vrijdag 24 juni 2016

The 1939 Polish Rifle Platoon


Introduction
Once again, before going into the subject at hand, it is required to make a few notes. My knowledge of the Polish language is non-existent. The following has been translated using online translation tools, which as anyone who has ever used them will know, are finicky tools. Where possible, I have consulted native speakers, but the translation should be used with caution.

Prologue
Directly opposing the German 1939 Schützenzug (Rifle Platoon) during the invasion of Poland is the Polish Pluton Strzelecki. It was under this organisation that the Poles held out for over a month, fighting both Nazi-Germany, and from 17 September on, the Soviet Union.

The main source which is used is a Polish site, http://wp39.struktury.net/pulk-piechoty-pluton-strzelecki-1939.html, dedicated to 1939 organisational structures.


The rifle platoon
The “pluton strzelecki”, or rifle platoon, contains 3 “drużyna strzelecka”, or rifle squads, each of 19 men, plus a headquarters element of 6 men for a total of 63 men. These 63 men consist of 1 officer, 8 non-commissioned officers (NCOs), and 54 enlisted men.
Starting with the headquarters element, it is made up of 1 officer, 2 NCOs, and 3 enlisted men. The platoon commander (Dowódca Plutonu) is typically a Porucznik or Podporucznik, which is the approximate equivalent of a Lieutenant and 2nd Lieutenant respectively. Should the commander fall in battle, a Second-in-Command (Zastępcą Dowódcy) is available, who holds the rank of Sierżant, or Sergeant. The officer himself is supported by a batman (Ordynans), holding the rank of Szeregowy (Private).

The platoon HQ is completed by an observer (Obserwator), supply wagon driver (Woźnicą Biedki Amunicyjnej [i]), and “sharpshooter” (Strzelec Wyborowy), who actually functions as an anti-tank rifleman. Their ranks are Kapral (Lance Corporal), Szeregowy (Private), and Starszy Szeregowy (Private First Class) respectively.

On paper, the armament consisted of 1 pistol, 1 rifle, 3 carbines, and 1 anti-tank rifle.

A compass and pair of binoculars were carried by both the platoon commander and second-in-command, the batman carried a pair of binoculars as well, whilst the observer carried a flare pistol in addition to his binoculars.

To summarize the above clearly:

Role
Rank
Equipment
Platoon Commander
Lieutenant
 Compass, binoculars
Second-in-Command
Sergeant
 Compass, binoculars
Batman
Private
 Binoculars
Observer
Lance Corporal
 Flare pistol, binoculars
Supply Wagon Driver
Private

Sharpshooter / Anti-Tank Rifleman
Private First Class

 
It should be noted that there is some uncertainty over the role of the batman and observer. It has been said in some sources that the batman acted as a runner, and that the anti-tank rifleman was assisted in operating his heavy weapon. Whether it is safe to assume this task was done by the observer remains the question.

The squad
The rifle squad stands out for its large size, 19 men, compared to the 13 of the German equivalent. This is not uncommon for early war tables of organization and equipment, and as the war progresses, squads and platoons have a tendency to become smaller.

The squad leader (Dowódca Drużyny) holds the rank of corporal (Plutonowy), and is assisted by a deputy or assistant squad leader (Zastępca Drużyny) who holds the rank of lance corporal (Kapral).

The squad itself was divided into two groups, which are discussed below.

The rifle group
The rifle group consisted of 13 riflemen, all of whom are privates (Szeregowy) except for two senior riflemen who hold the rank of private first class (Starszy Szeregowy).

The ammunition allotment for riflemen was 60 rounds in pouches, plus 2 boxes of 15 rounds each in the breadbag. All rounds except 5 were S cartridges, with 5 rounds being armour piercing P cartridges.

All riflemen in the rifle group carried 3 grenades, one of which was the wz. 33 “defensive” grenade (I.e. fragmentation grenade), whilst the other two were wz. 24 grenades, of an “offensive” or blast construction. [ii]

The light machine gun group
The single automatic weapon of the squad, the Wz. 28, a variant of the Browning Automatic Rifle, was served by 4 men. The team leader (Karabinowy r.k.m.) held the rank of private first class (Starszy Szeregowy), whilst the gunner and two ammunition bearers were privates (Szeregowy).

The light machine gun was allotted 1040 rounds, 40 of which was armour piercing.
500 rounds were carried by the men in a combination of gunner pouches, breadbags, and magazine bags, whilst the rest, including the armour piercing munition, was stored in the supply wagon.

