Niels Henkemans Profile picture
Sep 14, 2021 14 tweets 4 min read Read on X
Thread: German orbats #3 Let’s continue our crash course of German OOBs. We’ll stay with this one Image
Let’s look at an artillery regiment
Staff, HQ battery, 4 battalions (each with a staff, HQ battery and 3 batteries) Image
Again, a square flag for a regiment. We have seen the box shape with the infantry. Here the stylized gun symbol identifies it as an artillery battery and ‘St’ means Stab (staff/HQ) Image
1st battalion or 1. Abt. in German
Same principle as with the regimental staff, but here we have 3 gun batteries Image
The arrow represents a cannon. Sometimes the vertical lines are heavy (like a company) sometimes (here) the are slim. The arrow shows this battery is armed with cannon. The type? Light (le) Czech (t) pieces. 4 pieces and 2 LMG. Image
2-4 battalion are differently armed Image
The symbol here represents a howitzer batteries (think of a gun with a wheel on each side)
Again they are light Czech pieces with 2 LMG Image
Here’s the same battalion in an actual strength report. Note the heavy bars and the addition of a new symbol: an arrow with a circle underneath. It represents an anti-aircraft gun. In this case a light piece (common with static divisions) Image
The presence of 4 light battalions is actually unusual. The New Type and Type 44 organization kept the traditional organization of 3 light and 1 heavy battalion (left). Image
Here the calibers are shown (15cm and 10,5cm) as well as MGs. As an example some batteries are listed with 3 art. pieces as there could be shortages. Hence the 'x)'
In German infantry division artillery was usually transported by horses. So fewer guns means fewer horses in the 'Grundgliederung. Typically batteries were nonetheless still equipped with 4 pieces, so more horses
To be continued with a look at antitank troops and recon units.
Oh, and a big thank you to my Ko-fi supporters!
ko-fi.com/niels_1944

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Niels Henkemans

Niels Henkemans Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @Niels_1944

May 25
Thread #dday80
When talking about the German preparations for the Allied Invasion (AKA D-Day), a lot of attention goes to the (in)famous Panzer Reserve. With 10 Panzer Divisions and 1 Pz.Gren.Div., this force sounds formidable. But it is often overlooked what it actually was... Image
The level to which these divisions were operational varied wildly on D-Day Many had serious manpower problems (too few officers & NCOs), mobility issues, lack of (formation) training and shortage of weaponry/armor. So let's take a closer look at them...
Some divisions were good, like the Pz.Lehr. On 1 May it was assessed as Kampfwert I (Combat rating I), the highest possible. This meant it was deemed ready for all offensive operations. Mobility of its combat vehicles was at 90% and those of the support troops was 50%. Image
Read 37 tweets
May 15
Thread (on going)
With #DDay80 approaching fast, I'll try to address some myths. Let's begin with Omaha Beach, or more precisely the 352.I.D.
It's been called everything from elite to poor, but usually such extremes are not based on actual records. This list is.😎 Image
When it came to armament, the division was pretty much up to authorised strength, all of it modern and German. This is very clear for its heavy weapons but the number of mortars and MGs are also impressive.
Outdated coastal (static) weapons merely augmented its firepower
Oh, and for what it's worth, the 353.I.D. (a sister formation to the 352.I.D.). Had an authorised strength of 723 MGs on 1 June, only 10 of which were not MG-42. The same can be expected for the 352.I.D., which meant the division was pretty much up to strength.
Read 8 tweets
Nov 30, 2021
Thread:
The 2 Dutch gunboats H.N.M.S Soemba and Flores participated in Operation Neptune. Armed with 3 15cm (5.9") guns they earned the nickname 'Terrible Twins' for their operation in the Mediterranean.
Getting the Soemba ready for D-Day required a peculiar series of messages...
One of her guns was out of order. Knowing that replacing it in those busy times would get little priority, A.D. Nicoll decided to make the request as a poem to help move things along.
Yes, a poem.

(image above is of the Flores, used because it shows the guns very well (NIHM))
"A report has come in from the Soemba,
That their salvoes go off like a Rhumba,
Two guns, they sound fine,
But the third five point nine,
He am bust and refuse to go boomba."

A.D. Nicholl,
Director of Operations Division (Foreign)
Read 18 tweets
Nov 29, 2021
Although I typically post about German forces, I'm actually just as interested in the allies.

When studying the fighting on the Cotentin peninsula it quickly becomes clear how costly the campaign was for both sides. Here is a casualty list of the infantry regiments of the US 4ID
The total number of casualties in the division in June 44 was 5.414. When we subtract that slightly wounded/injured the number is still 4.712
So how quickly were these losses replaced? Well, not as quickly as you might expect.
Read 11 tweets
Sep 15, 2021
@OberstWKlink suggested I shared this with my followers and he is of course right...
... Good allied intel documents are available on all these unit symbols, so if you want to move ahead and educate yourself you can use these links...
1) 1943 version: archive.org/details/German…
2) 1944 version:
archive.org/details/German…

Don't worry if this all seems a bit overwhelming, I'll continue my crash course later ;-)
Read 4 tweets
Aug 18, 2021
Thread: German orbats #2
Let’s continue our crash course of German OOBs. We’ll zoom in on this one
Anyway, time to dig little deeper and start with a inf rgt:
Staff, HQ company, three battalions and two regimental heavy weapons units
Read 24 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

:(