German World War II Organizational Series Vol. 1/I. Mechanized Army and Waffen-SS Units (1st September 1939) PDF
Preview German World War II Organizational Series Vol. 1/I. Mechanized Army and Waffen-SS Units (1st September 1939)
6€61 60° STU) SS-UoyyeM pue Aury poziueyoopy GERMAN WORLD WAR II ORGANIZATIONAL SERIES by Leo W.G. Niehorster L la Volume 1/1 MECHANIZED ARMY AND WAFFEN-SS UNITS (1st September 1939) GERMAN WORLD WAR II ORGANIZATIONAL SERIES by Leo W.G. Niehorster Impressum Compiled and Published by: Dr. Leo W.G. Nichorster Aegidiendamm 8 3000 Hannover 1 West Germany First printed in 1988 Second Printing 1989 Second Edition 1990 Printed in Germany Copyright Dr. Leo W.G. Niehorster, 1988, 1990. All right reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means electrical, mechanical or otherwise, without first seeking the written permission of the copyright owner and publisher. CONTENTS GenevabIntioduction fe iciis sce an See ee as 4 low to tead the Giiatte. tee s.e cscs test eie sale etic aes 5 AD BRE VIA ONS Pe eRe oe v5 sind cess Ge baie es 6 German Units and Organizational Symbols............. 7 German Order of Battle, Ist September 1939........... 10 ist Panzer Division con. 5 tie ess ys pees ere 12 2hd Panzer Divisione. co's oye ene am Se es wine 26 pidPanzer Divisions. ccc ce os siesta seis cle sen ass 42 Ath: Panzer Division te ee wind. oes Fei bsiton ute « 58 StiePanzer Division oie. eae vie. siviee Geis anes os om 70 1st Light Mechanized Division. ..............-..05- 84 2nd Light Mechanized Division 3.0 6055 00 ices oes oe 98 Srd lant mechanized DIVISIONS agecr es ore aces oo to dibco ts 112 4th Light Mechanized Division. . ... 2.0)... 00504 ee 124 COth Panzer Division’. 4 2.6 sss tae eis ee tee Va ee 136 Armored Divisional Group “Kempf”. ..............-- 146 Infantry Division (motorized)erc.. ee ts ee 158 NNon-Divisional Units. 2525 5 ypcne co elereid yo wine e os 5a 170 Walien:8S Units iat Piste atigeery) o« oteeurelermty em jeniae 184 German Soft-Skinned Motor Vehicles.............-.. 188 German Numbered Soft-Skinned Motor Vehicles......... 190 German Special Military Vehicles................005 192 SOUTER ANG IN OLele COS eens 1, rai sear sera ta. alc 194 GENERAL INTRODUCTION The first thing that must be mentioned is that all mechanized forces of the German Army were in the throes of reorganization when the Polish Campaign started in September 1939. This in fact meant that not one mechanized division was identical to any other in organization, size, or strength. The Light Mechanized Divisions (Leichte Div- ision - motorisiert) were in the process of being converted to Armored Divisions (Panzer- Division), and were all in different stages of this process. The Panzer Divisions were being re- organized to accommodate new concepts and new weapons. The 1937/38 Panzer T/O&E’s were being scrapped for the 1939 ones, but only some were just beginning to be effected in some of the units themselves. Within the Panzer Divisions, some of them not yet more than 10 months old, several of the same T/O&E’s with different dates were found existing side by side. The validity lists of 1939 do not list all the older KStN although these were still in effect within certain units at the time. The 1940 lists, on the other hand, once again list these older KStN (Kriegsstarke- nachweisungen = T/O&E). E.g. all the Light Mechanized Divisions KStN are no longer listed in the 1939 validity lists, although these units certainly still existed and were organized as such at the time. The Germans did not necessarily issue their KStN on the dates indicated on them, and it is highly unlikely that the units conformed to these new KStN on the issue dates. The issue date refered to a specific deadline upon which the KStN were to become effective. In several cases, the KStN were issued later, although with this earlier date. Standard KStN were always issued on the Ist of the month. A provisional KStN was dated any other day of the month. These provisional KStN, (issued to test the changes to be promulgated), were then replaced by the official, standard KStN when it was ready. Sometimes, these provisional KStN remained in force, and in effect became the standard KStN. In this case, a ‘standard’ KStN (with an issue date on the Ist of the month), was not issued at all. As new KStN appeared, the old ones were supposed to be destroyed, at least at unit levels. This practice was carried out with typical German efficiency at higher levels also. The result is that only fragments of the KStN of the formation years (1936-1940) remain. The author has therefore extrapolated the missing KStN from other, contemporary and similar, or later dated KStN. The KStN of the unit being defined in this case has an *) behind it. These educated guesses are also based on what information could be gleaned from orders of battle, unit histories (where available), unit strengths, mobilization plans, and German tactical doctrine documents of that period. The