static 28/32 Wurfkörper = Artillery or Infantry

[jopaerya]

Hello All

In 1944 there were quite a few static rocket launchers placed inland before the invasion .
There is a lot of conflicting information on this subject , are they artillery or infantry
who has original information on this ??
Thanks in advance Jos

[dirk Peeters]

i always thought infantery
i ll look it up

[jopaerya]

Thanks Dirk

You could be right

[schwarzermai]

both - for static use in a "infanterie area" for more defense (but without organisational number oder real-Etat "nicht etatisiert")

but i think Artillery only have it in regular unit: Stellungs-Werfer-Regiment 101 (with 3 Abteilungen ex-101, 102 and 103)
(the Abt. were formed in Sep'1943)

Stell.Wf.Rgt. 101 were lost in the Cherbourg area

uwe

[dirk Peeters]

thanks Uwe

[jpz4]

Thousands of s.W.G.40 and/or s.W.G.41 (frames to hold four launch cases each) were installed as static weapons along the Atlantic Wall. Infantry units were also allowed to keep some of those back as a mobile reserve. Attempts to mount them on mobile platforms were officially appreciated and encouraged. Some of the rocket firing Renault UEs are an example of this.
I also know of at least one case where the KM received 28/32 launchers, apparently as static weapons to provide additional fire power. This would be rather similar to their use by the infantry holding the coast, although in the case of the KM this may have been restricted to the most crucial sectors.

s.St.W.Rgt.101 was equipped with Nb.W.41 (six 'barrels') on a mobile trailer, which of course fired the same 28/32 cm rockets.

Niels

[Richard Anderson]

Hello All

In 1944 there were quite a few static rocket launchers placed inland before the invasion .
There is a lot of conflicting information on this subject , are they artillery or infantry
who has original information on this ??
Thanks in advance Jos

Werfer-Brigade 7., which was at Beauvais, provided personnel detachments to man fixed 4-barrel 32cm Wurfgerät positions along the coast. It is known that men from Werf.-Regt. 84 manned such a position at OMAHA and other, similar, positions are known to have existed on SWORD, JUNO, and GOLD. I suspect that may be the case for other positions in the 15. Armee zone and elsewhere in the 7. Armee zone.

[jpz4]

Richard, did they provide crews or instruction personnel? I've never found a clear answer to that. The Armee and corps records I've checked only speak of the arrival of launchers and never mention crews.

[jopaerya]

Thanks for all your reply's

What I found and meant are static battery's with 10 positions with each 4 x "Wurfrahme" in one site,
would these "Wurfkörper" be "Bodenständige Waffen" and are there any "Gleiderungen" as example
for these static rockets bat. ??

Regards Jos

[jpz4]

Yes, those would be bodenständig. Typically operated by local infantry or possibly by the men mentioned by Richard. The examples I've seen I would not even call batteries, as that suggests some sort of organization. They remind me more of remote controlled flamethrowers installed to beef up defenses.

[Richard Anderson]

Richard, did they provide crews or instruction personnel? I've never found a clear answer to that. The Armee and corps records I've checked only speak of the arrival of launchers and never mention crews.

I suspect it was simply instructional personnel and probably some support in setting up the firing positions (which might have benefited from better support since I'm not sure any fired). However, there isn't much there...I've never seen a clear answer either.

[jopaerya]

Found this in a Waffen Revue 10, it looks to me that the racks could be reloaded and could be adjust for the firing range ??

Regards Jos

[Manuferey]

On the eastern coast of the Cotentin, Oberstleunant Keil, CO of GR 919, mentioned static rocket launcher positions manned by infantry.

You would need trained personnel to install the fuze and the ignition cable. To do that, you'd need an artillery man or a engineer or a "rocketman" (from Werferbrigade 7. or s.SWR 101.). But once it is done, I assumed that you would just need an infantryman to press the ignition box.

If reloading was planned, and if you only have infantry to do it, you would need rockets stored with their fuzes on nearby.

However, I'm not sure how much reloading could be done. With the rockets leaving huge trail when fired, the adversary can quickly figure out from where they are fired and provide artillery or naval bombardment for counter-fire ... unless you have really bad weather with low clouds or rain.

Emmanuel

[jopaerya]

Thank you very much

On other site's I also read that the 28/32 cm Wurfkörper were under the command
of the Nebeltruppen ( Waffenfarbe bordeaux-rot ) maybe they did the technical pre-work.

Regards Jos

[jpz4]

On the eastern coast of the Cotentin, Oberstleunant Keil, CO of GR 919, mentioned static rocket launcher positions manned by infantry.

This is correct. There's an account from an Oberfeldwebel from his regiment who controlled some of these, although in the sector of II./919.

If reloading was planned, and if you only have infantry to do it, you would need rockets stored with their fuzes on nearby.

In the case of 7.Armee the launchers were supposed to have ammo for two salvos (Feuerschläge) on site, incl. those already installed on the launchers, one more load in the division ammo stores and two in Armee ammo stores. Ammo was however short and only about half those rounds were available, about 80% being the less effective flame rounds. Triepel however confirms that the launchers in his sector had ammo for two salvos.
After the invasion rockets were taken from other coastal sectors to provide ammo to units at the front.

In addition to Nebeltruppen, Pioniere also seem to have used rockets on a fairly regular base, but I've never really studied those. I assume this happened because Pioniere were used to operating more specialized equipment than regular infantry and not having infantry guns of their own.