German Army handbook, 1939-1945

182 Pages·1977·16.94 MB·English

by  W. J. K Davies

German Army
Handbook
1939-1945
FRONTISPIECE: The routine of war: A light AA gun mounted on a
half-track carrier being used against ground targets in Russia, 1942.
Division is SS Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler. (STT 884)
German Army
Handbook
1939 1945
W. J.K. Davies
ARCO PUBLISHING COMPANY INC.
219 Park Avenue South, New York. NY. 10003
Second U.S. Edition, 1977
Copyright © 1973 by W. J. K. Davies
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be
reproduced in any form, by any means, without
permission in writing from the publisher.
Published by Arco Publishing Company, Inc.
219 Park Avenue South, New York, N.Y. 10003
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 73-86000
ISBN 0-668-03376-2 (Cloth Edition)
0-668-04291-5 (Paper Edition)
Printed in the United States of America
Contents
Preface & Acknowledgements 10
Introduction 11
1 Historical Background 13
2 Organisation of the Army 19
3 The Fighting Units 28
4 Basic Tactics 53
5 Equipment 60
6 The Men and their Accoutrements 120
7 Tactical Signs and Symbols 145
Appendices
1 Conduct of the War, 1939-45 157
2 Deutsches Afrika Korps 166
3 The Waffen SS 168
Bibliographical Notes 172
Index 175
List of Plates
Frontis Pz Kpfw 1 tanks fording a river 2
1 The army on parade: Pz Kpfw 1 tanks and
cars 15
2 The army on parade: Infantry 18
3 Improvised tracked infantry carriers 23
4 Early infantry gun on Pz Kpfw 1 chassis 24
5 Panzer grenadiers dismounting from
vehicles 26
6 Armoured troop carriers advancing 27
7 Desert scene with 8.8cm gun and tractor 30
8 Transport column in the desert 34
9 Mountain troops with a light gun 38
10 The might of the Wehrmacht. Tiger tanks 56
11 The rabble: a mixed transport column 58
12 Pz Kpfw II (F) tank 61
13 Pz Kpfw III (M) tank with 5cm L/60 gun 63
14 Pz Kpfw IV (G) 64
15 PANTHER tank 65
16 TIGER II tank with production turret 66
17 Bergepanther tank recovery vehicle 67
18 Purpose-designed assault gun: Stug. Ill 68
19 Ferdinand tank destroyer 69
20 The Hetzer jagdpanzer 70
21 A Jagdpanther 71
22 Armoured cars of the six and eight
wheeled Sd Kfz 231 series 72
23 Sd Kfz 222 scout car 74
24 The medium armoured infantry carrier
Sd Kfz 251 75
25 Light half-tracked armoured car
Sd Kfz 250/9 76
26 Sd Kfz 251 as a close support gun 77
27 Sd Kfz heavy armoured car 234/3 PUMA 78
28 1-tonne half tracks towing 5cm PAK 38
guns 85
29 3-tonne half-tracks towing le FH18s 87
30 Einheits-programme light car 89
31 Volkswagen Typ 82 Kubelwagen 90
32 Opel Blitz 3-tonne lorry 91
33 41/2-tonne Bussing Nag Lorry, converted
to Maultier 92
34 Kettenrad motor-cycle tractor 93
35 Raupenschlepper Ost tracked lorry 95
36 Light field wagons being towed by a
prime mover 97
37 Combat engineers with Bruckengerat K 97
38 Light anti-tank weapons (1). 3.7cm gun
with grenade 98
39 Light anti-tank weapons (2). 2.8cm
airborne gun 99
40 sIG 33 heavy infantry gun in standard
form 100
41 Light multi-barrelled nebelwerfer 101
42 Standard field gun: 10.5cm le FH 18/40 103
43 s FH18 series gun-howitzers 104
44 SP artillery: WESPE 10.5cm gun-howitzer
on Pz II 105
45 SP artillery: HUMMEL, 15cm gun-howitzer
on Gw III/IV 106
46 Heavy army artillery: 17cm gun on
travelling carriage 110
47 7.5cm PAK 40 anti-tank gun 112
48 Horse-drawn le FH18 113
49 Krupp LH243 lorry towing a 2cm flak
gun 119
50 Waffen SS infantry in battle kit 122
51 Combat engineers crossing a stream by
inflatable boat 124
52 An assault squad with flamethrower and
kampfpistol 126
53 Light machine gun team going through a
wood 127
54 MG42 being fired on bipod by mountain
troops 128
55 MG34 on tripod in the heavy machine gun
role 132
56 Infantry manoeuvring a 3.7cm anti-tank
gun 134
57 A 7.5cm 1e1G18 infantry gun with crew
in camouflage dress 135
58 Raketenwerfer 43 anti-tank projector 137
59 Standard pack wireless set for unit
signals 139
60 Waffen SS officers uniforms 143
List of Diagrams
1 Wehrkreise at 1940 20
2 Army Chain of Command 22
3 Army Supply System 27
4 Panzer Division, 1941-2 31
5 Panzer Division, 1944 33
6 Panzer Grenadier Division, 1944 35
7 Infantry Division, 1939 37
8 Infantry Division, '1944 Typ' 39
9 Volksgrenadier Division 41
10 Mountain Division 43
11 Kosaken (Cossack) Division 45
12 Late pattern Cavalry Brigade 47
13 Panzer Brigade, 1944 49
14 Various Corps and Army Units 51
15 Attack and Defence Strategies 55
16 Light Tanks 62
17 Variations on the Panzer IV 73
18 Standard Cars 86
19 Light Lorries 88
20 Horse-drawn Vehicles 96
21 Self-propelled Anti-tank Guns 102
22 Self-propelled Artillery 109
23 Mines 117
24 Infantry Company formations 121
25 Infantryman's Kit 123
26 Typical Insignia 125
27 Small Arms 133
28 Machine Guns 136
29 Mortars and Grenades 138
30 Infantry Anti-tank Weapons 140
31 Basic Tactical Symbols 146
32 Various miscellaneous Symbols 148
33 Weapon and Unit Symbols 150
34 Large Scale Symbols 152
35 Map Symbols 153
36 Divisional Insignia 154
37 Vehicle Tactical Symbols 155
38 Hitler's Europe at the end of 1940 158
39 Limits of German Expansion 160
40 The War in the West 162
41 The War in the East 164
42 The War in the South 165
List of Tables
1 Typical Tanks 82
2 Purpose-built Assault Guns 83
3 Light Armour 84
4 Typical Standard Motor Transport 94
5 Anti-tank Artillery 107
6 Field and Close Support Artillery 114
7 Anti-aircraft Artillery 115
8 Typical Infantry Weapons 144
9 Role-call of SS Divisions 171