netherlands. Soviet Infantry Company - April 1941 Special Rules: All elements are Poorly Drilled Company Headquarters: A notably sparse unit which comprised no more than the Company Commander and his staff offic-ers. The 1944 infantry division was set up as the basic type for new divisions as well as for the reorganization of certain old formations, as for instance, the Luftwaffe field divisions. Need for this type of company in the infantry regiment was brought out in … Organization charts of the new-style division (with 13,656 men)comprising three regiments of two battalions each had only just been published when further slashes were ordered. It had in fact the full complement of assault guns but only 88 tanks in all, including 50 IVs and 38 Vs. Besides lopping off three battalions, the new division pruned out the rifle squad and company while at the same time increasing the proportion of automatic weapons. The ubiquitous German infantry platoon was the backbone of the German military machine. The heavy weapons companies with twelve heavy machine guns and six medium mortars each were also superior in firepower to army units. This made German platoons considerably larger than their British equivalent, over twice their size. Theoretically, about on a par with the parachute divisions were the Panzergrenadier divisions which, by American standards, were infantry divisions with organic tank battalions, some armored personnel carriers, and some self-propelled artillery. The 1st SS Panzer Division, for instance, was supposed to have 45 assault guns, 21 Mark III,101 Mark IV, and 81 Mark V tanks. The result was the so-called 1944-type infantry division. The “tank” battalion had thirty-seven assault guns, five less than authorized. Rifle strength in the German division was about 1,200 less than in the American but the total division firepower was superior. World War II Armed Forces — Orders of Battle and Organizations: Last Updated 28.09.2011: German Army. Russian Rifle companies attacked on a frontage 350 wide, less at night or in woods, but up to 1 km in rugged mountains (Sharp, 1998). It was also substantially larger than could be supported by the dwindling supply of manpower after four years of war. antitank guns (called “Hornets”). All the panzer divisions were thus much larger than their American counterparts, the 1st SS being more than twice as large. The army was led by the Army High Command Oberkommando des Heeres – OKH for short – with its general staff. The decision ot institute the hybrid regiment was the result of practical front experiences gained over the war years. Exponents of the theories of Blitzkrieg, like Generaloberst Heinz Guderian, the Inspector General of Panzer Troops, believed that without a large armored striking force Germany could not hope to return to offensive operations essential for ultimate victory. In total strength and number and variety of combat units, the static divisions bore little resemblance to one another. Here again, individual variations were enormous. The miscellaneous tank armament of the panzer divisions was typical of the weaponing of nearly all units in the west and reflected the long drain on the German war economy of the Russian war and the increasing production difficulties imposed by the accelerating Allied air offensive. This is based upon the organization laid out in K.St.N.131V published 1 November 1944. The 91st Division went into combat with an attached parachute regiment. In practice, this would have likely also included Kar98k rifles with telescopic sights as well. The organic signal platoon was half the size of the German signal section and held only 2 telephone teams and one radio. The SS divisions, which had six instead of four infantry battalions, varied from 17,590 (9th SS Panzer) to 21,386 (1st SS Panzer). 2× Storm Platoons (0-1 Officers and 32-33 Enlisted), 3× Rifle Grenadiers (Schützen für Gewehrgranatgerät), , armed with 1 Kar98k and rifle grenade launcher each, , Grenadier (OR-1) to Obergefreiter (OR-3), armed with 1 StG44 rifle, 2× Assistant Machine Gunners (M.G.