Infantry vehicle

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Infantry vehicles (If.) Were drawn vehicles of the former German Reichswehr and Wehrmacht , which were mainly used in the infantry there. They were primarily used to transport special infantry weapons and their ammunition, e.g. B. machine guns , grenade launchers , mortars and infantry guns .

In contrast, the army vehicles were used in all branches of service.

The numbering of the infantry vehicles originated in the late Reichswehr period, around the end of the 1920s. Only the existing fleet was numbered; Vehicles that were no longer used in the German Army at that time were no longer given numbers. The number system was later continued by the Wehrmacht.

A distinction was made according to the design:

  • unclamped single-axle carts (handcarts)
  • Pulled single-axle carts, mostly driven by one horse
  • multi-horse, single-axle front car (Protzen), for pulling guns or rear car
  • uncovered single-axle rear car, to train through limber.

Machine gun handcart

In the German army, the infantry carried their machine guns when marching on hauled vehicles (or pack animals). Handcarts were used to transport the light and heavy machine guns where the hauled vehicles could no longer be used due to the terrain or the hostile effects of weapons.

Machine gun hand drawing cart

As early as 1904, the 1st Sea Battalion of the Imperial Navy in German South West Africa had hand-drawn carts for the heavy MG 03 so that it could move its machine guns without horses after landing at sea. From 1912 the machine gun platoons of all three naval battalions were equipped with a newly developed hand-drawn cart for the heavy MG 08 . During the First World War , these hand drawn carts were used by the German Marine Corps in Flanders.

The empty cart, weighing approx. 40 kg, transported the heavy MG 08 on a tripod mount, 8 cartridge boxes with 250 rounds of ammunition each, a cooling water equalizer and a tool accessory box . It was moved by 5 teams: One man led the cart on two long, side-mounted poles, while the other 4 teams pulled the cart with the help of pulling ropes.

Machine gun handcarts (trial)

In 1916 a simple handcart for the heavy MG 08 was tested by the machine gun company of the 114th Infantry Regiment of the 29th Division in Champagne. No information is available about its general introduction into the German army, although it is said to have proven itself well.

The empty cart, weighing approx. 15 kg, was used to transport the heavy MG 08 . Loaded with the MG 08 on its sled carriage with attached armored jacket for water cooling with a protective shield , the vehicle weighed 97 kg. The single-axle cart with a handlebar was pulled in the team platoon using straps from the carrying harness 06 . In contrast to the other machine gun hand (pull) wagons , no cartridge boxes or other accessories could be loaded here.

Hand trolley for MG 08 and MG 08/15

Developed by the Artillery Design Office Spandau and manufactured from 1917 both by the troops and in workshops in the home country, this handcart, weighing approx. 60 kg empty and pulled by 2 teams on a hand drawbar, was used by the troops to transport the light MG 08 from 1917 / 15 on fork mount and the heavy MG 08 on mount . In addition to the machine gun, it also held four cartridge boxes 15 (made of sheet metal) or three cartridge boxes made of wood and a carrying case 16 with 2 cartridge boxes 16 or other material and then weighed a total of 175 kg. After removing the wheels, the handcart should also be able to be pulled as a sled.

During the First World War, handcarts for MG 08/15 (the "light" MG) were used in the machine gun groups of the rifle companies. The handcarts for MG 08 (the "heavy" MG) were used in the machine gun companies of the infantry regiments, in independent machine gun and machine gun sniper platoons and in the machine gun departments (the cavalry divisions).

The rifle trains of the Reichswehr were each equipped with two light machine guns MG 08/15 and MG 08/18 and two handcarts. During the march, two of the handcarts were attached to the light field wagons (Hf.1) used as combat vehicles .

With the conversion to the unit group (around 1930), the handcarts for the (light) MG 08/15 were apparently no longer used, while the handcarts for the heavy MG 08 from 1926 onwards were replaced by machine gun handcarts for MG 08 with sledges (If.1 ) or tripod (If.2) were replaced.

But in 1939 the SS Heimwehr Danzig was said to have used such handcarts to transport 8 cm grenade launchers 34 .

Machine gun handcart for MG 08 with slide (If.1) or tripod (If.2)

These machine gun handcarts, which were introduced to the Reichswehr in 1926, were used to transport the heavy machine gun 08 , for which there were two different mounts (the usual “sled” and the lighter “tripod”), accessories and the associated ammunition. On the machine gun trains of the Reichswehr, such a handcart was attached empty behind the heavy machine gun car (If.3). If necessary, the machine guns were reloaded onto the handcart and pulled by hand.

