User:MFIreland/German Heavy Machine Gun Platoon

The German Army had learned well the lessons taught by the machine gun on the killings fields of the Great War. But they did not rely on the same weapons for the next conflict, as was the case with the allies. The MG34 was a unique concept, a General Purpose Machine Gun or GPMG. The weapon could be mounted on a heavy tripod and fed by continuous belts of ammunition, or fired from a bipod with a short belt contained in a drum. The toll this weapon and its successor took on allied troops was truly terrible. Each Platoon served four MG34s, used in the sustained fire mode on tripod mountings.

Despite the introduction of the MG34 production shortages meant that in the early years of the war, some units were equipped with the older MG08/15 heavy machine gun. This was a direct descendent of the Maxim machine guns but despite its age it remained a perfectly lethal weapon, and was found in use until the end of the war in some instances.

The previous layout of three Platoons per Machine Gun Company serving four heavy machine guns each remained unaltered until mid-1944. Then, half the weapons were distributed out among the Rifle Companies, the remaining six being concentrated in a single Platoon of three Sections. Equipment also changed, as the new MG42 began to supplement the MG34 during 1943. The MG42 had an even higher rate of fire than its predecessor and was a particularly lethal machine. It too was used in the light role by Rifle Squads, and was easier to mass produce. It never supplanted the MG34 however, which remained in service throughout.

German Grenadier Battalion, Heavy Company, Heavy Machine Gun Platoon, June 1944

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Numbers in parenthesis indicate number of personnel assigned to role, number of unallocated weapons or number of sub-units in detachment.

Unit Rank Weapon Vehicle
Platoon HQ
Platoon Commander Officer MP40, pistol Horse
Messenger (3) Private Rifle
Range Taker Private Pistol
Gunsmith Private Rifle
Stretcher Bearer Private Pistol
Horse holder * Private Rifle
Wagon driver (2) Private Rifle Horse (2), wagon
HMG Section (3) each
Section Leader NCO MP40
HMG Squad (2) each
Squad Leader NCO MP40
Machine Gunner Private Pistol, MG34/42
Assistant Gunner Private Pistol
Rifleman (3) Private Rifle
Horse leader Private Rifle Horse, cart & trailer

Notes
* served as 'Groom' for Officer's horse

Officers NCOs Privates Rifles Pistols Sub-Machine Guns Heavy Machine Guns Horse Drawn Vehicles Trailers Horses
1 9 45 31 15 10 6 8 6 11

References

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  • http://www.bayonetstrength.150m.com/
  • TM-E 30-451: Handbook on German Military Forces. U.S. War Department. 1945. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)