The German Motorised Reconnaissance Battalion, 1942 to 1943
1941 proves to be a true Black Hole for anyone researching German KStN tables. Only very few of the Panzer related ones survived the war, and certainly not a full raft for the Motorised Reconnaissance Battalion.
The general trend for February 1941 would appear to have been the deletion of the second Armoured Car Company, coupled with an increase in the strength of the Motorcycle Rifle Company, now with 18 light machine guns and perhaps two heavy. As usual, certain units deviated, two Battalions at least having two Armoured Car Companies equipped with captured French machines.
At this time, a large number of Panzer Divisions also contained a motorcycle Kradschutzen Battalion, with three Rifle Companies, a Machine Gun Company and a Heavy Company. Towards the end of 1941, as the enormity of the war in the East finally became clear to the German Army, there was a major reorganisation of the Motorised and Motorcycle units.
The Kradschutzen and the Reconnaissance Battalion were merged into a single unit. The new Motorised Reconnaissance Battalion (still known as a Kradschutzen Battalion due to the reliance on motorcycles) had a single Armoured Car Company, plus a Heavy Company and three Motorcycle Rifle Companies. During the course of 1942, the aim appears to have been to re-equip one Motorcycle Company as a Light Armoured Rifle Company, in the SdKfz 250 halftrack, but there were also two other types of motorised Rifle Company that could be found.
The Panzer Reconnaissance Battalion, circa 1942 to 1943
Battalion Headquarters (12 Officers, 151 men)
Headquarters Group (5 Officers, 19 men)
Communications Platoon (1 Officer, 60 men)
1 SdKfz 260
4 SdKfz 261 (or substitute light truck)
3 SdKfz 263 (or substitute light truck)
Battle Train I (14 men)
Battle Train II (1 Officer, 3 Officials and 46 men)
Rations Train (1 Officer, 1 Official and 7 men)
Baggage Train (5 men)
Light Column (1 Officer, 50 men)
Column HQ (1 Officer, 14 men)
Detachment (11 men)
Two Detachments, each (9 men)
Train (7 men)
Heavy Company (4 Officers, 166 men)
Company HQ (1 Officer, 14 men)
Anti-tank Platoon (1 Officer, 37 men)
Infantry Gun Platoon (1 Officer, 24 men)
Pioneer Platoon (1 Officer, 52 men)
Anti-tank Rifle Group (21 men)
Company Train and Maintenance (18 men)
Armoured Car Company (4 Officers and 126 men)
Company Headquarters (1 Officer, 9 men)
Maintenance Section (12 men)
Battle Train I (14 men)
Battle Train II (12 men)
Baggage Train (4 men)
Heavy Platoon (2 Officers, 22 men)
3 SdKfz 231
3 SdKfz 232
Three Light Platoons, each (1 Officer or NCO, 17 men)
4 SdKfz 222
2 SdKfz 223
Three Motorcycle Rifle Companies (5 Officers, 222 men), each comprised of;
Company HQ (1 Officer, 11 men)
Maintenance Section (4 men)
Battle Train (10 men)
Baggage Train (4 men)
Heavy Platoon comprised of;
Platoon HQ (1 Officer, 7 men)
Mortar Section (18 men)
Two Heavy Machine Gun Sections, each (21 men)
Three Rifle Platoons, each comprised of;
Platoon HQ (1 Officer, 6 men)
Three Rifle Squads, each comprised of 12 men
Total Strength of;
1195 all ranks (36 Officers and 1169 men)
6 SdKfz 223 and 12 SdKfz 222
3 SdKfz 231 and 3 SdKfz 232
Alternatives to Motorcycle Rifle Companies;
Ketten-Krad Reconnaissance Company (5 Officers, 220 men), comprised of;
Company HQ (1 Officer, 11 men)
Maintenance Section (4 men)
Battle Train (10 men)
Baggage Train (4 men)
Heavy Platoon comprised of;
Platoon HQ (1 Officer, 8 men)
Mortar Section (19 men)
Two Heavy Machine Gun Sections, each (19 men)
Three Rifle Platoons, each comprised of;
Platoon HQ (1 Officer, 6 men)
Three Rifle Squads, each comprised of 12 men
Or;
Motorised Reconnaissance Company (5 Officers, 222 men), comprised of;
Company HQ (1 Officer, 11 men)
Maintenance Section (4 men)
Battle Train (10 men)
Baggage Train (4 men)
Heavy Platoon comprised of;
Platoon HQ (1 Officer, 7 men)
Mortar Section (18 men)
Two Heavy Machine Gun Sections, each (21 men)
Three Rifle Platoons, each comprised of;
Platoon HQ (1 Officer, 6 men)
Three Rifle Squads, each comprised of 12 men
Points of note
The heavily revised structure of the Battalion was very different from that of two years earlier. Then, the Battalion had been centred around two Armoured Car Companies, support by motorcycle riflemen and support weapons. Now, the reconnaissance element was marginalised, with just a single Armoured Car Company in the Battalion, and therefore the entire Panzer Division as a whole. In effect, this was an additional motorised infantry unit.