-Schütze 2), 2× Ammunition Bearers (Munitions-Schützen)*. Sharp, C. S. (1998). The problem (set in January 1944 by Hitler) was to trim the personnel to something like 11,000 without affecting the combat strength. The antitank battalion, supposed to consist of three companies of self-propelled guns, had actually only one company, equipped with nine 75-mm. They were superior not only in numbers but in quality. Each of the divisions had a separate and slightly different organization which in no case conformed to the type. Its six rifle battalions were organized in two regiments, which were supposed to be motorized; one battalion was supposed to be armored. of all German armed forces. The largest infantry division had 17,700 men organized in 3 regiments each with 3 battalions. Contrary to popular opinion, the Wehrmachtwas not so mechanized or technologically sophisticated, they often were left to navigate their terrain on horses, and their mechanized and tank formations accounted for about 20 percent of their capacity. German Soldiers Ww2. Even after the 1944-type division had been standardized, experimentation continued. In the case of the 77th Division, this organic lack was partly made up by the attachment of an 0st battery and a Volga-Tatar rifle battalion. The need, in short, was for new tanks in large numbers. At the end of October 1943, for instance, there were in the west 703 tanks, assault guns, and self-propelled 88-mm. German division artillery was thus roughly equal to that of a U.S. division. In the second of this series on the men behind the counters I look at the workhorse of the German army, the infantry platoon.. The parachute units were also much better armed than corresponding army units. There were basically 2 Panzergrenadier Division layouts in World War 2 the Pan… The strength of the 6th Parachute Regiment with fifteen companies was 3,457. The static divisions were formed at the request of Rundstedt in 1942 in order that he would have a nucleus of divisions not subject to transfer to the east. Known as the Infantry Division 1944, this new formation had a strength of 12,772 men as opposed to the 17,734 soldiers of a division in 1939, although its firepower had actually increased. First-class armored equipment remained a comparative rarity in divisions assigned to OB WEST until 1944. The planned total for the end of May was 1,994. This bears many similarities to Western and German formations, with the obvious exception of the Political Officer (Com- of the Heer's Volksgrenadiers. The table of organization for the 2d SS Panzer Division, on the other hand, called for 75 assault guns of which 33 were on hand on 1 June; 7 Mark III tanks, none on hand; 57 Mark IV tanks, 44 on hand; and 99 Mark V’s, 25 on hand. The German infantry was also known as the Wehrmacht with a strength estimated at 10 million soldiers at the time. George F. Nafziger is a foremost historian specializing in military organization with special emphasis on World War II and the Napoleonic period. The same order called for the formation of a heavy mortar battalion (with thirty-six 120-mm. This company consists of infantrymen and should not be confused with artillery even though the company functions as artillery. The KStN lists self-loading rifles with telescopic sights as the standard. Vehicles which were initially used to plough through mud at the same pace as infantry men, soon became faster and more manoeuvrable and therefore left the infantry behind, which called for the motorisation of infantry … Soviet Infantry Tactics in WWII: Red Army Infantry Tactics from Squad to Rifle Company from the Combat Regulations. The Mortar Company in the 6th Parachute Regiment actually contained the nine heavy (120-mm.) One panzer division (the 21st), being still equipped in part with captured materiel, was not considered suitable for service in Russia, although in other respects it was ready for offensive use, and in fact had exceptional strength in heavy weapons. Of the new parachute units created during the early months of 1944, OB WEST received the 3rd and 5th Divisions and the 6th Parachute Regiment (from the 2nd Parachute Division). Hitler was commander-in-chief of the Wehrmacht, i.e. 1× Company HQ Section Leader (Kompanietruppführer), 1× ​Administrative First Sergeant (Hauptfeldwebel), , armed with 1 StG44 rifle and issued 1 bicycle each, Each company troop was allotted one light draft horse that drew 2 infantry carts (infanteriekarren). The type of organizational tables for both army and SS divisions called for a tank regiment with one battalion of Mark IV and one battalion of Mark V tanks. Organization (Nov. 1944 to May 1945) Type: Shock Infantry Company; Origin: German Army (Nazi Germany) Time Frame: November 1944 to May 1945; Personnel: 2 Officers and 117 Enlisted 1× Company Commander (Kompanieführer), Hauptmann (OF-2), armed with 1 StG 44 rifle. The division had a full armored reconnaissance battalion of six companies, and an antiaircraft battalion. Although the German Army in the west on the eve of its great test was considerably weaker than planned in