Separate Rifle Battalion, shtat 04/331

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Palg
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Separate Rifle Battalion, shtat 04/331

#1

Post by Palg » 11 Nov 2021, 00:35

Hi,

I found the following shtat table at http://voenspez.ru/index.php?topic=4491.140 (last two pages in next post).
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04-331-2.jpeg
04-331-2.jpeg (125.93 KiB) Viewed 5441 times
04-331-3.jpeg
04-331-4.jpeg

Palg
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Location: Oslo

Re: Separate Rifle Battalion, shtat 04/331

#2

Post by Palg » 11 Nov 2021, 00:36

04-331-5.jpeg
04-331-6.jpeg


Palg
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Re: Separate Rifle Battalion, shtat 04/331

#3

Post by Palg » 11 Nov 2021, 01:46

I have added up the numbers from the shtat (note that there is an error in the Mortar Company, there should be 48 mortarmen. Ref. Rifle Battalion 04/551). This gives the following (Offs – NCOs – Pvts = Total):
54 – 216 – 653 = 923, one short of the numbers written to the right in the summary. Although an NCO is added in the Mortar Company, this looks like an error and I´m leaning towards that the missing soldier should be in the transport platoon.

I have found a few strength reports for units using 04/331:

23.01.43, 70 – 224 – 669 = 963 (73rd Naval Brigade: https://pamyat-naroda.ru/documents/view/?id=113079070)
16.03.43, 70 – 224 – 669 = 963 (78th Brigade: https://pamyat-naroda.ru/documents/view/?id=111102236)
23.04.44, 55 – 224 – 669 = 948 (3rd Naval Rifle Brigade: https://pamyat-naroda.ru/documents/view/?id=263306702)
01.10.44, 57 – 225 – 673 = 955 (also 3rd Naval Rifle Brigade: https://pamyat-naroda.ru/documents/view/?id=263305968)

Taking the numbers from the shtat and adding the Company Political Officers and Deputy Commanders removed in may 1943 (7 companies gives 14 officers, in addition the Foot Scout Platoon of the Rifle Regiment 04/551 also had an Political Officer, the same may apply here so 15 in total) gives 69 officers. The AT Mortar (Ampulometnyj) Platoon is stricken, using the numbers from Zaloga and assuming the gunners are junior sergeants gives 1 – 8 – 14 for the platoon, this again gives 70 – 224 – 668 = 962, one short of the strength reports from 1943. Maybe one extra soldier in the AT mortar platoon?

The original shtat only has 6 mortars and no 45mm gun platoon, so subtracting two mortar platoons (2 – 12 – 24) and the 45mm gun platoon (1 – 6 – 10) as well as the three chauffeurs handwritten at the end of the shtat gives 67 – 206 – 631 = 904, exactly the numbers from the unmodified shtat.

The third strength report would fit a battalion that has kept its AT mortars but lost the Political Officers.

Zaloga notes that 04/331 did not have 50mm mortars for the Rifle Companies and the 50mm are handwritten on the original part of the shtat but are added in the Rifle Company portion. I don´t have any explanation for this, maybe someone has a theory?

Any other comments will be welcome, does anybody have an explanation for the change between 23.4.44 and 01.10.44 ?

Regards,

Pål
Last edited by Palg on 11 Nov 2021, 14:48, edited 2 times in total.

Palg
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Re: Separate Rifle Battalion, shtat 04/331

#4

Post by Palg » 11 Nov 2021, 13:14

Nakhodchanin identified an order from the State Defense Committee, GKO 2124 from 29. July 1942 in this post: viewtopic.php?f=79&t=219590#p2356466

The date indicates that it has a connection to 04/331 that was approved the day after, but the details dont match up with the shtat. However, on the first page of the shtat in this thread it states that the changes from NKO order 0652 from 22.8.42 are incorporated, these are detailed here:

https://pamyat-naroda.ru/documents/view/?id=450264659

A full SMG Company is added and two snipers are added to each rifle platoon for a total of 118 added men. The existing SMG platoon is deleted, 10 men are deleted from the Foot Scout Platoon and 8 men are deleted from each Rifle Platoon (two from each squad). In addition 1 man is deleted from each Machinegun platoon giving a total of 118 deleted men. So the total of 904 men for a battalion remains.