The elements of the Battalion
Heavy Company - was the same as that for The Motorized Panzer Grenadier Battalion 1941 to 1942
Armoured Car Company - this had changed somewhat from the previous version. The Signal Platoon was deleted, and there were now three Light Platoons plus a single Heavy Platoon.
The earlier six-wheeled armoured cars were superseded by eight-wheeled models in German service, but confusingly (to me at least) these kept the same SdKfz numbers as their predecessors. The Heavy Platoon therefore still had three SdKfz 231 vehicles and three radio equipped SdKfz 232 models with long range sets. The eight-wheeled machines were larger and heavier than the six-wheeled cars they replaced, or depending on supply issues supplemented, but kept the same armament and crew layout. Each had a two-man turret for commander and gunner, mounting a 2-cm cannon and co-axial MG34. Again there were two drivers one in the hull front, the other situated below and behind the turret, facing the rear. The second driver doubled as a radio operator in the SdKfz 232.
The Light Platoons had also changed, now using a standard format of six cars, two of which were radio equipped. The SdKfz 222 with its three-man crew and 2-cm main gun provided the bulk of the Platoon, however the KStN table acknowledged that the machine gun armed SdKfz 221 was available as a substitute type. Two SdKfz 223 radio cars completed the Platoon, each armed with a single MG34 and crew of commander, signaller and driver.
The Motorcycle or Motorised Reconnaissance Companies - OK. Quite what mix, if any, Panzer Reconnaissance Battalions used of the three types of Reconnaissance Company authorised during 1942, is largely beyond my resources.
What seems apparent is that the third Motorcycle Rifle Company was to be replaced by a Light Armoured Rifle Company in the SdKfz 250 halftrack. This unit is examined in The Panzer Reconnaissance Battalion 1943 and this page is too cluttered to repeat the description again here. At least one unit had a different format, namely the Reconnaissance Battalion of the Großdeutschland Division. This operated two Motorised Volkswagen Rifle Companies and one Light Armoured Rifle Company, plus Heavy Company, Column and Headquarters. There is also some reference to the Battalion including a Light Flak Platoon with four equipments, probably 2-cm calibre, mounted on un-armoured halftracks, but I cannot identify the KStN for this subunit.
The third type of Rifle Company used the Ketten-Krad. I have no idea, frankly, of which units might have had this organisation, or whether they used single or multiple Companies. It might have been an alternative to those Battalions that did not receive the SdKfz 250 and the Ketten-Krad was to stand in as the tracked Company? That is though pure supposition on my part.
The three Company types are simply variations on a theme, with the earliest being the Motorcycle Rifle Company. This was based on a twelve strong Rifle Squad of an NCO with an MP40, three riflemen, four light machine gun crewmen and four motorcycle drivers. The four gunners were each armed with pistols and served two MG34s, while the remainder of the Squad had rifles. The four drivers each had a motorcycle and sidecar and needed to carry three men per machine to lift the whole Squad. Platoon HQ consisted of an Officer with machine pistol, the Platoon NCO, two messengers, two drivers, all with rifles, and a stretcher-bearer with pistol. One of the messengers had a motorcycle, the two drivers each a light Kfz15 personnel vehicle. There was also an unallocated anti-tank rifle.
The Ketten-Krad Platoon was identical in terms of personnel and weapons. The change was in transport, with the motorcycle combinations being replaced one for one by Ketten-Krads in the Rifle Squads. The Ketten-Krad was a unique machine, with a long narrow body lined by tracks on each side. At the front was a single wheel with a motorcycle handlebar for steering by the driver, and at the rear of the body were two seats. It was designed as a towing vehicle for lightweight infantry and anti-tank guns, but increasingly became used a an adjunct to motorcycles for messengers. Platoon HQ continued the tracked theme, with two SdKfz 10 light halftracks rather than Kfz15 light cars, though the latter could still serve in lieu. One of the messengers retained a motorcycle.
The Volkswagen Platoon completed the trilogy, and again used precisely the same structure of personnel and weapons as found in the Motorcycle Platoon. Transport here though was the Kfz1, the legendary Kubelwagen or 'bucket car', a nickname derived from the body shape. The Rifle Squad again had four vehicles, Platoon HQ two, plus a motorcycle.
The Heavy Platoon for each type of Company also used the same basic structure. There were two Sections, each with a pair of MG34 machine guns fitted for the sustained fire role, and a third Section with two 8-cm mortars. The Motorcycle version used eight combinations per Machine Gun Section, and three Kfz70 light trucks for the mortars. The Ketten-Krad Heavy Platoon operated all tracked motorcycles, seven for each type of weapons Section, while the VW type needed seven Kubelwagens per Machine Gun Section and three Kfz70 trucks for the Mortar Section. All in all, it required quite a concentration of vehicles to transport a very standard allocation of firepower.
Each Company type included a small Headquarters staff and the usual selection of administrative and service personnel.
Summary
During 1942, the Reconnaissance Battalions of the Panzer Divisions changed notably from those used in the 1939-1940 era. This trend would continue through 1943, and in some respects there was a schism in evolution. The Armoured Panzer Reconnaissance Battalion, using a combination of halftracks and armoured cars, appeared during 1943, while the Motorised Panzer Reconnaissance Battalion was normally found with the Panzer Grenadier Divisions.
German Reconnaissance units 1939 to 1945