"Nachschub" or "Nachschuss truppen"

[John Pic]

Could someone tell be the duties of these troops,or what the equivalent in english would be? Thank you.

[Ian Jewison]

Nachschub/Versorgungstruppe were basically supply troops.....it consisted of a workshop platoon, large and small supply/Motor transport columns and a supply company.

I think dependent on the size ie. Battalion or Regiment then medical, veterinary services came under it also.

/Ian

[John Pic]

Thank you Ian, much appreciated.

[Simon O.]

Here's part of the OOB of the 6 Gebirgs Division from Sept.44

For some strange reason in German OOB charts you read the sub-units right to left. So, as you can see the division had a motorised supply company with a 120 ton lift capability, next comes two horse drawn supply companies with a 30 ton lift capability each and after that three mountain supply columns, two of them having a 12ton lift capacity. Attached to the division was also a supply company numbered 696 and a mule column.

[John Pic]

So I am assuming the K is for horse drawn? Could you explain the 1/91 to me please?

[tenoriodj]

the term for the horse drawn column is Fahrkolonne. Most infantry divisions had these, and in the terrain conditions of Russian winter, they proved to be invaluable.

I have an interest in these columns http://gustavodaggers.spaces.live.co...7F68!173.entry

[Simon O.]

So I am assuming the K is for horse drawn? Could you explain the 1/91 to me please?

It's the unit title, from right to left, kraftfahrkompanie 91, Nachschubkolonne 1./91 and 2./91, Gebirgsfahrkolonne 1,/91 2./91 and 3./91. The (K) refers to Kolonne

If you look at the symbols, those with two wheels under them denote motorised units, those with one wheel, partly motorised and no wheels meant they were on foot or were horsedrawn.

note that these rear area troops were equipped with captured Dutch machineguns (possibly the venerable Lewis) and even had a couple of Russian mortars.

[John Pic]

Thank you for some very interesting information,I appreciate your explaining that to me,understanding how units were made up is important in the study of uniforms.

[ChrisA]

Hello

Very interesting is also the fact that they formed a Rentier- and a Hunde-Kolonne. The tactical symbol for the Rentier-Kolonne is very funny.

\Christoph

[Simon O.]

Hi Chris

The hunde kolonne were dog sleds, you've no doubt seen the PK photos of them, they appear in several books. The reindeer kolonne is interesting, both sides made use of them and why not, that's what they used instead of horses up here for thousands of years. There's some stuff in the archives i'm going to follow up on some day for a Swedish friend of mine concerning the Germans buying reindeer from Sweden.


Here's the Nachschub truppe of the 19 Pz.Div. from late '44 in comparrison. 5 Kraftfahrkompanien with 120ton lift capacity each and a workshop platoon

[ChrisA]

Hi Simon

Yes I have photos of the Rentier and Hundeschlittenkolonnen but I have never seen the "tactical" sign for the Rentiere. :-)

\Christoph

[tenoriodj]

These locally "liberated" horse and dog sleighs became a crucial logistic element of the Wehrmacht nachschubstruppe in the Russian winters. Some quotes from:

"Fighting the Russians in Winter. Three Case Studies"
by Dr. Allen F. Chew
Combat Studies institute
U.S. Army Command and General Staff College
Fort Leavenworth, Kansas 66027
DECEMBER 1981


"The light native carts (sleighs), and the small, strong, and undemanding
native horses are absolutely indispensable for the trains of infantry units.
They are equally indispensable for the supply of motorized troops during the muddy season and in the winter, whenever military operations grind to a halt. Before long, even the German motorized and armored divisions had such trains of horse-drawn vehicles at their disposal. I cannot imagine haw the German
Army could have fought and lived through four years of war against Russia
it had not made use of these carts, sleighs, and horses...

In the opinion of another German officer, panje sleighs were not only
the best means of transport in winter, but in the open fields and on the
miserable secondary roads they were the only vehicles that afforded complete oversnow mobility. By early 1942 some panzer divisions employed
as many as two thousand panje horses, while hardly any of their motor
vehicles remained serviceable. Those panzer units were given the ironic nickname panje divisions. Even the Luftwaffe had to resort to panje transport in Russia." (my emphasis)

[Simon O.]

We're not talking of the panje ponies and sleighs here but something unique to the Lappland theater, ie. the use of reindeer instead of horses\mules and the use of dog sleds.

Reindeer are much better suited to winter conditions up here than horses even though they can carry\pull less. This is their natural habitat.

They were also bought from the local Lapp herders, not 'liberated'. The dog sleds iirc were organised by a Swede, again, i've seen in the records mention of several soldiers being sent on dog sled driver (can't remember the proper word for it) courses.

[Simon O.]

From one of my albums

[mufasa]

I resume this old (and interesting) discussion for a clarification:


the Fahrschwadron Kompanie (inside the Fahrkolonne) was the "transport section" only with horses, right?


how many (and which) companies was composed the divisional Fahrkolonne?



many thanks Oriano