Archer

Sagittarius (plural: Protect ; abbreviation: Schtz / S ; Latin miles sclopetarius ) is the general term for a soldier of the rank and file of the infantry , which a firearm carries and combat handles.

armed forces

Sagittarius has been preserved in the Bundeswehr as a term, but also as a rank designation in many ways. Examples include the armored personnel carrier for a combat vehicle of the mechanized infantry or contactors ( S , Schtz ) when referring to a soldier of the army in the lowest rank in the replenishment, military police - ABC defense, reconnaissance - and repair troop.

Historical development

The term Schütze (plural Schützen ) originated in German usage probably as early as the 14th century. It was applied to those who carried firearms . Forerunners were the Bogner as archers and Armbruster as crossbowmen. The first shooting orders in cities are known from the 15th century. Since the 14./15. Century rising again infantry was divided after armed with handguns as musketeers and pikemen . The share of riflemen was around 10% around 1500, as this armament was expensive, but increased rapidly with the widespread introduction of the firearm in the period that followed (around 60% around 1600).

The first class of shooting was the arquebus , named after the arquebus they wielded . They were replaced by the musketeers in the 17th century , alongside whom the fusiliers , hunters and, in the 18th century, the grenadiers developed as riflemen. At the beginning of the 18th century, the riflemen ousted the pikemen from the army, as the flintlock rifle could be loaded faster than a matchlock musket and the mounted bayonet was used for close defense .

With the advent of new weapons, especially in the 20th century, the word rifleman also developed for functional designations such as MPi rifleman , machine gunner and sniper . The designation gunner was also adopted for operators of heavy infantry weapons and in armored vehicles with the functional designations of gunner and loader .

Significance of the marksmen in battle

Initially, the shooters played only an insignificant role in the battle due to their small number . They swarmed loosely in front of the front and on the edge of the Gevierthaufen , opened the fight and then withdrew to the protection of the pikemen. With the numerical growth of the shooter in the 16th century created for better combination of shock and firepower new in ordinances established orders of battle. In the 18th century they led to linear tactics , for which the volley fire of the connected infantry lines with subsequent bayonet attack was characteristic. The bourgeois reorganization of the military that took place in the wake of the French Revolution of 1789 included profound changes in the organization and warfare of the infantry. The tactical role of the riflemen grew as part of the new tirailleur and column tactics . It also came to the formation of protecting battalions , later by protecting regiments . The introduction of new, more effective firearms in the middle of the 19th century promoted the development of rifle combat in a dissolved order as the main form of combat of the infantry.

The importance of the riflemen in the armed struggles of the 19th and 20th centuries is reflected in the names of combat orders, as in the fencing types rifle line (until the end of the First World War whole battalions, today only partial units) and rifle ranks , and for field fortifications such as foxhole and trenches , today fighting post. Good shooters receive the shooting line as an award .

Rank shooter from 1920

Since the regulation of the chiefs of the army command in the Reichswehr of 6 December 1920, the name was contactors as unterster enlisted in the land forces , first in the infantry and later into the developing tank forces introduced there Panzerschütze. The next rank was upper rifleman .

Riflemen were formed as rifle regiments , especially at the beginning of the 20th century . The rifle regiment No. 108 existed in Saxony until 1918/19.

Protect in German armies

Standard (allegedly) for rifle and motorcycle rifle units of the Wehrmacht (1936–1939).

Standard for motorized rifle units of the Wehrmacht (1936–1945)

Shooters were usually recruited from middle-class backgrounds, while the hunters came from rural areas. In the French-speaking area the tirailleur was used and in the English-speaking area the term would have to be translated as rifleman .

After the cavalry had proven to be of limited use in the First World War , a larger part of these troops in the German Army was converted into cavalry rifle regiments and divisions , which were used like normal infantry.

The term "Schützen" was also used in the Wehrmacht . The rifle troops were part of the "rapid troops" and formed the infantry part of the early armored divisions . Then an armored division had each a protecting brigade , consisting of two contactors regiments and a Kradschützen - battalion . The name was later changed to Panzergrenadiers , which is also used in today's Bundeswehr .

In the Wehrmacht there was also the rank of upper rifle and in the Waffen SS the rank of SS upper rifle .

Badges of rank until 1945:

Collar Tabs	Epaulettes	Sleeve badge	Rank infantry	equivalent to
		- without -	Sagittarius (OR-1 junior)	Soldier in general, or list below

Rank
lower: none	German Empire Sagittarius	higher: upper gunner

Annotation:

OR - stands for en Other (enlisted) Ranks (OR)

According to the relevant branches of the armed force , branch of service , special forces or using the equivalent was to protect :

Ironmith riders and ironmongers, drivers and drivers, aviators , radio operators , grenadiers , hunters , gunners , musketeers , sailors , tank guns , tank grenadiers and tank gunners , pioneers , horsemen and trumpeters.

NS ranks

In the Nazi ranks , the equivalent to the rank of Rifleman in the Wehrmacht was: the SA-Sturmmann , the SS-Mann in the Allgemeine SS and the SS-Schützen in the Waffen-SS .

National Peoples Army

In the NVA were in the land forces , the branch of mot. Protect troops , their families mot. Protect welcomed. The function name in the mot. Protect group was Sagittarius , with the addition of that infantry weapon, such as submachine gunner .

Individual evidence

^ Infantry drill regiment from 1888 and 1906
↑ The abbreviation "OR" stand for "other ranks / sous-officiers et militaires du rang" see: NATO glossary abbreviations used in NATO documents and publications / Glossaire OTAN des abréviations utilisées dans les documents et publications OTAN 2010, p. 237. Archived from the original on May 8, 2010.
^ Dictionary of German military history , Military Publishing House of the GDR , 1985, p. 873

[1] Infantry drill regiment from 1888 and 1906

[NATO2-2] The abbreviation "OR" stand for "other ranks / sous-officiers et militaires du rang" see: NATO glossary abbreviations used in NATO documents and publications / Glossaire OTAN des abréviations utilisées dans les documents et publications OTAN 2010, p. 237. Archived from the original on May 8, 2010.

[3] Dictionary of German military history , Military Publishing House of the GDR , 1985, p. 873