German Stützpunkt Orders - Roer battles 1944

[Andreas]

Of interest to scenario designers, in a book from 1949 that details the effects of the Roer battles on the county of Jülich, I have come across the re-print for a number of Stützpunkt (emplacement/fire base) orders, with a neat bit of detail. The text is always the same, so I will only quote that once, but the equipment is listed in fine detail.

The orders were found by a priest in a house north of Altenkirchen.

Order for Stützpunkt Maaßenhof:

Commander: Feldwebel (Staff-Sergeant?) Haug

2 i/c: NN

Unit: 4./Festungs-PAK-Verband XIV

You are commander of the emplacement and have the order to defend it against any attack to the last round, with all means at your disposal, even when you have been by-passed by the enemy, or have been cut off. A withdrawal from the emplacement is only allowed under orders. You are fully responsible to bring the emplacement into a condition allowing all-round defense. You have to make contact with neighbouring emplacements.

You have the following weapons: 2x 88mm ATG 43 L71, 2x 7.62mm gun, 2 MG42, 2 MG81, 2 automatic rifles, 16 rifles, 2 SMG, 4 Pistols 7.65, 1 Pistol 08, 17 Panzerfaust, 59 grenades, 8 AT mines.

Ammunition: 96 HE rounds 88mm, 100 AT rounds 88mm, 62 HE rounds 7.62, 114 AT rounds 7.62, 8,918 rounds rifle/MG, 114 rounds 08, 11 rounds 7.65.

This order has been prepared in two copies (one for the emplacement commander, one for the unit commander).

Signature of the emplacement commander: Haug, Gustav, Staff-Sergeant

Signature of the Company Commander: Tellputh

Order for Stützpunkt bunker system north of Stetternich:

Commander: Sergeant (Uffz) (FW - Staff Sergeant) Willy Reinhardt

2 i/c: Uffz. Hans Sudholz

Unit: 3./Festungs-PAK-Verband XIV, I. Zug (1 Halbzug) (1st Platoon and one half-platoon)

You have the following weapons: 2x 88mm ATG, 2x MG, 1 SMG, 4 Pistols, 12 Panzerfaust, 80 grenades, 11 AT mines.

Ammunition: 147 HE rounds, 147 AT rounds, 400 rounds rifle, 5,200 rounds MG, 275 rounds pistol (also SMG)

Signature of the emplacement commander: Reinhardt, Sergeant

Signature of the Company Commander: pp. Henterich, Lt.

Order for Stützpunkt Merscherhöhe:

Commander: Lt. Meier

2 i/c: Feldwebel Kühlen

Unit: II. Zug, 1.(mot.Z.) Panzerjägerabteilung 363 (= 1st motorised company AT Battalion 363)

You have the following weapons: 2x 75mm, 2 MG42, 2 MP44, 10 rifles, 6 Pistols, 12 Panzerfaust, 45 grenades.

Ammunition: 54 HE rounds, 84 AT Pz-Gr.39, 2,400 rounds MG, 1,000 rounds rifle, 100 rounds pistol.

Signature of the emplacement commander: Göbel, Lt. and 2 i/c Company

Signature of the unit commander: unreadable

Signature of the company commander: Meier, Lt.

Order for Stützpunkt NN (could be 243, 247, 234):

Commander: Feldwebel Hänsch

Unit: 3./Festungs-PAK-Verband XIV

You have the following weapons: 5 rifles, 2 lMG, 1 SMG, 4 Pistols, 12 Panzerfaust, 45 grenades, 13 AT mines.

Ammunition: 1,200 rounds lMG, 400 rounds rifle, 150 rounds tracer

[Andreas]

It appears that 104th Infantry Division was involved on the US side:

www.104infdiv.org/archive.htm

[Brent Pollock]

Wow - Great find!

I take it that for the first one (Order for Stützpunkt Maaßenhof), the reference to "2x 7.62mm gun" and "62 HE rounds 7.62, 114 AT rounds 7.62" are actually for two 7.62cm ATGs...whichever version they made from the captured Russian guns.

[Andreas]

I would assume they are the captured Pak 36®, the long-barreled divisional guns, which should be in CMAK.

Picture

There is a chance that they are captured m1927 infantry guns, which were also very popular, but since the AT value of these is rather questionable, I doubt it.

[Sergei]

Brent's main point probably was that it's 7.62cm, not 7.62mm, you turn-hamsterer*!

*turn-hamsterer is someone who hamsters turns instead of sending them, of course.

[Andreas]

What's that difference between friends?

[Sergei]

Why not ask from your girlfriend?

[Alsatian]

30th Infantry Division crossed the Roer south of Julich. Their unit history has an excellent aerial photo (with scale) of the village of Altdorf, just south of Julich.

That photo is from their night assault to take the village November 1944. The photo has company boundaries marked on it, and suspected areas of German concentrations.

The battle was also interesting because 3 infantry companies assaulted the village swiftly enough to catch 7 panzers there. The panzers couldn't get across the one bridge out of the village to the east. The U.S. infantry spent most of the battle playing cat and mouse trying to kill the panzers before they could escape.

After the Buldge the 30th returned to the same front for the Roer crossing.

Many other photos (a German 360 mm SP howitzer captured on the Roer drive!), maps and aerial photos.