Hello
Did Munitionsstaffel consist mostly of horse teams, and was their function to receive and store the ammunition from supply columns and then move the ammunition within the specific unit as needed? Were the Munitionsstaffel responsible for operating the unit's possible supply vehicles (where ammunition was stored) as well?
During advance and mobile operations the units just had the ammo available which it was able to transport in the available vehicles/horse carts etc...
Of course in static situations ammo was stored depending on the situation also at battery level.
The Munitionsstaffel was the ammo transport section in artillery and other batteries (e.g.Stb.Bttr....). Have a look into this KStN to see how it looked like:
http://chrito.users1.50megs.com/kstn/kstn4341okt38.htm
Non mot. infantry units had the so called Gefechtswagen (which were horse carts) which transported the ammo for the platoon.
These Gefechtswagen and Mun.Staffeln did pick up the ammo from the "Umschlagplätze"
You wrote that erste Munitionsausstattung consisted also of the ammunition transported in the Leichten Kolonnen and in Divisionsnachschubkolonnen. Did you just mean that these supply columns brought the needed new ammunition to units, or did you mean that they had some other function as well (like storing ammunition)?
As I said above the 1.Munitionsausstattung was when all these columns were fully loaded with ammo. Depending on the situation they also stored ammo but usually the ammo storage was done at higher level to keep the batteries, regiments etc.. mobile with the available ammo that it was able to transport.
Were the Leichten Kolonnen used only to transport ammunition from Umschlagstellen to units? Did Divisionsnachschubkolonnen transport ammunition to units from the Munitionsausgabestelle and Army Dump, or from Umschlagstellen as well / only? Was it normal to use all the three sources, and the two kinds of columns, or were the divisional columns used only when units needed additional ammunition already during the day or when Leichten Kolonnen couldn't transport all the needed ammunition?
The ordered and ideal way was like I posted above (Sources are officer school documents from Panzertruppenschulen, Artillerieschulen and Infanterieschulen) but of course the system was varied in certain situations and when needed.
My understanding is that the leichten Kolonnen and the Divisionsnachschubkolonnen acted as kind of bumber in the time where the ammo was ordered and delivered from the A.O.K./Korps etc.. which as I posted usually took one day.
Below division level there seems to have been some variation, HoGMF suggests that the final supply distribution level would be the battalion.
This was my previous understanding as well, but the model Christoph is offering is quite different. The Handbook doesn't cover the important role of the Regiments, for example.
Well that is a matter of interpretation. The last "Umschlagstelle" from divisional supply columns to lower levels was the Regiment. Of course a battalion or Abteilung had supply and transport elements. Just look into the KStN of battalion HQ on my site. IT also depended on the time because later in the war the company organic supply elements were moved to higher levels which can be seen in the various KStN (fG) = freie Gliederung.
Yes, but it often was several hundred kilometers, at least in 1941. I wonder if they changed the model in such situations?
Yes the model was often changed according to the situation. I remember a divsional report about supply I read a few days ago where the divisional supply columns needed 2 days to return from depots 200-400km away from the front (296.Inf.Div. 1941)
Yes, I have read Van Creveld, I value his "Supplying War" greatly, as it's my only book that deals specifically about WW2 logistics, and I was intending to ask about this subject.
So, did units really steal supplies sent to other units? If it did happen, did it happen only on Army level, or did it happen also on divisonal level and lower?
Supplies, reinforcements etc.. were redirected (I wouldn´t call it stealing
) by officers at all levels but usually at divisional and lower level because there no other institution (hgh ranking officer etc..) was able to intervene. At higher level you would get problems with the general of the next division etc..
A Waffen-SS Ib I interviewed told me about several things Hausser "redirected" during his duty in the SS-Panzerkorps including Sturmgeschütze etc...
I would assume so as well. Van Creveld mentions that offences were often halted for days, so that supplies could be stockpiled before continuing with the offence.
However, I have no real information if supplies were stockpiled on lower levels as well. Does anyone know? I would imagine that it did happen, at least after offence, when units were trying to recover supply situation, but what about when supply situation was OK but it was expected to get worse because of coming days of offence?
Especially in mobile warfare situation ammo was not stockpiled at lower levels because they were not able to transport it and it was very important that the attack could continue. Ammo was usually stored at A.O.K. level because they had the ability to transport large ammounts and did not have to move that fast as divisions for example.
The most important thing was that the 1.Munitionsaustattung was filled up fast and reliable from the A.O.K.
I wonder on what level these actions were organized?
This was done by the single man who catches the pig at the next farm and grills it with his platoon comrades up to the highest level which organized the rebuild of farms, food factories, butcheries etc...
Of course the first official organized level was the IVa Stabsoffizier (= Divisionsintendant) in the divisional headquarter who was responsible for the food supply of the division.
\Christoph
