Mechanised Corps 2nd Generation

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Der Alte Fritz
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Re: Mechanised Corps 2nd Generation

#31

Post by Der Alte Fritz » 16 Apr 2018, 10:54

Early version of 010/290 Mech Corps
Officers 1880
NCO 4750
Men 7229
Total 13,859

Tanks 175
Armoured vehicles 108
Motorcycles 149
Tractors 34
guns
76mm 92
45mm 36
37mm 4
120mm
mortars
120mm 48
82mm 102
small arms
Maxims 62
LMG 413
AA MG DShK 46
AA MG 8
ATR 264
SMG 2786
Rifles 7379
Motor vehilces
light 68
cargo 1427
special 188
motors total 1,683

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Re: Mechanised Corps 2nd Generation

#32

Post by Der Alte Fritz » 16 Apr 2018, 11:00

010/290 Mech Brigades (010/3870-380 Tank Regt 010/414)
Officers 453
NCO 1313
Men 1910
Tanks 39
Armoured vehicles 10
motorcycles 14
tractors 2
76mm 12
45mm 12
37mm 12
120mm mortars 4
82mm 30
Machine guns Maxim 18
LMG 112
DShK 12
ATR 12
SMG 236
Rifle 1202
Motor vehicles
light 15
cargo 372
special 32
total motor vehicles 419


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Re: Mechanised Corps 2nd Generation

#33

Post by Der Alte Fritz » 16 Apr 2018, 11:17

What is odd about these figures is that the Mech Brigade combination of 010/390 and its Tank Regt 010/414 is very rare (and only appears in the 9 Mech Corps between April and August 1943?)

The most common combination was 010/390 and Tank Regt 010/292 so the numbers above need to be recast to reflect this.

010/420 and 010/414 was a common combination but later in the war
Soviet Mech Corps Shtat by unit.pdf
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Re: Mechanised Corps 2nd Generation

#34

Post by Der Alte Fritz » 18 Apr 2018, 11:18

Mech Corps showing both kinds of Tank Regt in Mech Bde and separate totals
Mech Corps 010-290.jpg
Mech Bde showing both types of Tank Regt
Mech Bde 010-370 with alternate Tk Rgt.jpg
Tank Brigade of Mech Corps
Tank Bde 010-240.jpg
Tank Regt details
Tank Regt 010-292 and 414.jpg

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Re: Mechanised Corps 2nd Generation

#35

Post by Art » 18 Apr 2018, 19:21

010/240 and 010/270 were different TO&Es of the tank brigade. The one with 1076 men was 010/240:
http://tankfront.ru/ussr/organisation/s ... 0_tbr.html
I guess, the original source means 010/240 OR 010/270, which would make sense.
Also in the table for the tank brigade:
"Anti-aircraft battery" instead of "anti-aircraft battalion"
"Technical company" instead of "engineer battalion"

In the table for the mechanized brigade:
"artillery battalion" and "anti-aircraft battalion" instead of "artillery division" and "anti-aircraft division"

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Re: Mechanised Corps 2nd Generation

#36

Post by Der Alte Fritz » 18 Apr 2018, 23:13

Art
Thank you for the corrections
Tank Brigade is the 010/240-247 one with 1076 men - it is a typo in the document that I posted before (diagram of Mech Corps Sept 1942) which I carried over to the spreadsheet.

What is interesting is that these figures are quite different from the ones in the Red Army Handbook and are a lot closer to the ones on Trankfront.ru. So that gives us two original sources with the same figures agreeing with Tankfront and filling in some gaps.

However there were later amendments to the original shtat as we will see from the Pamyat Naroda documents that I will be posting later of 3 Mech Corps from October and November 1942 when it was operating around Rzhev just before the offensive in December.

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Re: Mechanised Corps 2nd Generation

#37

Post by Der Alte Fritz » 22 Apr 2018, 08:33

ORGANIZATION OF MOTOR-RIFLE AND MECHANIZED BRIGADES
Suddenness acts overwhelmingly.
The suddenness of the attack is half-way to success.
One of the elements of achieving suddenness is the mobility of military units. The motorized rifle brigade - rifle divisions mounted on vehicles possesses high mobility - was again brought to life by the existing situation. Again because the motorized divisions of pre-war time were disbanded from the beginning of the war until March 1942, there were no motorized units in the Armoured and Mechanised Troops.
The first motorized rifle brigades were formed according to the state 010 / 370-010 / 380 developed and approved in March 1942.
The organization of the brigade was the following
J - 010-370 Motor Rifle Bde April 1942.jpg
TOTAL IN THE BRIGADE
Personnel numbers ......... .3,152
Armoured Cars ......... .7
Armoured Transports ......... .10
Guns 76mm / USV /..........24
Guns 37mm ......... .12
82mm Mortars ......... .30
120mm Mortar ............... .4
DShK ......... .3
Machine guns Maxim ......... .18
ATR ......... .54
Machine Guns Light ..................... .110

Such a motorized brigade having in its establishment artillery, mortars anti-aircraft and anti-tank weapons mechanised, it could perform independent tactical tasks.
The most characteristic combat actions of such units were.
A / the brigade's actions as a forward detachment-the seizure of advantageous lines and the retention of them until the main forces approach.
B / Parallel pursuit of the retreating enemy cuts off their escape.
V / Mobile reserve of the Army Command for preventing accidents.
G / Interaction with tank supports in the breakthrough of enemy defences and action in the depth of defence.
The mechanized brigades did not have their own special State but were kept in the same State with the introduction of the Tank Regiment in State No. 010/292 then 010/414 and finally No. 010/465.
The departments of motorized rifle and mechanized brigades generally did not follow the number of corps and included: motorized rifle brigades in Tank Corps who worked closely with tank brigades. It was necessary to organize close interaction of tank assaults with rifle formations; Mechanized brigades in Corps to act as the main impact force of the Corps.
The States of the Motorized brigade were revised in 1943 and the new one No. 010 / 420-010 / 431 were approved in February 1943.
The organizational structure of the brigade in State No. 010 / 420-010 / 431 was similar to the brigade State No. 010 / 370-010 / 380.
J - 010-420 Motor Rifle Bde April 1943.jpg
TOTAL IN THE BRIGADE

