Organizational history of 1st through 199th german infantry, security and panzer grenadier divisions 19391945 pdf. Narrative histories highlighting organization, combat experiences, and casualties of each division lists of constituent units and division commanders sources for further reading on each division this second of 3 volumes on german ground forces in world war ii covers the 291st through 999th infantry divisions. Infantry in battle was prepared by the military history and publications section of the infantry school under the direction of colonel george c. This video includes a description of the various regiments, battalions and companies. The standard german infantry division is still and will be through the end of the war foot bound and horse drawn. Some of the units of the division can trace their lineage to benjamin franklins battalion, the pennsylvania associators 17471777. Infantry support company 2 x mg platoon, 1 x mortar platoon 1 x inf. Alex buchner, pioneer, covers formations, rifle columns, light infantry weapons, equipment, rank insignia, armament, rifle groups, recon, the company, panzerjager units, support services and operational histories of the german infantry. Infanteriedivisionwas a formation of the german wehrmacht during world war ii.
Infantry platoon 3 x infantry infantry support platoon 1 x 50mm mortar 3 mg platoon 3 x mmg. The 88th infantry division in world war ii on jstor. Small unit actions during the german campaign in russia. And yet, the courage and aggression of the 84th conveys the message that this, a training outfit thrust into the heat of the eto, was a powerful and fortunate asset to us forces in the eto. List of german divisions in world war ii wikipedia. The 352nd infantry division was formed in occupied france in early november 1943, this followed the german high command order issued in september that year to raise 10 new infantry divisions to replace losses on the eastern front, these new divisions were to be combat ready by may 1944. German panzer and motorized infantry in barbarossa1941 these consist of a generic order of battle and a separate document with specific panzer types and strengths for the different panzer divisions. Each of the infantry regiments had, besides its twelve rifle and heavy weapons companies, a th infantry howitzer and 14th antitank company. The fifth panzer army attacks the 28th infantry division.
The need to think in terms of division equivalents is best illustrated by the size and composition of the american infantry divisions that arrived in france. It fought france and the russian front until february 1945. Infanteriedivision was a german army infantry division in world war ii. Are maintenence companies only good for divisions with vehicles.
The 711th infantry division was raised in may 1941 as part of the 15th army. Prior to 1944 a german infantry division would include over 5,000 horses and almost 950 motor vehicles. What is the best composition of support units for german panzer divisions and infantry divisions. The main part of each mechanized army divisions book starts out with divisional diagrams, one division per page, followed by a series of diagrams for each type of subunit brigade, regiment, or battalion, with accompanying text explaining the interior structure and the composition of these units, detachments, sections, platoons, etc. It includes very few motor vehicles in the combat units and nearly all the big stuff is horse drawn. The backbone of the heer german army was the infantry division. Comparison between the panzergrenadier division 44 and a motorized infantry division from 1939. This page lists the units for each of the german divisions that was in italy after july 1944. In march and april of 1915 the infantry divisions were reduced in size from 4 regiments to 3. The recon elements not much of them in an infantry division are either horse or bicycle mounted. Of the 154 divisions deployed against soviet union in 1941, including reserves, there were 100 infantry, 19 panzer, 11 motorised, 9 security, 5 waffenss, 4 light, 4 mountain, 1 ss police, and 1 cavalry.
My loyalties are with the 9th infantry, my fathers outfit. A divisional sized or division equivalent combat unit in wwii. Jan 12, 2016 the organization and structure of a german infantry division. Handbook on german military forces chapter 2 ibiblio. The german army raised an incredible 315 infantry divisions during world war iia stunning total, considering that america formed only sixtysix army infantry divisions. This is the first of 3 definitive volumes that cover the german ground forces that swept across europe with such ruthless efficiency in 1939 and 1940 and battled the allies around the globe until the bitter end in 1945. A division usually has between 10,000 and 18,000 men. I read that aa units are not good because building more fighters is more efficient. Click download or read online button to get germany s infantry weapons 1939 45 book now. The nafziger collection of orders of battle the nafziger collection contains orders of battle from 1600 to 1945 with over 7000 individual pdf files. The nafziger collection of orders of battle world war one. Hq, 1 x kubelwagon infantry battalion 3 x infantry company, 1 x infantry support company, 1 x inf. The waffenss created its first corps echelon field command in 1942, the sspanzergeneralkommando.
Organization of the army, assignment of units to the 3 inf. Infanterie division was a german infantry division of the army during world war ii. The panzer legions and millions of other books are available for amazon kindle. Us army units, book 4 boxes 748902 1st infantry division.
