Basic Organization of Schützen-Regiment (mot.) in 1941

Reorganization of Panzer-Division during 1940/1941.The number of Panzer-Division doubled after French campaign by reorganization of other formations, most of them were infantry divisions.

The Panzer-Brigaden were disbanded in Panzer-Divisionen and one of the two Panzer-Regimenter was detached to the newly formed Panzer-Divisionen. This dramatic reduction of Panzer arms made every Panzer-Division consist of only one Panzer-Regiment with two or three battalions. Those Panzer-Divisionen with only one motorized rifle regiment was assigned a second regiment and thus all Panzer-Divisionen had two motorized rifle regiments under control of motorized rifle brigade. The worse had yet to come, with the introduction of Kradschützen-Bataillon under the command of motorized rifle brigade in every Panzer-Division, the infantry component was increased to five battalions. Thereby a complete reversal of the ratio of Panzer to Schützen, from previous 4 : 5 or 3 : 4 became 2:5 or 3 : 5. (Table 15, 1. Panzer-Division in 1941 as an example).

1. Panzer-Division in 1941

1.

1. II. I.

1. 113. 1. 1.

73. III. II. I.

37. 37. 4.

Table 15. Major combat components of the 1. Panzer-Division in 1941 (Back line service is not shown).

Assignment of New Schützen-Regiment (mot.) for Old Panzer-Division. The motorized rifle regiments in the first three Panzer-Divisionen and the 6. Panzer-Division were reorganized after the French campaign.

Each regiment had reorganized in a standard formation with one motorized HQ company, two battalions and one motorized infantry gun company except those regiments in the 13. Panzer-Division. The motorized HQ company had one motorcycle messanger platoon, one motorized engineer platoon and one motorized signal platoon. The regoranized battalion had three motorized rifle companies, one motorized MG company and one motorized heavy company (Table 16, Schützen-Regiment 1 (mot.) in 1941 as an example). All motorcycle rifle companies in the regiments were all concentrated into motorcycle rifle battalion for newly formed Panzer-Divisionen and motorized infantry divisions.

Schützen-Regiment (mot.) 1 in 1941

1

Table 16. Basic organization of Schützen-Regiment (mot.) 1 in 1941. The battalion and company levels show the traditional German tactical symbols.

The regiment had a total of 12 companies and the firepower of these companies was slightly increased in light MG numbers (Table 17). The number of light and heavy infantry guns was increased as compared to those in 1940 (Table 10).

Firepower of Schützen-Regiment (mot.) 1 in 1941

Table 17. Firepower distribution in Schützen-Regiment (mot.) 1 in 1941, MG: machine gun, IG: infantry gun.

Reorganization of Infanterie-Regiment into Schützen-Regiment (mot.) for New Panzer-Division. The infantry divisions detached an infantry regiment after converting to Panzer-Division. The remaining infantry regiments in the division also detached a battalion after converting to motorized rifle regiments.

Reorganization of Infanterie-Regiment (mot.) into Schützen-Regiment (mot.) for New Panzer-Division. The motorized infantry regiments detached a battalion after converting to motorized rifle regiments.

Reorganization of Schützen-Regiment (mot.) 66 and 93 for the 13. Panzer-Division. The 13. Panzer-Division had been stayed in Rumania as an instruction unit for armored force of Rumanian Army until early June 1941. The motorized rifle regiments in the division remained the organization of motorized infantry regiment with one motorized HQ company, two battalions, one motorized infantry gun company and one motorized antitank company. The motorized HQ company had one motorcycle messanger platoon, one motorized engineer platoon and one motorized signal platoon. The motorized rifle battalion had three motorized rifle companies and one motorized MG company (Table 18, Schützen-Regiment (mot.) 66 in 1941 as an example).

Schützen-Regiment 66 (mot.) in 1941

66.
II.	I.

Table 18. Basic organization of Schützen-Regiment (mot.) 66 in 1941. The battalion and company levels show the traditional German tactical symbols.

The regiment had a total of 11 companies and the firepower of these companies was slightly weaker in light and heavy MG numbers (Table 19).

Firepower of Schützen-Regiment (mot.) 66 in 1941

Table 19. Firepower distribution in Schützen-Regiment (mot.) 66 in 1941, MG: machine gun, IG: infantry gun.

Creation of the 5. leichte Division. 18 February 1941, North Africa, the Sperrverband Libyen was reorganized 5. leichte Division with elements from 3. Panzer-Division (3. Panzer-Brigade Stab) and two motorized MG battalions. The major combat components that assigned to the division were Panzer-Regiment 5 from the 3. Panzer-Brigade, Infanterie-Regiment Stab z.b.V. 200 with MG-Bataillon (mot.) 2 amd MG-Bataillon (mot.) 8, I. Abteilung/Artillery-Regiment (mot.) 75 and Aufklaerung-Abteilung (mot.) 3 from the 3. Panzer-Division.

