"12th SS, Panzergrenadiers at Bulge: use of StG-44s?" Topic

hello all, I am preparing to do some 20mm tabletop gaming of battles in Northern Shoulder of Bulge (Rocherath, Domaine Butgenbach, etc.). So I know that VG battalions had many squads equipped with Sturmgewehr 44s. For 12th SS, what were they using at the squad level? Were these SS Formations using typical Panzergrenadier squads (e.g. 2 MG-42s plus 6-7 riflemen) or were they using Stg 44s? thanks, Dan

Nothing specific on the STG44. But here's a little info:
After holding open the northern edge of the gap from the Falaise Pocket, the remnants escaped and transferred to Breman, Germany. Kurt Meyer was captured by US forces near the Franco-Belgium border.
Most of the replacement personnel were former Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe personnel. Hugo Kraas took over from Hubert Meyer.
The 25th P.G. Regt, III Battalion, 1st Company (for sure) was equipped with SdKfz 251 halftracks. Supposedly all of the P.G. companies were halftrack equipped. And some had the long 75mm ATG. Another source says that 1/4 of the battalions had halftracks.
I checked 5 other Bulge books, and they were only concerned with armor…

Found this on another site:
Issue history
The following document is from a presentation dated 2 December 1944, discussing equipping all infantry divisions with two Sturm-Züge (assault platoons). At the time of the presentation, 56 out of 179 infantry divisions had two assault platoons, 10 had one assault platoon, and the remaining had none.

The issuing of the infantry divisions with the Sturmgewehr 44 (infantry-, Volksgrenadier-, Luftwaffe field-, and static infantry divisions = 179 division)
The issuing of the infantry divisions with the Stu.Gew. is about one third complete. The course of further issuing depends on the ammunition production. Based on the current and expected development of the ammunition stock, it can be expected to have an additional monthly issuing of about 15 000 to 20 000 Stu.Gew., up to a total of 150 000 deployed weapons.

Based on this, the number of infantry divisions with two Sturm-Zügen is expected to be 70 percent by the middle of 1945, and to cover all infantry divisions by the fall of 1945.
Also, here's a link to a good article on it:
link

In the November 1944 KstN, Panzergrenadiers were authorised one Sturm platoon per company.

Actual issue of Stg44 was as patchy as anyone else, some units equipped Sturm platoons with MP40, and some just didn't bother and dished out extra SMG/Stg individually.

But in theory 12th SS was authorised some Stg 44, and there are photos on SS troopers in the Bulge with them

Were these SS Formations using typical Panzergrenadier squads (e.g. 2 MG-42s plus 6-7 riflemen) or were they using Stg 44s?

This is for 1st SS, not 12th, so caveat emptor! If this holds true for them as well, then the answer to your question would be yes, yes, and a combination.

Duel in the Mist 2 has the reduced strength formation that was being used, in Appendix 1. To save me the effort of typing that out, the same information is available in an old Feldgrau post by Hans Weber from Sat Oct 18, 2003 12:49 pm, just past halfway down:

link

Which I will truncate here for brevity's sake:

"- 1. Zug = 2 Gruppen zu je 2 le MG
- 2. Zug = wie 1. Zug
- 3. Zug = 2 Gruppen mit je 7 M.Karab 44"

"The standard Schützen Grp in LAH in autumn looked like this:

1 Gruppenführer
1 Scharfschütze (sniper)
2 MG Trupps zu je 3 Mann
2 Gewehrschützen"

"As to the Sturmzug, as explained above it only had two Gruppen with a total of 14 and one additional M.Karab 44 (assault rifle) for the Zugführer"

"POW reports give another variant with 7 M.Karab 44 men and one MG Trupp of 3 men plus a sniper (11 men). So this would be a mixture of the Sturmzug with the Schützenzug."

Thanks all! Good information.