After being replaced by the machine gun car for MG 34, If.5 in the Wehrmacht, the vehicles were used by the Landwehr infantry regiments until the beginning of the war and later by the police in the occupied territories in the east.

  • Light MG 08/15 when transported on handcart

  • MG hand truck (If.1) behind heavy machine gun car (If.3)

Machine gun car for MG 08

The multi-horse, horse-drawn machine gun wagons (MGW) were used to load the heavy machine guns 08 and the associated ammunition of the machine gun companies during marches. They consisted of identical front sections (Protzen) but two different rear sections. Both wagons were mainly made of sheet metal and used ordinary "field wagon wheels" made of wood and fitted with an iron tire. The front end of the car had a pole drawbar with a rear bracket to which two logs were attached to harness the two pole horses (two-horse train). The drawbar was held by the pole horses by means of a timing chain. In the case of a four-in-hand train, the additional front horses were harnessed to a front bracket with ropes, which was attached to the tip of the drawbar.

The heavy machine gun car (If.3) for two MG 08

Reichswehr

In the Reichswehr, these wagons were initially only used in the machine gun companies of the infantry battalions, but not in the hunter battalions (one battalion per infantry division), which carried their machine guns on pack animals.

In the first three platoons of the machine gun companies, two of these vehicles were driven in two horses ("two-horse platoons", also "combat platoons"). The machine-gun operators (one rifle leader and four riflemen each) and the platoon troops (one directional sergeant, one surveyor and two reporters) marched on foot. Only the driver from the box drove onto the wagon and only the train driver was mounted. Since the machine gun trains of the Reichswehr had three machine guns, only one machine gun was carried on the first car of a train, but two machine guns on the second car. A machine gun handcart (If.1 or If.2) was also pulled from each wagon.

Approx. In 1932 the trains were increased to three wagons while maintaining the number of three machine guns, so that now only one machine gun per wagon was carried. In addition to the drivers from the box, the rifle drivers could now also sit on the front car. The platoon troop, consisting of a Richtkreis NCO, a measurer and a reporter, was mounted; however, the second reporter was not ridden. The number of handcarts has also been increased to three.

Approx. In 1934, the "two-horse trains" were brought to four machine guns each and divided into two "half trains" each with two machine guns and two cars. The train crews had to be doubled to guide two half-trains, some of which were used separately. However, there were then only two "two-horse" platoons in the machine gun companies of the infantry battalions.

Wehrmacht

In the Wehrmacht , the machine gun wagons were generally used as heavy as the Reichswehr, but in the machine gun trains, the four machine guns were loaded onto only two machine gun wagons, i.e. two machine guns on each wagon. For the transport of ammunition, two light field wagons (Hf.1) were used as ammunition wagons instead of the other two heavy machine gun wagons . A half-train now consisted of a machine gun wagon and an ammunition wagon.

There were no designated machine gun companies in the Landwehr , but each Landwehr rifle company had a machine gun platoon that could be divided into two half platoons. These companies were therefore also referred to as "mixed" companies. However, no separate ammunition wagons were assigned to the Landwehr machine gun trains.

After the introduction of the MG 34 on a carriage as a new heavy machine gun from 1936, the heavy machine gun wagons (If.3) were also replaced and replaced by the new 36 (If.5) machine gun wagons.

The machine gun car, light (If.4) for an MG 08

Empire or First World War

This car corresponded to the transport vehicle for machine guns used in the Imperial Army since the beginning of the 20th century, predominantly the machine gun 08 . In 1912 a "lighter" version of this machine gun vehicle was introduced. In addition, such wagons were used as "ammunition wagons" even without a machine gun.

Before and during the First World War, three such wagons each formed, two as machine gun wagons and one as ammunition wagons, a machine gun train, and three such trains a machine gun division . The carriages were drawn in four horses and the machine was operated completely. This achieved a high march speed and high daily marching performance and the machine gun departments equipped in this way could also be used together with the cavalry.

In 1906 attempts were made to drive these wagons in two horses, here the operators of the machine guns had to march on foot. Only two soldiers sat on each wagon: a driver from the box and either a rifle driver (on a machine gun wagon) or a wagon driver (on an ammunition wagon). The units set up according to this pattern, now called machine gun companies , only achieved the usual marching performance of the infantry.