equipment, quality, and numbers, it was nevertheless a force strong enough to hope for victory in a battle in which Allied materiel superiority would be partly counteracted by the natural advantages of a coastline defense. Russia was unable to withdraw its heavy guns or retrieve tanks that were damaged or out of fuel. On the morning of Sept. 24, 1944, Staff Sgt. They lacked the reconnaissance battalion and had only three battalions of artillery. One result was to curtail the production of prime movers and parts. In October 1943, the division was drastically overhauled to reduce its size while maintaining its firepower. mortars which the tables of an organization called for, but in the 3rd Parachute Division, weaponing was miscellaneous, including 100-mm. Between 1939 and 1943 the German standard infantry division contained three regiments with a total of nine rifle battalions. The army panzer divisions included, in addition to the two regiments (four battalions) of infantry and one tank regiment, a self-propelled antitank battalion (armed more often with assault guns), an armored reconnaissance battalion, a towed antiaircraft battalion, and an artillery regiment with one light self-propelled battalion, one light towed battalion, and one medium towed battalion. Enjoy.Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ww2freak001Instagram: ww2freak001 K.St.N.131V "Grenadierkompanie" published 1 November 1944. German Soldiers Ww2 Small Business Solutions Ww2 Pictures Military Weapons Military History Troops Wwii Battle January 13. Chiefly because of the antitank and reconnaissance units, on the other hand, the division with 17,00 men was substantially larger than its U.S. counterpart. The 6th Parachute Regiment, for instance, had only seventy trucks, and these comprised fifty different models. The Infantry Battalion existed in two forms. howitzer or gun) battalions with a total armament of forty-eight pieces. The smallest subdivision of the German Army was the 9 man Squad, including its squad leader (a lance-corporal), two of which made up the Section. They lacked the füsilier battalion and had three instead of four artillery battalions. Most were experienced in the West and Russia. Although the static divisions were expressly designed as permanent garrison troops for the west, they were by no means safe from the periodic troop collection for the east. But the combined pressure of the Allied air offensive and Russian ground attack was rapidly creating an economic quagmire in which the harder the enemy struggled the deeper he sank. Nebelwerfer. * In the defense, the 2 ammunition bearers in the Fire Squad would form a third machine gun team with the reserve light machine gun held at the platoon headquarters. The Panzer-Regiment contained only one hybrid panzer battalion and one Panzergrenadier-Abteilung (Table 28), this organization was nearly the same as the short-lived Panzer/Panzergrenadier-Brigade in 1944. It is a partial translation of a German publication and using other sources, I could correct some small errors and inconsistencies, nevertheless take everything with … A total of 823, moreover, compared to a planned build-up of l,226. Germany had ten panzer divisions in Normandy, including five from the Waffen SS. The basic unit, the Rifle Company, was cut to 140 enlisted men and 2 officers, as compared with the U.S. Company of 187 enlisted men and 6 officers. In June 1943 the Germans had 2,569 operational tanks with 463 in process of repair. In reality four of the battalions had improvised motor transport (partly Italian), two being equipped with bicycles. Deception, German-Style • The Firefight & Actions in Combat • Instructions in case of capture • Working Forward • German Infantry Fieldworks • What the Germans Thought : Commands: Organization: • … While the 716th Division, for instance, had six battalions and only one regimental headquarters under its control on D Day, the 709th, occupying two and a half times as long coastline, had eleven battalions under three regiments. The Abwehr was the army intelligence organization from 1921 to 1944. The infantry regiments of the Infantry Division, Old Type, may be considered the basic type of German infantry regiments, as their organization remained for all practical purposes unchanged from the beginning of 1940 until the end of 1943. The division had no tanks. The latter contained twelve towed 88-mm. In 1939, the German army not only had five different kinds of divisions (infantry, motorized infantry, armored, mountain, and light), there were five different kinds of infantry