author apologizes for any mistakes that have happened during this process, and welcomes critical comments and suggestions. Should any reader possess more founded information, or even original documents, I would appreciate hearing from them, so that in a future edition, the corresponding corrections can be inserted for the benefit of all. HOW TO READ THE CHARTS All dates are indicated in the following fashion: Day . Month . Year. (Thus, 10.11.1939 is the 10th day of November 1939). The ordinator for numbers in German is a dot (2). Where German units are referred to in their original German designations, this practice has been followed. E.g. the 22. Panzer-Division is the same as the 22nd Armored Division. The Germans referred to the large formations and the smallest units with an ordinator (i.e. armies, corps, divisions, and brigades, as well as companies and platoons), whereas regiments and battalions were referred to in the reverse order. Ie. Artillerie-Regiment 103 (mot), or Panzer-Abteilung 33. However, to facilitate the location of various units and to present a uniform system of identification, units have the identifying numbers indicated first in this work. Motor vehicles and armored fighting vehicles (AFV), have a number behind them in brackets. This number refers either to the German model number (either ‘Kfz. Kraftfahrzeug. or to Sd.Kfz. = Sonderkraftfahrzeug); or, the tonnage that the carrier is supposed to have. For person- nel carriers without a special number, the engine size is indicated instead. E.g. truck (3-ton) referes to a load-carrier with a 3-ton load factor. A Halftrack (7) is an 8-ton halftrack (Zugkraft- wagen) with the Sd.Kfz. number 7. A Car (2) refers to a light car with the Kfz. number 2. Etc., etc. The reader is referred to the section on vehicles. Vans are load carriers with a closed, hard body, usually of wood, used for office and communi- cations work. Trucks are load carriers that have an open bed, with a tarpaulin stretched over wooden or tubular metal hoops. The diagrams are based on the reproduction of the German organizational symbols of the period. The text beneath each figure has been used to clarify it. This text gives details about the numbers and the amounts of sub-units. It breaks down the KStN, giving the number and the date of issue. KStN that are no longer available are marked thus: *) The vehicles or items indicated behind the unit ing described indicate the amounts in one of those units. E.g. 3 It Tele Sect: 1 car (2/1), means that three light Telephone Sections each have one light communciations car. In some cases, several sections share a vehicle, in which case this is indicated in the text. E.g. 2 Pack Radio Sect: ride together in 1 truck (1.5-ton). Supply columns and administrative units are not normally included in the charts. t is important to emphasize to the reader, that these KStN indicated the maximum authorized organization. In many cases, they represented an ideal organization which in reality was not achieved. Both Halder’s and the OKW’s War Diaries are full of remarks indicating a lack of specialist personnel, equipment, and vehicles of all sorts, including armored fighting vehicles. In some cases, the vehicles mentioned in the KStN simply did not exist. For example, the Sd. Kfz. 260 and 261 (light armored radio cars), did not come into production until late 1940, although planned for 1937. In other cases, there were not enough of the in- dicated vehicles to fill the requirements of the issued KStN, such as the Pz-III, the Pz-IV, and the Command Pz-III (gr. Panzerbefehlswagen). The Pz-IIl, Ausf. D and Ausf. E were another case. Only 43 of the Ausf. D were issued, and the Ausf. E never reached the troops at all, (they were all converted initially to flame-throwing tanks). 3 In most cases, substitutes were indicated. The light armored radio cars were substituted by the radio vans (Kfz. 17). Some units were issued extra Pz-II to make up for the missing Pz-III and Pz-IV, while others were not issued the new KStN which reflected an increase in these medium tanks. The Pz-IHI command tanks were either sub- stituted by the command tank (Sd. Kfz. 265), or or by radio vans (Kfz. 17), or simply were not there. ABBREVIATIONS. i , eo aay ey ° c Rear aes Unter gent % pea seer te i Sree i ay reel s ‘ : = i an robes a ea v t 2 (GERMAN UNITS AND ORGANIZATIONAL SYMBOLS ceumcaendn a ome ae {6d ie acta gro edn pret! care | 1 Geen psn ca and, eaten io 1S athe te hg wetnpe N Tie? scopy emigre: an! ech af hc aaa had SICA Pity Ste cat fealy and 5 mentor ayetyeied on eam eae ay ‘Grp ony to aten-tye atta eaated te the et ‘pit coey ee anvend pra by # box wh are Ese Pees fi Sy we Sen oe Tmt ery (AA Ian owe a NG 2 urs Teor "Ase en lend HabGrmppe (2 Maa Le, Toa) Inte cae of 4) 2) Be | 2) slele[sfelelelelele GERMAN ORGANIZATIONAL SYMBOLS 1939-1940 MOBILE TROOPS. nial A¢[¢ esa] ta] ae INFANTRY WEAPONS, REAR ECHELON UNITS Ae
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