Bulgarian infantry platoons and squads

[Billy]

Hello everybody, I have been searching all over for the composition of Bulgarian infantry platoons and squads during WWII. Several topics on this forum have mentioned Bulgarian organisation, frequently generously helped with information from the amazing Dibo. In an earlier topic he informed us that a Bulgarian infantry platoon had three light machine guns and was organised into three squads.

http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic. ... 134#994134

I am presuming it was one LMG per squad but had a couple questions about the details.
1.Were the squads about ten men apiece with the squad leader sergeant (podoficer) armed with a submachine gun or in some cases a rifle and one of the rifleman assigned as an assistant machine gunner carrying extra ammunition and a spare barrel as other armies did? And did the squad divide itself into a "gun section" and a "rifle section"?

2.Did the platoon headquarters section have just a podporuchik (2nd lieutenant) or was there also a platoon sergeant as 2nd in command, a runner for messages and maybe a guy with a sniper rifle as some armies had?

Thanks a lot to Dibo or whoever can answer this.

[dibo]

2. Platoon sergeant - yes. No snipers and runners AFAIK, at least for the oridinary infantry platoons.

[Billy]

Thanks Dibo!!

[YAN]

Did the Bulgarians adopt the 81mm Mortar, I cannot find any in there TO&E (Before the Soviet take over)

[dibo]

Did the Bulgarians adopt the 81mm Mortar, I cannot find any in there TO&E (Before the Soviet take over)

Yes, at Regimental and later at Battalion level - a company with 6-9 mortars.

[YAN]

Thanks Dido, I have just found out that they was either French 81mm Stokes/Brandt or 81mm M.35 ?.

[dibo]

Thanks Dido, I have just found out that they was either French 81mm Stokes/Brandt or 81mm M.35 ?.

Exactly. 8.14 cm GrW 34 from 1936 or 8.14 cm french mortar M 27/31 Brandt (Bulgaria wanted some of these from France in 1936, but was denied, so the first deliveries were later from Germany as captured weapons).

[YAN]

Thanks Dibo, I was going to equipp my Yugoslave Wargames army (First rate infantry) with the following,
Pistols = P-38
Sub-Machine Guns = ?
Cavalry & Arillery Carbine = ?
Rifles = 7.92mm M.24 (Czcech Vz.24)
Light Machine Guns = 7.92mm M.30 (Czech Vz.30)
Medium Machine Guns = ?
Light Mortars = ?
Medium Mortars = ?
Am I going in the right direction with these weapons, I have no amounts apart from 1600 81mm Mortars.
Regards Yan.

[dibo]

Yugoslav or Bulgarian army we are speaking now? And which year? If it is the Yugoslav army of 1941, the question is for the colleagues in this forum:

http://forum.axishistory.com/viewforum.php?f=12

[YAN]

Sorry Dibo, I have changed to Yugoslavia because I was doing some work on there section and you seemed pretty zoned in on this subject.

[dibo]

Sorry Dibo, I have changed to Yugoslavia because I was doing some work on there section and you seemed pretty zoned in on this subject.

Nope, your guy for this subject is The Edge

[YAN]

Thanks Dibo, I have put out a new post in the link you left above, maybe the Edge will notice and come to my aid like he has done over the years.

[YAN]

Back to the Bulgarians. Dibo can you please help me with the following.
How many P.08 Pistols did the Bulgarians buy or make ?, I dont know what year they were introduced into the Bulgarian Military but were they the most common side arm used by Officers and NCOs ?, I wonder what type of Pistols the LMG gunners used if any.
I cant find any stats on the amounts of Mortars the Bulgarian army recived from Germany (GrW 34 & 8.14 cm M 27/31).
Regards Yan.

[dibo]

For the pistols your question is very difficult to answer as the variety of the types used is staggering. Here is some incomplete data: 1941 supplied 8000 9mm Walther, 2000 7.65mm Sauer, 1942 - 2000 9mm Walther P38, 4500 9mm VIS, 1943 - 5000 Star from Spain, 1943-1944 - 13360 7.65mm Mauser, etc. In 1939 there were 8444 pistols, mainly P03, P11, P08, but also variety of other types.

For the mortars: On 12.03.1943 the total number of mortars, after the old mortars Erhardt from WW1 were withdrawn from service, was 610, incl. 477 GrW and 133 Brandt. Later in 1943 and 1944 were supplied 400 more Brandts and 1400 GrW.

[YAN]

Thanks Dibo, the info on the mortars was just the thing I was looking for.