The German Parachute Battalion
For a website devoted to unit organisations, the German Parachute Battalion represents something akin to a black hole. The handful of descriptions of the early war Parachute Battalion are so vague as to be meaningless. The US Army prepared a brief report in 1943 that refers to the Battalion being organised around its transport, the Junkers 52.
Each Junkers 52 could carry twelve parachutists, and the aircraft were organised into flights of three, with four such flights making a squadron of twelve, and four squadrons were needed to lift a Parachute Battalion. What that doesn't tell anyone interested in the matter is how the Parachute Battalion itself was organised!
In May 1944, the Parachute Battalion was reorganised in similar fashion to The German Grenadier Battalion 1943 to 1945 that used the 'new type' structure. Below is a tidied up version of that previously found here, taken from the description given in the late war US Army Handbook on German Forces. The amendments are thanks to Piet Duits, whose research has managed to turn up the actual KStN tables issued for the Parachute Battalion dated May 1944. My thanks to him for letting me have copies, and allowing me to use the information on the site.
The Parachute Battalion, circa mid-1944 to 1945
Battalion Headquarters (5 Officers, 20 men)
Communications Platoon (1 Officer, 41 men)
Battalion Supply Train (2 Officers, 69 men)
Heavy Company (5 Officers, 200 men)
Company HQ (1 Officer, 33 men)
Company Train (18 men)
Mortar Platoon (1 Officer, 48 men)
Infantry Gun Platoon (1 Officer, 27 men)
Two Machine Gun Platoons, each (1 Officer, 37 men)
Three Rifle Companies (4 Officers, 166 men) each comprised of;
Company HQ (1 Officer, 12 men)
Anti-tank Troop (8 men)
8-cm Mortar Section (15 men)
Company Train (17 men)
Three Rifle Platoons, each comprised of;
Platoon HQ (1 Officer, 8 men)
Three Rifle Squads, each comprised of 10 men
Total strength of 853 all ranks (25 Officers and 828 men)
Points of note
Unlike the Army, each Platoon is commanded by an Officer. Also, it was intended the Battalion's transport and supply vehicles would all be motorised. In contrast to the lightweight allied Parachute units, the German was by now a reinforced infantry formation.
The elements of the Battalion
Battalion Headquarters - as the Infantry equivalent
Communications Platoon - as the Infantry equivalent
Battalion Supply Train - as the Infantry equivalent but ideally with motor vehicles replacing horse drawn wagons.
Heavy Company HQ - included its own signals element as well as command function, and also had four teams each armed with a Panzerschreck.
Mortar Platoon - the Mortar Platoon was a reduced version of the Infantry, serving four 8-cm tubes.
Infantry Gun Platoon - served two 7.5-cm infantry guns. The German airborne forces had also deployed a recoilless 7.5-cm gun in their airborne days, and these were also to be found in use.
Machine Gun Platoon - served four MG34 or MG42 on heavy tripod mounts.
The Rifle Company - the Parachute Company was larger than its infantry equivalent, and on paper at least had sufficient motor transport to lift all its personnel.
The Rifle Squad was ten strong, commanded by an NCO and an assistant, each armed with an MP40. There were then four men, each armed with a rifle, two light machine gunners, each with an MG34 or MG42 and pistol, and two assistant gunners with pistols. One rifle in each Squad was a sniper version with telescopic sight and two more had grenade launchers.
Platoon HQ had an Officer, with both pistol and MP40, an NCO and three messengers all with rifles. There were then two drivers, armed with MP40s for the two 3-ton lorries used to transport the Platoon, plus an attached medic and an armourer, both with pistols.
Company HQ added two fire support elements. First was an Anti-tank Troop of eight men, four gunners and four acting as loaders and security. The weapon issued is not specified but was almost certainly the 8.8-cm Panzerschreck. There was also a Mortar Section of three teams, each serving a short-barrelled 8-cm mortar. This was a modification of the standard weapon, approximately half the weight and with slightly less than half the range at 1100 metres.
Company HQ had two more 3-ton lorries and a light car, plus motorcycle combinations. The Company Train was also intended to be fully motorised.
Summary
The Battalion was by now a far better equipped infantry unit. Its higher allocation of machine guns and mortars proved effective in the defensive actions they fought against allied infantrymen. They retained the fighting spirit of which all paratroopers are possessed, and knowing they were facing such troops must have made an allied soldier's heart sink.
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The German Infantry and Grenadier Battalion