Reichswehr

In the infantry battalions of the army were each four horses in the heavy, each with three three of these vehicles MG 08 equipped "accompanying trains" used (the respective fourth features of the machine-gun companies) (the hunter battalions, each battalion per division, but had no "accompanying trains"). Pure ammunition wagons - as in the First World War - no longer existed. Riflemen 2 and Riflemen 3 of each machine gun sat on the rear carriage, Riflemen 1 and Riflemen 4 on the front carriage. While the platoon leader, the leveling officer and the rifle operators of the 1st and 2nd machine guns rode, the rifle operator of the 2nd machine gun sat, the measuring man and the messenger also on the car. The measurer sat on the 1st machine gun car and the detector on the 3rd machine gun car, in the middle of the front of the car, where they were hooked under by the two shooters sitting on the outside. The rifle operator of the 2nd machine gun, however, took the place of Rifleman 3 on the rear section of the 2nd machine gun car, this took the place of Rifleman 4 on the front section, so that the shooter 4 now sat in the middle of the front section and hooked up there.

In 1923 the rider regiments of the Reichswehr also used four of these wagons in the machine gun trains, each equipped with four heavy MG 08 . The machine gun train was divided into two "half trains" each with two machine guns and two cars. In 1933 the number of machine guns and wagons there was doubled to eight each, which were divided into four half-trains.

Approx. In 1932, on "escort trains" of the machine gun companies of the infantry battalions from the platoon, the measurer and the messenger were mounted, as was the rifle leader of the 2nd machine gun. The vacant spaces in the middle of the three front cars were now occupied by an additional detector (1st machine gun car), a reserve shooter (2nd machine gun car) and a metal smith (3rd machine gun car).

Approx. In 1934 the "escort trains" of the machine gun companies of the infantry battalions were also reclassified into two half-trains, each with two machine guns and two cars. The train crews had to be doubled to guide two half-trains, some of which were used separately.

Wehrmacht

The Wehrmacht initially used the wagons just as they did in the Reichswehr. After the introduction of the MG 34 on a carriage as a new heavy machine gun from 1936, the machine gun cars, light (IF.4) were also replaced. The "escort platoons" disappeared from the infantry - they merged into "two-spear platoons". In the cavalry, the heavy MG 36 machine guns and the associated ammunition were loaded onto pack horses .

The machine gun car 36 (If.5) for two MG 34s

in the Wehrmacht, the machine gun company 36 (If.5) was introduced as the successor to the heavy machine gun car (If.3) together with the MG 34 in the machine gun companies of the infantry battalions ; But not with the mountain hunters , who carried their machine guns with them on pack animals - like the hunters of the Reichswehr before . Like its predecessor, the new car was made of sheet metal and divided into a two-wheeled front and a two-wheeled rear, with the rear being used to transport two MG 34 heavy machine guns with 34 machine gun mounts and the associated ammunition.

It was also driven in two horses, but had air-filled steel disc wheels. The machine guns were also no longer transported open - and thus exposed to the weather - but were kept in lockable boxes; the carriages were - covered with tarpaulins - attached to the outside of the rear wall of the rear end.

As a special novelty, the two machine guns could be transported to the anti-aircraft defense in a “twin base mount” on the car. One of the two guns could also ride in the carriage on the wagon. Using a special device, the shooter was able to uncouple the rear section of the vehicle and at the same time extend two supports that stabilized the rear section and thus gave the shooter a safe position to be fired from by the aircraft.

From 1941 the machine gun car 36 (If.5) was replaced in the "light" infantry divisions (the later Jäger divisions) by two single-horse combinations of two infantry carts (If.8) . As the war progressed, when the twin machine guns had lost their effectiveness against modern aircraft, this was done in all divisions.