This matches up with the GKO 2124 which states 12 men per squad and only a SMG platoon. So it seems pretty clear that GKO 2124 is the original order for the shtat 04/330-series.

Pål

Gary Kennedy
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Re: Separate Rifle Battalion, shtat 04/331

#5

Post by Gary Kennedy » 18 Nov 2021, 14:58

Pål,

That's a nice find, do you think they've tried to reconstruct the typed pages or have they just tidied up the originals?

It also reminds me of a research fail of mine! I was offered the full set of Shtat (at least I think it was) for the Rifle Brigade on the 04/330 series when I picked up the Rifle Regiment tables and I declined :( . This was before the great mass of Rifle Division tables appeared on pamyat-naroda, along with the 04/230 Rifle Brigade, which I think is still on there. Having passed up on that opportunity the only figures I can add are from two schematics for the 04/330 Rifle Brigade, which at least gives some subunit strengths within the Rifle Battalion.

The first one shows a Battalion strength of 904 all ranks, and identifies the below subunits and HQs.

Staff - 5
Sapper Platoon - 13
Anti-tank Mortar Platoon - 19
Communication Platoon - 22
Recce Platoon - 35

Mortar Company - 42
(Two Platoons, each 19 men and three 81-mm)

MG Company - 88
(Three Platoons, each 28 men and 4 HMG)* I think the MG Pl size is wrong, as it lists 4x Squads each of 7 men and there should be at least a Pl cmdr

SMG Company - 100
(Three Platoons, each 31 men)

Anti-tank Rifle Company - 50
(Two Platoons, each 22 men and 9 atk rifles)

Three Rifle Companies, each 158

Medical Det - 4
50-mm Mortar Platoon - 11 (three 50-mm)
Three Rifle Platoons - each 45
(Four Squads, each 10 men and one LMG)

That leaves 8 men not counted specifically in each Rifle Company, and a total of 848 men counted from a Battalion strength of 904 all ranks. The balance would be accounted for by the Medical, Veterinary, Workshop and Transport elements.

The second schematic shows what may be the amended version and has a strength of 955 all ranks.

Staff - 5
Sapper Platoon - 9
Anti-tank Gun Platoon - 17 (45-mm atk guns, presume two)
Communication Platoon - 22
Recce Platoon - 34

Medical - 13
Vet - 2
Workshops - 4+2
Transport - 33

Mortar Company - 88
(Four Platoons, each 19 men and three 81-mm)

MG Company - 86
(Three Platoons, each 28 men and 4 HMG)* same query re MG Pl size, as it lists 4x Squads each of 7 men and there should be at least a Pl cmdr

SMG Company - 98
(Three Platoons, each 31 men)

Anti-tank Rifle Company - 34
(Two Platoons, each 15 men and still 9 atk rifles?)

Three Rifle Companies, each 166

50-mm Mortar Platoon - 11 (three 50-mm)
MG Platoon - 11 (two HMGs)
Three Rifle Platoons - each 45
(Four Squads, each 10 men and one LMG)

That leaves 9 men not counted specifically in each Rifle Company, and a total of 945 men counted from a Battalion strength of 955 all ranks.

For comparison the April 1942 04/231 Shtat for the Rifle Battalion has the following;

Command - 3
Staff - 5
Political - 2
Admin - 5

SMG Platoon - 33
Comm Platoon - 22
Recce Platoon - 49

Flamethrower Squad - 26 (20 РОКС)

Three Rifle Companies, each 165

Company HQ - 8
Medical Squad - 4
Three Rifle Platoons - each 51
(Four Squads, each 12 men, HQ of officer, sergeant and runner. One LMG and two SMG per Squad, also two sniper rifles in the Platoon)

MG Company - 91

Company HQ - 4
Three MG Platoons - each 29 (four Squads, one HMG and 7 men per Squad)

Anti-tank Rifle Platoon - 22 (four Squads, two atk rifles per Squad, total eight in the Pl)

Medical Platoon - 13
Veterinary - 3
Workshops - 4 + 2
Transport - 28

Total 803 all ranks

Gary

Palg
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Re: Separate Rifle Battalion, shtat 04/331

#6

Post by Palg » 19 Nov 2021, 14:26

Gary,

Thank you for the extra information, it gives some details that I was not aware of.

