The Armoured Panzer Grenadier Battalion, 1943 to 1944
The general reductions in unit strengths carried out with the major review of late 1943 had the least effect on the Armoured Panzer Grenadiers. The Rifle Squad was trimmed down, but overall the Battalion remained a large and powerful unit.
The Panzer Grenadier Battalion, circa late 1943
Battalion Headquarters (6 Officers, 20 men)
Communications Platoon (1 Officer, 22 men)
Battalion Train and Maintenance (4 Officers, 77 men)
Heavy Company (4 Officers, 133 men)
Company HQ (1 Officer, 16 men)
Anti-tank Platoon (1 Officer, 31 men)
Infantry Gun Platoon (1 Officer, 24 men)
Cannon Platoon (1 Officer, 34 men)
Company Train and Maintenance (28 men)
Three Rifle Companies (3 Officers, 217 men), each comprised of;
Company HQ (1 Officer, 27 men)
Company Train and Maintenance (25 men)
Heavy Platoon comprised of;
Platoon HQ (1 Officer, 10 men)
Mortar Section (15 men)
Cannon Section (8 men)
Two Heavy Machine Gun Sections, each (11 men)
Three Rifle Platoons, each comprised of;
Platoon HQ (1 Officer or NCO, 6 men)
Three Rifle Squads, each comprised of 10 men
Total Strength of 927 all ranks (24 Officers and 903 men)
The Panzer Grenadier Battalion, circa 1944
Battalion Headquarters (4 Officers, 16 men)
Communications Platoon (1 Officer, 22 men)
Supply Company (7 Officers, 156 men)
Company HQ (2 Officers, 11 men)
Medical Detachment (1 Officer, 4 men)
Maintenance Detachment (3 Officers, 79 men)
Fuel Detachment (12 men)
Munitions Detachment (14 men)
Supply Detachment (1 Officer, 36 men)
Heavy Company (3 Officers, 94 men)
Company HQ (1 Officer, 18 men)
Cannon Platoon (1 Officer, 31 men)
12-cm Mortar Platoon (1 Officer, 45 men)
Three Rifle Companies (3 Officers, 180 men), each comprised of;
Company HQ (1 Officer, 17 men)
Heavy Platoon comprised of;
Platoon HQ (1 Officer, 8 men)
Mortar Section (15 men)
Cannon Section (8 men)
Two Heavy Machine Gun Sections, each (11 men)
Three Rifle Platoons, each comprised of;
Platoon HQ (1 Officer or NCO, 6 men)
Three Rifle Squads, each comprised of 10 men
Total Strength of 852 all ranks (24 Officers and 828 men)
Points of note
The only major change of 1943 was the removal of the Pioneer Platoon, which was transferred to the new Regimental Pioneer Company. Of more importance was the freie Gliederung (fG) organisation which appeared during 1944. This called for the various service and maintenance elements within each Company to be concentrated into a Supply Company. This 'freeing' was intended to reduce the burdens on the Company Commanders and allow them devote themselves entirely to their fighting troops, without also being responsible for supply and repair issues.
The elements of the Battalion
Anti-tank Platoon - the only change to the Antitank Platoon was the attempt to upgrade the three towing halftracks to SdKfz 251/17 standard, mounting a 2-cm anti-aircraft gun, though probably few were so converted. It was a short lived move in any case, as the 1944 reorganisation of the Panzer arm was intended to remove towed anti-tank guns from the Panzer Grenadiers. Several Panzer Divisions though still retained their weapons for the fighting in Normandy. No doubt the situation on the Eastern Front was similar, as I imagine commanders would be loathe to part with such an important part of their arsenal.
12-cm Mortar Platoon - as with the Infantry, the Panzer Grenadiers were authorised four 12-cm mortars. Each was to be towed by an SdKfz 251/1, as unlike the 8-cm mortar the 12-cm weapon could not be fired from the vehicle. Again, the Platoon included a command halftrack and an ammunition carrier. Where Battalions did not receive their 12-cm mortar allocation, it seems likely they would have retained their 7.5-cm towed infantry guns.
The Rifle Company - by 1943 there had been a number of changes to both the Rifle Squads and Platoon HQ.
Each Rifle Squad had been reduced to ten men, losing two riflemen. The leader still carried a machine pistol and his assistant a rifle. The two light machine gunners each carried an MG34 or MG42 and pistol, their two assistants and the two riflemen all rifles. The Squad halftrack still had a two man crew, driver and assistant, the latter of whom now carried a pistol. Oddly, the driver had lost his rifle, but the halftrack still mounted a machine pistol along with the light machine gun. From late 1943 each Squad also carried its own 8.8-cm Panzerschreck anti-tank launcher. This would have made for a dreadful concentration of the fearsome tank killer, but confusingly the issue seems to have been cancelled the following year, marking the only further official amendment to the Squad.
There were several changes to Platoon HQ. The motorcycle messenger was gone, replaced by a dedicated gunner for the halftrack's armament, which itself had changed, in theory at least. The SdKfz 251/17 armoured halftrack appears throughout official German organisation tables for the Panzer arm from 1943 onwards in great numbers. The vehicle mounted a 2-cm Flak gun and was intended to serve as the standard Platoon HQ vehicle for armoured units. However, the rate of issue never approached the numbers required to carry this out. As a result, Platoon HQ could be carried in a standard SdKfz 251/1 with a light machine gun, or even the vintage SdKfz 251/10 armed with a 3.7-cm Pak, which still soldiered on. Other changes were the absence of a rifle for the driver, while finally in mid 1944 a rifle armed loader was added for the amorphous 2-cm Flak.
The 1943 tables indicate that the Platoon NCO was issued a telescopic sight for his rifle, and each assistant Squad Leader a G41. However, the July 1944 table reverses this allocation, which could simply be a typographical error, and given the frailties of the German supply system by this point was no doubt of little real consequence.
Changes were also made to the Heavy Platoon. Towards the end of 1943 the Machine Gun Section vehicles along, with the Platoon HQ machine, were again supposedly SdKfz 251/17 models, for a total of six in the Company. By mid-1944 the havoc being wrought by allied fighter pilots on German transportation prompted a reorganisation of the Heavy Platoon. As mentioned above, the Rifle Platoon HQs were each authorised an extra man to act as loader for the 2-cm Flak, where present. In the Heavy Platoon, HQ reverted to a standard SdKfz 251/1, while the three SdKfz 251/17 were designated a joint Flak and Heavy Machine Gun Section. Each vehicle dismounted a single machine gun team and had a dedicated crew for the Flak gun. In the previous organisation, there had been no clear division between crews for the machine guns or the 2-cm.
Company HQ retained its two command vehicles and administered the Company Train until its disbandment. By July 1944 it was also authorised its own SdKfz 251/17 for anti-aircraft defence. During 1943 it also contained an anti-tank detachment of four two-man teams, each team serving an 8.8-cm Panzerschreck. They were carried in a halftrack, along with driver and assistant, the vehicle yet again intended to be an SdKfz 251/17. This unit vanished, seemingly along with the rest of the launchers, the following year. By July 1944, the various amendments to the Company Flak elements had increased authorised strength to 3 Officers and 187 men, 190 all ranks.
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The Armoured Panzer Grenadier Battalion
German Divisional Organisations