"German Artillery Tactics & Combat in WW2" Topic

"German Artillery Tactics in World War 2 are a rather obscure subject, very little is written about it. As such I used mostly primary sources for this video. It covers the basic role of the artillery, the different roles of light and heavy howitzers, the different use of fuzes for different targets/situations, a typical setup and an example of an offensive operation…"

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Armand

As long as the Wespe and Hummel gun line is not attacked, the russians wont breakthough.

Thanks!

Armand

As long as the Wespe and Hummel gun line is not attacked, the russians wont breakthough.

Funny joke. Hoping you did not mean that to be serious.

Given that production over a full 2 years amounted to fewer than 1,500 Wespes and Hummels combined, they could not have been even relevant to preventing Soviet breakthroughs on anything more than a local basis.

I mean really, even if EVERY gun produced was available on the front, fully supplied with ammo, at the same time, that's still fewer than 1 gun per 2 or 3 Km of front (or per 4 to 8 Km of front in late '43, but at that time most of them haven't even been built yet).

Like that's gonna even get the Red Army's attention?

But as a joke it works.

-Mark
(aka: Mk 1)

But as a joke it works.

I thought it was a reference to the old Avalon Hill game Panzerblitz, wherein Wespes and Hummels were like the wrath of god. As long as the German player had those, he could pretty much destroy anything he wanted.

I thought it was a reference to the old Avalon Hill game Panzerblitz, wherein Wespes and Hummels were like the wrath of god.

Aye, that they were. So fair enough. But I expect if it was offered intending such a reference, that it was also offered with a bit of tongue-in-cheek. I mean they were indeed the wrath of God, but if as a German player you planned to rely on that particular deuce ex machina for your gaming success, as I recall you were left high and dry by the majority of the scenario cards.

Wow, that's a few synapses that have not been excersized in a few years.

-Mark
(aka: Mk 1)

One of the major problems German artillery had was the lack of maps for indirect fire. On the Russian Steppes with minimal terrain features and not knowing exactly where the FO and battery is located it would be very difficult to call in a barrage.

On the West Front with no air superiority they could not get up to date maps like the allies could.

I did read accounts of their artillery being very effective during the Bulge.

Weren't most of their artillery horse drawn?

Wolfhag

The standard Infantry or later Grenadier Div was normally reliant on horse-drawn field artillery, with the Motorised/Panzer Grenadier and Panzer Divs having truck-drawn, with a gradual introduction of SP for the Panzer Divs. A lot of their non-Div Artillery units were motorised as well.

I've often seen the opinion expressed that German artillery was 'swept from the board' by the indisputable superiority of allied artilleries in the West during 1944-45. The experience of allied infantry on the receiving end of German fire would suggest othwerwise. When I was reading through some of the US Armored Infantry Bn reports a while ago, one unit actually noted they had enjoyed a few days without being subject to German artillery fire, which came as a pleasant change of pace for them. That was in April 1945.

I also vaguely recall finding a US report on counter mortar operations in Italy, which mentioned that they felt German artillery there was being supressed to a large degree, with old Battery level jobs being handed off to mortars instead.

Gary

By 1944, each panzer (and, I believe, PG) division was supposed to have one self-propelled artillery battalion. All the rest (3 battalions) was motorized, that is pulled by trucks or halftracks. The one SP battalion consisted of two batteries of Wespes (105mm howitzers on Pz II chassis) and one battery of Hummels (150mm howitzers on Pz III/IV chassis). Each SP battery had 6 guns, the towed batteries each had 4.

Whether they ever all got their intended allotment of guns, I don't know.

I have read that the Germans made very good use of their mortars. By mid-war they had replaced (on paper at least) all their 50mm mortars with short 81s, still had their 81mm medium mortars, and had added 120mm heavy mortars (copied from the Russians).

Thanks!.

Armand

The 5cm Granatwerfer 36

link

Armand