Formation of gepanzert Schützen-Regiment in Panzer-Division. Since the foundation of Panzer-Division long before the outbreak of World War II and during Polish Campaign, most of the German motorized rifle units had to reply on lorried borne vehicles due to lack of suitable armor transport vehicles. Thus motorized riflemen had to fight dismounted and could not always follow the Panzer into action, some quick successes gained by the Panzer could not be fully exploited due to lack of riflemen support especially in street fighting, night actions and in difficult terrains. It was necessary to equip motorized rifle units with a new vehicles not only for transportation both on road and cross-country to follow the Panzer, but also provided armor protection for riflemen riding on the vehicles. This concept led to the introduction of an armor halftracked fighting vehicle, the mittlere Mannschafttransportwagen (MTW) SdKfz 251. The first few MTW were delivered to the 1. Panzer-Division during the Polish Campaign. However, the production of MTW could not catch up with the expansion of Panzer-Division so most of the Panzer-Divisionen had only one battalion equipped with MTW, some of them had only one company equipped with MTW and few of them even did not have any MTW before the Operation Barbarossa in 1941.

List of Composition in Schützen-Regiment (mot.) in 1941. There were 40 motorized rifle regiments in 20 panzer divisions.

There were total 396 motorized rifle-related companies in 40 motorized rifle regiments and the composition included 216 motorized rifle companies (55%), 77 motorized MG companies (19%), 73 motorized heavy companies (18%), 24 armored rifle companies (6%), three armored MG companies (1%), and three armored heavy companies (1%).

Creation of the 21. Panzer-Division and Reorganization of Schützen-Regiment (mot.) 104. 1 August 1941, North Africa, 5. leichte Division was reorganized as 21. Panzer-Division. The division exchanged Infanterie-Regiment Stab z.b.V. 200 and MG-Bataillon (mot.) 2 for Schützen-Regiment (mot.) 104 and Kradschützen-Bataillon 15 from 15. Panzer-Division.

Creation of the 90. leichte Afrika-Division and Reorganization of Schützen-Regiment (mot.) 155 and 361 . August 1941, Libya, several units already serving in Africa were put together under the command of "Division Kommando z.b.V. Afrika". The first element of the division included the 3rd battalion of Infanterie-Regiment 347 and Schützen-Regiment 155. The Schützen-Regiment 155 was formed from Schützen-Ersatz Bataillon 1 in Weimar with three battalions from different regiments: the 1st battalion came from third battalion of Infanterie-Regiment 241, the 2nd battalion came from 3rd battalion of Infanterie-Regiment 258, and the 3rd battalion came from 3rd battalion of Infanterie-Regiment 268. 26 November 1941, Libya, the division was redesigned 90. leichte Afrika-Division (mot. Tropendienst). The reinforced Afrika Schützen-Regiment 361 with two partially motorized infantry battalions, one motorized infantry gun company, Flak-Kompanie (mot.) 613 and leichte Artillerie-Abteilung (mot.) 361 joined the division.

Assignment of Schützen-Regiment (mot.) for Afrika-Division. The motorized rifle regiments in the Africa campaign were reorganized as follow.

Creation of the 22. Panzer-Division, Schützen-Regiment (mot.) 129 and 140. 25 September 1941, Tours-Poitiers-Niort, southwest France, the 22. Panzer-Division was formed from elements of 2. Panzer-Division, half Panzer-Brigade 101, infantry units of Heeres-Gruppe B, Ersatz-Heeres and also Heerestruppen. The major combat components in the 22. Panzer-Division included Panzer-Regiment 204, 22. Schützen-Brigade (mot.) with Schützen-Regiment (mot.) 129 and 140, Artillerie-Regiment (mot.) 140, and Kradschützen-Bataillon 24. The Schützen-Regiment (mot.) 129 and 140 were created from cadre of 2. Panzer-Division. The personnel of the Schützen-Regiment (mot.) 129 was recruit from WK VI, IX and X. The personnel of the Schützen-Regiment (mot.) 140 was recruit from WK XIII and XVII.

Creation of the 23. Panzer-Division, Schützen-Regiment (mot.) 126 and 128. 1 October 1941, Paris, France, the 23. Panzer-Division was formed from elements of half Panzer-Brigade 101, Feld-Heeres, Ersatz-Heeres, Heerestruppen and also troops from WK V-XII. The major combat components in the 23. Panzer-Division included Panzer-Regiment 201, 23. Schützen-Brigade (mot.) with Schützen-Regiment (mot.) 126 and 128, Artillerie-Regiment (mot.) 128, and Kradschützen-Bataillon 23. The Schützen-Regiment (mot.) 126 were created from cadre of 5. Panzer-Division and the personnel was recruit from WK III and Schützen-Erstaz-Bataillon (mot.) 104 in WK XII. The Schützen-Regiment (mot.) 128 were also created from cadre of 5. Panzer-Division and the personnel was recruit from WK III, IV and V.

Creation of the 24. Panzer-Division, Schützen-Regiment (mot.) 21 and 26. 28 November 1941, East Prussia, the only cavalry division was converted to a new panzer division. The Reiter-Regiment 1 and 22 were converted to Schützen-Regiment (mot.) 21 and 26, respectively. The major combat components in the 24. Panzer-Division included Panzer-Regiment 24, 24. Schützen-Brigade (mot.) with Schützen-Regiment (mot.) 21 and 26, Artillerie-Regiment (mot.) 89, and Kradschützen-Bataillon 4. However, the motorized riflemen remained their cavalry tradition in the division.