The gunner himself carried 5 20-round magazines in his pouches, with one pocket of his pouches being used to store tools. The team leader and ammunition bearers carried standard pouches for their carbines, with the ammunition bearers additionally carrying 2 magazine bags of 5 magazines each, for a total of 200 rounds per ammunition bearer.

Armament
The Polish rifle platoon uses the following weapons:

Role
Weapon
Platoon Commander
Wz. 35 “Vis”
Second-in-Command
3× Wz. 29, 1× Wz. 98
Batman
Observer
Supply Wagon Driver
Sharpshooter / Anti-Tank Rifleman
Wz. 35 Karabin Przeciwpancerny
(Assistant) Squad Leader
Wz. 98
(Senior) Rifleman
Wz. 98
LMG Team Leader
Wz. 29
LMG Gunner
Wz. 28
LMG Ammunition Bearer
Wz. 29

A few notes should be made regarding the above table. As the site points out, the personal arm for the officer was not available, i.e. there were no pistols in the platoon. This makes it likely the officer carried a carbine instead. Furthermore, there is no certainty regarding which soldier of the platoon HQ carried what weapon. Wikipedia states that the rifle squad has 15 Wz. 98 rifles and 3 Wz. 29 carbines, which means 1 rifle and 3 carbines are left to be distributed.

The armament of the Polish platoon can generally be regarded as more than adequate. The Wz. 98 rifles (karabinów) and 29 carbines (karabinków) are based on the Mauser action, and can be seen as equivalents to the Gewehr 98 and Karabiner 98 Kurz respectively.

Wz. 29 Carbine

The Wz. 28 R.K.M. (Light machine gun) is a variant of the Browning Automatic Rifle, which differs most significantly in the fact that it has a pistol grip and is chambered for 7.92×57mm Mauser as opposed to .30-06 Springfield. [iii]

Wz. 35 "Vis" Pistol
As a standard issue pistol for officers, the Wz. 35 “Vis” was used. It is a fairly typical Browning design with a slide, and carried 8 rounds of 9×19mm Parabellum in the magazine.

Finally, a “secret” weapon codenamed “Urugwaj” was issued, the Wz. 35 anti-tank rifle. Although anti-tank rifles would quickly become obsolete as armour became increasingly thicker, the Wz. 35 was capable of successfully engaging all German tanks of the period at short ranges, including the Panzer I, II, as well as captured Czech tanks. [iv]



The rifle and machine gun ammunition used by the Polish forces were copies of the German variants in use. Two ball cartridges, designated S and SC were used, and were equivalent to the German S and sS Patrone. An armour-piercing P round was also used, being based on the SmK Patrone. [v]


Conclusion
The Polish rifle platoon can be regarded as an adequate formation, more than capable of holding its own in battle. The biggest difference compared to the German platoon was perhaps the machine gun, with the Wz. 28 being largely inferior to the German MG34. Compared to the MG34, the Wz. 28 lacked belt-feeding or barrel-changing capabilities, severely limiting firepower. It should however be noted that many German rifle platoons went into Poland still equipped with MG08/15 machine guns, which are rather cumbersome weapons.

With regards to rifles and carbines, nothing jumps out. The Polish Mauser wa
s a bolt-action like many others, and this pattern of rifle would see continued use up to the very last days of World War II.

It is interesting to note that the Polish platoon was equipped with an anti-tank rifle, something which cannot be said of the German platoon until after the Polish campaign. It seems like high praise indeed, that after Poland up until 1943, the Germans would issue 3 anti-tank rifles per company.

There were no mortars organic to the platoon, as fire support was provided by the company’s “drużyna granatników” (Mortar team). [vi] Although I have found no particular information as to their usefulness, the fact that these mortars throw bombs even lighter than the German 50mm LeGrW leads me to believe that their effectiveness cannot have been exceptionally good, quite to the contrary. [vii]

One of the criticism that can be made against the Polish platoon organization is the size of the squads and their comparatively low firepower, as out of 19 men only one is equipped with an automatic weapon, for which 1040 rounds were carried. For comparison, a German squad of 13 would have an MG34 with 2500 rounds of ammunition.

In the next posts, we will consider the 1940 formations of the Dutch, Belgian, French, and British armies during the Battle of France, as well as discuss the changes the Germans made to their platoon following experience in Poland.
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Sources

























Sources for pictures












https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vis_wz_35_1775.jpg?uselang=en & http://www.adamsguns.com/


All pictures are copyrighted and belong to their rightful owners where applicable, please see the links provided

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