Landesschützen (German Reich)
Several infantry units of the Army of the Wehrmacht were designated as Landesschützen , which consisted mainly of conscripts of the Landwehr (35–45 years of age, at the beginning of the war born 1894–1904) and the Landsturm (over 45 years of age, at the start of the war from birth year 1894 and lower). The Landesschützen took on the role that had been assigned to the establishment of the Wehrmacht Landwehr and Landsturm units, as this concept was not implemented when the war broke out.
There were no state rifle associations at division level , the closest corresponded to the Landwehr divisions, which, however, both in mobilization and in the formation of divisions of the 9th wave of formation mostly only existed in the planning stage and were then renamed into infantry divisions , but also from older cohorts and should mainly serve security purposes. State rifle regiments and battalions were used as ground-based units, usually for occupation and security tasks, the equipment and training were accordingly inadequate.
Outline and equipment
The structure and uniforms corresponded to other infantry units of the Wehrmacht, even if the quality and availability were poor due to the low priority, sometimes not even enough uniforms were available, the armament often consisted more or less systematically of captured weapons , which in turn had problems with the ammunition and the closed one Use brought.
commitment
State riflemen were mainly divided into state rifle battalions (LSB), of which each military district set up several. They often performed guarding and security tasks within their military district. The LSB 303, 305, 307, 316, 326, 333 and 334 of the military district III (Berlin-Brandenburg) were used to guard the main camp III A (prisoner of war camp). Accordingly, the associations only took part in the fight to defend occupied territories or the German homeland, but they are not to be equated with the Volkssturm , which was similar in concept to the historic Landsturm, but was a militia-like party organization and did not consist of regular Wehrmacht units. In addition to fighting within the framework of Wehrmacht units, the defense of the “ Alpine fortress ” by Tyrolean state riflemen was planned, which should occupy catchment positions until the units flowing back from Italy had gathered; However, this plan on the initiative of the Gauleiter of Tirol-Vorarlberg , Franz Hofer , was not implemented.
This type of regional rifle should not be confused with the Austro-Hungarian regional rifle , who were a modern and well-armed mountain troop.
literature
- Sections 7 and 15 of the Defense Act (military service in the Landsturm) . Westarp pocket calendar for the Air Force 1939/40.
- Janusz Piekalkiewicz: The Second World War . ECON Verlag, ISBN 3-88199-298-7 .
Individual evidence
- ^ Uwe Mai: Prisoner of War in Brandenburg, Stalag III A in Luckenwalde 1939–1945 . Metropol Verlag, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-932482-25-5 , p. 44