division. The revised editions as well as the new volumes in the series will be highly welcomed by all interested in German military organization in World War II. Personnel strength of the army divisions ranged from 12,768 (9th Panzer) to 16,466 (2nd Panzer). Saved from ... German Uniforms Military Weapons German Army Luftwaffe Us Army World War Ii Division Ww2 Africa. On the other hand, like so many west divisions, its combat strength in fact was much less than it appeared on paper. The chief weakness of the parachute troops was one they shared with the rest of Rundstedt’s army-their lack of motor transport. January showed only a slight increase, but thereafter the deliveries to the west were sped up. (2) Howitzer Company: The infantry howitzer company is the 13th company of the regiment. The fact was quite different. Each battalion was supposed to have four companies each with twenty-two tanks. Company Troop (19 Enlisted) However, the average panzer division along the Atlantic Wall possessed merely seventy-five tanks. Army planners rejected this sleight of hand as impossible and contented themselves with a further cut from 13,656 to 12,769. The Seventh Army, which was to meet the actual invasion, had fourteen infantry (including static) divisions under the control of four corps. guns. Each of the infantry regiments had, besides its twelve rifle and heavy weapons companies, a 13th (infantry howitzer) and 14th (antitank) company. The best infantry units in the 1944 German Army were the parachute divisions, administratively under the Luftwaffe but tactically always subordinated to Army command. The Men Behind the Counters The German Infantry Platoon By Dave Murray January 2013. At the end of March, the situation had not improved; the number of operational tanks was still decreasing despite accelerated deliveries of new machines. Note that the word Panzergrenadier literally translated is “tank grenadier”, but the correct term nowadays is mechanized infantry or even armored infantry, but in World War 2 most Panzergrenadiers were actually motorized infantry. Certain divisions (notably the 77th and 91st in Seventh Army area) organized their six rifle battalions in two regiments. This is based upon the organization laid out in KStN 131n published 1 May 1944. At that time Goering proposed and Hitler approved a program intended to produce by the end of 1944 two parachute armies with a total strength of about 100,000 men. The division had also an antitank and a reconnaissance battalion. When studying World War 2, a common question that arises is what exactly each army group or unit name means? howitzers). At the end of 1937 the German Army introduced the organization that would take its Infantry Divisions into the coming war. At the end of December, the number had risen only to 823, the increase being largely in the lighter Mark IV tank. Second, the main source for this is the US Manual “German Squad in Combat” from the Military Intelligence Service released in January 1943. German Infantry Company - 1939-1942 Company HQ: The Command Squad was normally led by a Captain, although the fluid nature of German Command structure means the company commander may be of greater or lesser rank. In February 1944, only 1,519 tanks remained operational while 1,534 were under repair. They were to be an elite arm and were put on an equal status with the SS units in recruiting, armament, equipment, and training. "How Infantry Battalions Develop for the Attack," Intelligence Bulletin Vol.II, No.5, Section II. "A German Company in the Defense," Intelligence Bulletin Vol.II, No.7, Section III. The Füilier battalion, still charged with reconnaissance duties, was organized like a rifle battalion except that one company was equipped with bicycles and the unit had slightly more horse-drawn vehicles and some motor transport. ", The following was the organization of the. Table of Organization and Equipment of 1941 German Infantry Battalion The Soviet battalion was 676 men strong with 3 rifle companies and a heavy machine company, the latter with 12 heavy machine guns (but without mortars). "The secret of all victory lies in the organization of the non-obvious. Its chief was Colonel General Keitel. The term Abwehr (German for "defense", here referring to counter-intelligence) had been created just after World War I as an ostensible concession to Allied demands that Germany's intelligence activities be for defensive purposes only. Was 17,420 captured materiel was laid down in December 1941 when ten divisions ordered. 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