Number of Personnel ......... .3215
Armoured cars ......... .7
Armoured transports ......... .10
Vehicles............ ..280
76mm guns ......... .12
45mm guns ......... .12
120mm Mortars ......... .6
82mm Mortars ......... .30
ATR ......... .81
Machine guns Maxim......... .45
Machine Guns Light ..................... .110

Features of this organization:
1. Motor vehicles provided for the transport of personnel were grouped into a Company and subordinated to the management of the brigade, which contributed to the ordering of them as transport, they allowed greater opportunities for the transfer of units of the brigade.
2. Offensive operational forces of the troops urgently demanded constant engineering support: ensuring the crossing of the water obstacles, the restoration of roads, demining, etc. Therefore, the engineer-mine company was introduced into the brigade.
3. Anti-Aircraft Artillery Division turned out to be very difficult for the brigade, so it was not included in the brigade in 1942, and the establishment of the brigade introduced. the anti-aircraft machine-gun company State No. 010/451 of 50 people and 9 anti-aircraft machine guns of the DShK defended the units of the brigade sufficiently from the enemy air attack, preventing the aircraft from dropping and aiming for bombing and firing.
In this organization, the motor-rifle and mechanized brigades remained until the end of the war.

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Re: Mechanised Corps 2nd Generation

#38

Post by Der Alte Fritz » 22 Apr 2018, 09:42

3 Mech Corps on the eve of the Rzhev Offensive fully equipped under State No. 010/290 and 010/370-380 and 010/240
3 Mech Corps Nov 1942.jpg
Rzhev Offensive.jpg
Last edited by Der Alte Fritz on 23 Apr 2018, 07:40, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Mechanised Corps 2nd Generation

#39

Post by Art » 22 Apr 2018, 15:39

Der Alte Fritz wrote: The organization of the brigade was the following
Reconnaissance company with 148 men instead of "repair company" on the scheme.

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Re: Mechanised Corps 2nd Generation

#40

Post by Der Alte Fritz » 23 Apr 2018, 07:52

Thanks Art,
I checked the report on 13th November 1943 https://pamyat-naroda.ru/documents/view/?id=131279466 against the one for October https://pamyat-naroda.ru/documents/view/?id=131279456 and see that the Reconnaissance Company State changed to No 010/39 (or 390?) from No 010/881 and the Fuel Company from B to A.

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Re: Mechanised Corps 2nd Generation

#41

Post by Art » 23 Apr 2018, 12:10

10/881- separate repair battalion
010/390 - army repair battalion
010/415 - repair battalion of the mechanized corps
All three TO&Es coexisted in parallel.

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Re: Mechanised Corps 2nd Generation

#42

Post by Der Alte Fritz » 23 Apr 2018, 17:56

Showing more detail of the 010/370 Mechanised Brigade we have the 46th Mech Bde which was an independent one operating with the Kalinin Front in October 1942
46 Mech Bde Oct 1942.jpg
and we can compare this with a diagram of 010/371 Motor-Rifle Battalion
Motor Rifle Bn 010-371.jpg
Motor Rifle Bn 010-371.jpg (52.07 KiB) Viewed 11686 times
This is propably correct and then the 46th Mech Brigade scheme is counting in extra heads from Reserves, Rear Departments and other non-combat sections.

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Re: Mechanised Corps 2nd Generation

#43

Post by Art » 23 Apr 2018, 19:09

Correct sum is 661 actually. Zaloga and Ness say that the original 010/371 establishment as introduced in April 1942 included a SMG platoon and pioneer (?) platoon which are not present on your scheme. So I guess the scheme is simply incomplete. Next according to Z&N original strength of the battalion was 641 men. Introduction of the machine gun company with 56 men and other minor changes must bring it to about 700 men. Everything fits.

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Re: Mechanised Corps 2nd Generation

#44

Post by Der Alte Fritz » 23 Apr 2018, 21:03

I would tend to agree with you there. The 652 sized battalion appears in both the Corps and Brigade tables at the top of this page. So consistent with the entire scheme but patently an early version that expanded with additional units as shown in the historical narrative in Z&N and the reality as seen in the pamyat naroda examples.

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Re: Mechanised Corps 2nd Generation

#45

Post by Art » 24 Apr 2018, 16:29

Zaloga and Ness also give 707 men in the motor rifle battalion (010/371) consistent with the 46 MBde's report. For comparison organization of the motor rifle battalion 010/421 from February 1943 was as follows:

Battalion HQ - 41 men
Three rifle companies, each - 123 men
Machine gun company - 56 men
ATR company - 45
SMG platoon - 30
AT battery - 31
Mortar battery - 41
Supply platoon - 29
Medical aid point - 6
https://pamyat-naroda.ru/documents/view/?id=132354526

Numbers from August 1943 and are somewhat smaller than in the original establishment. So the principal difference compared with 010/371 was:
- supply company reduced to a smaller supply platoon
- sapper platoons removed from a battalion and combined in brigade-level engineer company
Which reduced the total strength by some 50 men. Otherwise no major changes.

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