German order details - Roer/Inde battles near Juelich

Discussions on WW2 in Western Europe & the Atlantic.
Post Reply
Andreas
Member
Posts: 6938
Joined: 10 Nov 2002, 15:12
Location: Europe

German order details - Roer/Inde battles near Juelich

#1

Post by Andreas » 26 Aug 2004, 12:35

I found these in a book from 1949 ('Die Front zwischen Rur und Inde') that details the effects of the Roer battles on the county of Jülich. These are re-prints for a number of Stützpunkt (emplacement/fire base) orders, with a neat bit of detail. The text is always the same, so I will only quote that once, but the equipment is listed in fine detail.

The orders were found by a priest in a house north of Altenkirchen.

Order for Stützpunkt Maaßenhof:
Commander: Feldwebel (Staff-Sergeant?) Haug
2 i/c: NN
Unit: 4./Festungs-PAK-Verband XIV

You are commander of the emplacement and have the order to defend it against any attack to the last round, with all means at your disposal, even when you have been by-passed by the enemy, or have been cut off. A withdrawal from the emplacement is only allowed under orders. You are fully responsible to bring the emplacement into a condition allowing all-round defense. You have to make contact with neighbouring emplacements.

You have the following weapons: 2x 88mm ATG 43 L71, 2x 7.62mm gun, 2 MG42, 2 MG81, 2 automatic rifles, 16 rifles, 2 SMG, 4 Pistols 7.65, 1 Pistol 08, 17 Panzerfaust, 59 grenades, 8 AT mines.

Ammunition: 96 HE rounds 88mm, 100 AT rounds 88mm, 62 HE rounds 7.62, 114 AT rounds 7.62, 8,918 rounds rifle/MG, 114 rounds 08, 11 rounds 7.65.

This order has been prepared in two copies (one for the emplacement commander, one for the unit commander).

Signature of the emplacement commander: Haug, Gustav, Staff-Sergeant
Signature of the Company Commander: Tellputh
Order for Stützpunkt bunker system north of Stetternich:
Commander: Sergeant (Uffz) (FW - Staff Sergeant) Willy Reinhardt
2 i/c: Uffz. Hans Sudholz
Unit: 3./Festungs-PAK-Verband XIV, I. Zug (1 Halbzug) (1st Platoon and one half-platoon)

You have the following weapons: 2x 88mm ATG, 2x MG, 1 SMG, 4 Pistols, 12 Panzerfaust, 80 grenades, 11 AT mines.

Ammunition: 147 HE rounds, 147 AT rounds, 400 rounds rifle, 5,200 rounds MG, 275 rounds pistol (also SMG)

Signature of the emplacement commander: Reinhardt, Sergeant
Signature of the Company Commander: pp. Henterich, Lt.
Order for Stützpunkt Merscherhöhe:
Commander: Lt. Meier
2 i/c: Feldwebel Kühlen
Unit: II. Zug, 1.(mot.Z.) Panzerjägerabteilung 363 (= 1st motorised company AT Battalion 363)

You have the following weapons: 2x 75mm, 2 MG42, 2 MP44, 10 rifles, 6 Pistols, 12 Panzerfaust, 45 grenades.

Ammunition: 54 HE rounds, 84 AT Pz-Gr.39, 2,400 rounds MG, 1,000 rounds rifle, 100 rounds pistol.

Signature of the emplacement commander: Göbel, Lt. and 2 i/c Company
Signature of the unit commander: unreadable
Signature of the company commander: Meier, Lt.
Order for Stützpunkt NN (could be 243, 247, 234):
Commander: Feldwebel Hänsch
Unit: 3./Festungs-PAK-Verband XIV

You have the following weapons: 5 rifles, 2 lMG, 1 SMG, 4 Pistols, 12 Panzerfaust, 45 grenades, 13 AT mines.

Ammunition: 1,200 rounds lMG, 400 rounds rifle, 150 rounds tracer
It appears that the 104th Infantry Division was involved in these battles on the US side: http://www.104infdiv.org/archive.htm

I thought this was quite interesting because it shows in a lot of detail the equipment provided for the emplacements. I also find it interesting that a mere Feldwebel could be in charge of something like the first emplacement, which looks very strong on paper. Finally, while I knew that Festung-Pak-Verbaende did exist, I knew nothing else about them.

Hopefully of interest to some.

All the best

Andreas

Edward L. Hsiao
Member
Posts: 2102
Joined: 01 Aug 2003, 09:43
Location: Flagstaff,Arizona

Re: German order details - Roer/Inde battles near Juelich

#2

Post by Edward L. Hsiao » 25 Jun 2019, 22:22

Sometimes I wonder how well these strongholds commanded by Feldwebels performed against the might of the US Army.

Edward L. Hsiao


Post Reply

Return to “WW2 in Western Europe & the Atlantic”