"Soviet SMG Companies" Topic

I have trying to find out, without luck, how common SMG armed companies were in 1943?

As a proportion to the standard rifle armed company, if possible.

So, would 25% of any typical rifle division be solely SMG armed and the remainder, rifle armed companies, be a reasonable assertion?

errr nowhere near that sort of number for a rifle division.
in theory each rifle regt would have had 1 sub-machine gun company, (as opposed to a total of 9 rifle coys in the 3 infantry btns)…Guards rifle regts usually had 2 such coys.

From what I recall reading, they weren't always formed as SMG companies, the guns may be parcelled out instead, giving more SMG per company but not forming a dedicated one.

I'd have no idea which was more common though.

In 1943 the only SMG companies in the Rifle Regiments was the Regimental one (so nine normal rifle companies and one SMG company per regiment).

Adding SMG platoons/companies to conventional rifle battalions was more a mid/late 1944 thing, and even then, only around a third of conventional rifle companies.

Things were different in the mechanised forces where the Tank Brigade motor battalions were converted to full SMG battalions, coupled with the motor regiment SMG company, gave the Tank Corps ten SMG companies and ony nine conventional rifle companies.

Many of the additional companies kept their LMGs, unlike the Tank Desant guys.

For Rifle Regts SMG issue was actually a lot higher than I'd thought likely.

The Dec42 Rifle Regt did indeed include a single SMG Coy, entirely separate to the three Rifle Bns. That SMG Coy was 100 strong, each man with an SMG. In the Rifle Pls of the Rifle Bns, Squads had a single SMG authorised.

The earliest date I've seen showing a Rifle Coy with one fully armed SMG Pl is 7th June 1943. This took the standard Rifle Coy from the Dec42 org and armed the Coy and Rifle Pl cmdrs, all Squad leaders and one man per Rifle Squad with an SMG, then in one Pl rearmed every man (except for the two Pl snipers and six LMG men) with an SMG. Another doc from 16th Sep 43 shows similar, extending the SMGs to Bn Cmdrs. Div Recce Coys also went fully SMG, though I'm not sure what date from.

There were a lot of reduced strength variations in use, which utilised different formats and how they issued SMGs.

Tk Bdes with a single Motor Rifle Bn had one SMG Coy and two Rifle Coys from earlier on, 1942, and went all SMG from late 1943 into 1944 (converting the Rifle Coys but keeping the LMGs/HMGs).

Gary

Thanks all for the comprehensive answers. Exactly what I was looking for!

Thanks Gary, as ever very useful (I was going on Sharp and Zaloga). So late 43 for SMG platoons in Rifle Cos.