With regards to the typed pages, the person that posted them stated that they were recreated from his notes. They do seem quite authentic except for a few inconsistencies, for instance in the Mortar Company.

As for the MG-Platoon size in the schematic for the 904 men battalion, 28 men is also the Platoon Size in the Shtat I posted. Here it includes a Platoon Commander, 4 Squad Commanders, 4 Deuputy Squad Commanders (also functioned as gunners) and 19 Machinegunmen of which 2 were Horse Drivers. So I would think the squad size is 6 men, Commander, Gunner and 4 MG-men. In addition the Platoon would have the Commander and 2 Horse Drivers as well as one more soldier whose function I do not know.

I will see if I can reconstruct the 904 men Shtat using the information you provided and post it here.

Pål

Palg
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Posts: 54
Joined: 25 Oct 2021, 21:12
Location: Oslo

Re: Separate Rifle Battalion, shtat 04/331

#7

Post by Palg » 23 Nov 2021, 00:02

I have made a spreadsheet to try to detail the different versions of Shtat 04/331. As it is not possible to post Excel files here I have made it available on Google Drive for those interested: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... ue&sd=true

The first Sheet is a translation of the Shtat from the first posts, followed by the different versions I believe existed.

This is a summary of the changes I think was made after the original Shtat was published:

Established 30. July 1942 based on State Defense Committee (GKO) Order 2124 of 29. July 1942, posted by Nakhodchanin here: viewtopic.php?f=79&t=219590#p2356466

Revised by People´s Commissar of Defense (NKO) order 0652 of 22. August 1942: https://pamyat-naroda.ru/documents/view/?id=450264659
This order expanded the SMG Platoon to a full Company as well as adding two snipers to each Rifle Platoon. The manpower needed was freed up by taking 10 men from the Foot Scout Platoon and 8 men from each Rifle Platoon bringing the squad size down from 12 to 10 men. One man was also deleted from each platoon in the Machinegun Company to keep the total number of men in the Battalion at 904. This revised Battalion is the one Gary has provided the scheme for.

Late 1942 the Battalion was further expanded, the Mortar Company was doubled from two Platoons to 4, giving a total of 12 82mm Mortars. In addition a 45mm Gun Platoon was added with two 45mm Guns and 17 men. Two strength reports form 1943 show a Battalion total of 70 Officers, 224 NCOs and 669 enlisted for a total of 963 men, this leaves 2 privates unaccounted for after adding two Mortar Platoons and the 45mm Gun Platoon.

Another strength report from April 1944 gives 55 Officers, 224 NCOs and 669 enlisted for a total of 948 men. This is probably after implementing GKO Resolution 3426e of 24. May 1943 which removed the Deputy Commanders of Political Affairs from all Companies (as well as the Foot Scout Platoon). At about the same time the Deputy Company Commanders were also removed from all Companies. See the Thread about the 04/550 Shtat for details about these orders.

In the Shtat from the original post the strength is 924 men, here the Sapper Platoon is reduced from 13 to 9 men and the Ampulomet Platoon is deleted (Mid 1944).

The following changes were implemented late 1944 to yield the 955 men Battalion (per Garys post as well as notes in the original Shtat)

Mortar company gets a 10-man Signals Squad (29. Sept 1944)
One Squad removed from each PTR Platoon (7 men each, 14 in total) (29. Sept 1944)
MG Platoon added to the Rifle Companies (11 men, 2 HMG) (Late 1944). New Company strength is 166 men, so probably the Company Messenger is deleted.
SMG increased from 195 to 371 (per the 1. Oct 44 strength report)
Transport Platoon 33 men in the 955 men Battalion

Distribution of SMGs:
Different strength reports all state that there were 195 SMGs per Battalion up until the summer of 1944. There are 98 SMGs in the SMG Company, in addition 8 men per Rifle Platoon are designated as SMG gunners in the Shtat. From a strength report (https://pamyat-naroda.ru/documents/view/?id=263306702) we can see that there should be a total of 28 SMGs in each Rifle Company. The designated SMG gunners make up 24 SMGs per Company, leaving 4 unaccounted for. One guess could be that the Company Commander and the three Rifle Platoon Commanders were issued SMGs. None of the Weapons Companies had any SMGs, so the remaining 7 SMGs in the Battalion were maybe issued to the Foot Scout Platoon (2 per Squad and one for the Platoon Commander?).

Pål

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