This manual focuses mainly upon the individual infantryman and the infantry section or gruppe in combat. Chemin des dames at the end of may brought the german army back to the marne. The september 1939 german infantry division was organised along very similar lines to the 1918 division, but with even further. The source material consists of period manuals and guides. The division had 2 infantry brigades, each with 2 regiments, with 3 battalions per regiment, and 4 companies per battalion. This site is like a library, use search box in the widget to get ebook that you want. These chapters provide an overview of the divisions composition, leadership. Fire and fury games battlefront wwii consolidated orders. The battle plans and tactics of the fifth panzer army, more than those of any other german army that took part in the ardennes counteroffensive, bore the very strong personal imprint of its commander, general manteuffel.
Harding planned the book and supervised the preparation and edit of the manuscript. Totenkopf division, which suffered the most casualties, lost no more men than the armys grossdeutschland division the only german army division able to recruit across germany, on a similar basis to the waffenss. Infantry division waves welle from 1939 to 1945, germany infantry was called up in thirty five waves welle. Germany s infantry weapons 1939 45 download ebook pdf, epub. German organization for combat, 1944 between 1939 and 1943 the german standard infantry division contained three regiments with a total of nine rifle battalions. Are hospital and signal units usefull or is more artillery better. This means that when a single regiment of a known german division is identified, the. The 28th infantry division keystone is a unit of the army national guard and is the oldest divisionsized unit in the armed forces of the united states. It was formed 1 october 1934 in munich from the artilleriefuhrer vii staff and renamed 7. Download leo niehorsters german wwii organizational series. For germany are their any support units that are not worthwhile.
Contrary to the american conception of a completely motorized infantry division, the german infantry divisions mostly have relied on horsedrawn vehicles for their transportation. In 1914 a german infantry division consisted of about 18000 men. Phillipp, cavalry, instructor, command and general staff school. The increased importance of artillery combined with the static nature of trench warfare allowed a reduction to the infantry strength in a division. I really have no special affinity with the 84th division. A divisional sized or division equivalent combat unit in wwii 3 32 6575mm artillery pieces and 12 100mm artillery pieces. Equipped only for occupation duties, it was sent to france as a component of the 15th army. The german infantry division prepared under the direction of the chief of the imperial general staff, published june 1944. Lists of constituent units and division commanders. Infanteriedivision was a german infantry division of. This table is for quick reference for identifying units mentioned in books. The organization and structure of a german infantry division. It began with the authors interest in napoleonic wars, and steadily grew to other areas because of the gaming publics interest in these highly detailed historical orders of battle. In order to discuss the organization of the german infantry division and to tie this organization in with the tactical employment of its units, let us assume a situation.
Army, which included multiple american divisions, initiated a series of. German army infantry divisions heer infanteriedivisionen. Over the course of the next year, the 16th infantry regiment distinguished itself in battles throughout france, belgium, germany with the rest of the 1st infantry division and fought its way across europe, ending the war in czechoslovakia. Western style germany, uk, france, usa a typical full strength infantry division would consist of roughly 17,000 men. It participated in the invasion of poland in 1939 then the invasion of france and the low countries in 1940. Infanterie division battle order june 1st 1944 battle of normandy commander. Army adopted the nineman infantry rifle squad over the twelveman infantry rifle squad it used in world war ii based on the discourse and findings of the 1946 infantry conference at fort benning, georgia. In this reorganization, 19 new regiments were created, without increasing the number of men in uniform. A brief description of the principles of attack, defence and reconnaissance is also included.
Not all units were structured this way, since it is an ideal structure. It has just been learned that all german infantry divisions are to be reorganized on the basis of the infantry division, type 45, and that the organization and. American field officer who escaped from the 1st ss panzer division. The table lists the infantry regiments and field artillery battalions and the engineer combat battalion associated with each division. German army 1 september 1939 pdf, combined arms research library digital library, archived from the original pdf on 8 december 2011. In recent reorganizations the proportion of motorization in these types of divisions has decreased even more. The situation further deteriorated after hitler, technically a civilian, appointed himself commander in chief of the army, an act unprecedented in prussian or german history. The marne, 15 july6 august 1918 army center of military history. Infanteriedivision with the disclosure of german rearmament on 15 october 1935.
236 427 983 745 957 1254 25 7 434 1275 1001 974 1071 482 954 793 886 1052 387 507 1322 1339 78 740 973 1441 888 1152 419 154 440 1227 98 52