  • MG car 36 (If.5) for anti-aircraft defense on the march

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Wolfgang Fleischer: Drawn vehicles of the German Army until 1945 (=  type compass ). 1st edition. Motorbuch, Stuttgart 2011, ISBN 978-3-613-03290-3 , p. 70 .
  2. ↑ a b Wolfgang Fleischer: Drawn vehicles of the German Army until 1945 (=  type compass ). 1st edition. Motorbuch, Stuttgart 2011, ISBN 978-3-613-03290-3 , p. 71 .
  3. ↑ a b c Wolfgang Fleischer: Drawn vehicles of the German Army until 1945 (=  type compass ). 1st edition. Motorbuch, Stuttgart 2011, ISBN 978-3-613-03290-3 , p. 72 .
  4. ↑ Hube: The Infantryman. 1925, pp. 425 and 436.
  5. ↑ Hube: The Infantryman. 1925, pp. 827-830.
  6. ^ Wolfgang Fleischer: Drawn vehicles of the German Army until 1945 (=  type compass ). 1st edition. Motorbuch, Stuttgart 2011, ISBN 978-3-613-03290-3 , p. 73 .
  7. ^ Matuschka: Organization of the Imperial Army. 1970, p. 320.
  8. ↑ H.Dv. 130, 1926, Fig. 26, p. 9a.
  9. ↑ Hube: The Infantryman. 1925, pp. 833-834.
  10. ↑ H.Dv. 130, 1926, cover of Fig. 17, p. 61.
  11. ↑ Queckbörner: Gefechtsunterricht-ABC, 1935, p. 5.
  12. ↑ a b c d Evidence of military strength (K.St.N.) No. 151a. Machine Gun Company a. In: wwiidaybyday.com. October 1, 1937, accessed October 15, 2015 .
  13. ↑ a b c d Evidence of military strength (K.St.N.) No. 151b. Machine gun company b. In: wwiidaybyday.com. October 1, 1937, accessed October 15, 2015 .
  14. ↑ Evidence of military strength (K.St.N.) No. 131 (Landwehr). according to the Landwehr Rifle Company. In: wwiidaybyday.com. October 1, 1937, accessed October 15, 2015 .
  15. ^ Matuschka: Organization history of the army 1890-1918. 1968, p. 166.
  16. ^ Merkatz: instruction book for the machine gun companies. Device 08.1917 , p. 241.
  17. ^ Matuschka: Organization history of the army 1890-1918. 1968, p. 166
  18. ^ Matuschka: Organization history of the army 1890-1918. 1968, p. 166
  19. ^ Merkatz: instruction book for the machine gun companies. Device 08.1917 , p. 241.
  20. ^ Matuschka: Organization of the Imperial Army. 1970, p. 320.
  21. ↑ H.Dv. 130, 1926, Fig. 26, p. 9a.
  22. ↑ Hube: The Infantryman. 1925, pp. 834-838.
  23. ^ Matuschka: Organization of the Imperial Army. 1970, p. 324.
  24. ↑ H.Dv. 130, 1926, cover of Fig. 18, p. 62.
  25. ↑ Queckbörner: Gefechtsunterricht-ABC, 1935, p. 5.
  26. ↑ H.Dv. 130 / 3a (draft) of August 24, 1942, pp. 124–125.
  27. ↑ Richter: Die Feldgrauen Reiter, 1986, pp. 230–231.

Remarks

  1. ↑ But that meant that only two of the three machine guns could be transported by hand.
  2. ↑ This meant that all machine guns could now also be carried by hand.

literature

  • Army Service Regulations (H.Dv.) No. 130: Training regulations for the infantry. Booklet III, printed and published by the Reichsdruckerei, Berlin 1926 (with incorporated cover sheets and changes without indication of the year).
  • Army Service Regulations (H.Dv.) No. 130 / 3a (draft) of August 24, 1942: Training regulations for the infantry. Booklet 3a, Verlag "Offene Words", Berlin without a year.
  • Wolfgang Fleischer: German infantry carts, army field wagons and army sleds 1900–1945. Waffen-Arsenal Volume 153, Podzun-Pallas-Verlag 1995, ISBN 3-7909-0538-0 .
  • Hube: The infantryman. Manual for self-instruction and training of young frontline soldiers in the infantry. Publishing house "Open Words", Charlottenburg 1925.
  • Edgar Graf von Matuschka: Organizational history of the army 1890-1918. In: Military History Research Office (Ed.): German Military History in Six Volumes 1648–1939. Pawlak Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Herrsching 1983, ISBN 3-88199-112-3 , Volume 3, Section V (1968).
  • Edgar Graf von Matuschka: Organization of the realm army. In: Military History Research Office (Ed.): German Military History in Six Volumes 1648–1939. Pawlak Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Herrsching 1983, ISBN 3-88199-112-3 , Volume 3, Section VI (1970).
  • Friedrich von Merkatz (Hrsg.): Textbook for the machine gun companies. Device 08. Verlag Eisenschmidt, 19th edition, Berlin 1917.
  • Queckbörner: Combat instruction ABC in words and pictures. An illustrated manual for teaching in the barracks to support and promote the combat training of the shooter (for teachers and students). Mittler & Sohn publishing house, Berlin 1935.
  • Klaus Christian Richter: The field gray riders. The mounted and horse troops in the Reichswehr and Wehrmacht. 1st edition, Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 1986, ISBN 3-613-01100-X .

Web links

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