Motorcycle rifle troops from the Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS
Kradschützen (short: Kard.Schtz. ) Were motorized, lightly armed and highly mobile infantry units of the army of the German Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS , which were usually integrated into the rapid troops .
prehistory
Despite the efforts of the National Socialist government, there were still major deficits in general motorization shortly before the start of the war . In the summer of 1939, for example, there were just under two million motor vehicles in Germany, which in terms of the per capita population meant only 15th place worldwide. With 23.8 vehicles per 1000 inhabitants (for comparison: France = 12.7 and USA = 0.9), the German Reich was the lone leader in the field of motorcycles . For this reason, it made sense for the army command to create its own class of service with the motorbike rifle troops .
commitment
The first units were set up in 1934/35 and were mainly subordinate to the reconnaissance units of the tank divisions. Even if their main task was reconnaissance, they should be capable of infantry operations and surprising actions. There was also a frequent change to fighting on foot. Despite their relatively light armament, they developed a remarkable infantry fighting strength due to their speed and the resulting element of surprise .
The armament consisted of the basic equipment of an infantryman with the carbine 98k . However, each rifle squad was equipped with a MG 34 , which was mounted on the sidecar for driving. Mainly motorcycles with sidecars from the companies BMW or Zündapp were used.
In the ratio between dismounting soldiers and the required drivers, the troops were set up unfavorably at 2 to 1. As the fastest and most agile part of the army , however, their combat strength was so used up in the mud, dust and snow of the eastern theater of war that they had to be largely disbanded and converted to a driver in fusilier companies with SPW 251 with a seating strength of 6.
Others
The Red Army of the Soviet Union possessed in World War II also about motorcyclists associations (see also Schematic of Battle of the Red Army on 22 June 1941 ).
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ MGFA : The German Reich and the Second World War, Volume 5/1, Deutsche Verlagsanstalt 1988, ISBN 3-421-06232-3 , p. 651.
- ↑ Page ( Memento of the original from December 18, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. of the Munster tank museum.
