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German organization & weapons 9. April 1940
by Bjoern Jervaas.

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During the invasion of Norway, the germans used 5 infantry divisions (I.D) and 2 Mountain Trooper Divisions (G.D). The G.D´s were, apart from small groups, only used north of Trondheim.

In april 40, the standard German Infantry Division had the following structure:

3 Infantry Regiments (I.R)
1 Artillery Regiment (A.R)
1 Recce Battalion (A.A)
1 Anti-tank Battalion (Pz.Jg.Btt)
1 Assault Engineer Battalion (Pi.Btt)
1 Signals Battalion

Feldgendarmerie
Feldpost unit

Noncombatant:
1 Unit of attendance staff
1 Butchers Company
1 Bakery company

Note: None of the German units in Norway reached the full strength, mostly because of the losses at sea before the actual invasion. 9 out of 10 officers were from the Reserve, and had no combat experience, and this was also for the NCO´s and men. Usually, there was only one career soldier in each company, mostly a Feldwebel.

Administrative Services w/
6 Supply units
1 Fuel unit
1 Maintenance Company
1 Transport Company

Medical Services
2 Medical Companies
1 ”Feldlazarett” – Field Hospital
2 Ambulance Platoons

Veterinary Services
1 Veterinary Company
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KRIEGSSTÃRKENACHWEISUNG
(Order of Strength)

The Order of Strength listed totally 16 860 men in a I.D. 518 officers, 2543 NCO´s, and 13 667 other ranks. Out of this there were 102 administrative men.

A ”Bespannte” Division (equipped with horses) were to have 1743 riding horses, and 3632 horses for transportation duties.
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WEAPONS
KRIEGSAUSRÛSTUNGSNACHWEIS (KAN)
(Order of Weapons)

12 609  Rifles
3 681  Pistols
312 Sub-machine guns
90 Anti-tank rifles
535 Machine Guns (LMG´s and SMG´s)
138 Mortars (50 & 81 m.m)
75 Anti-tank guns (37 m.m)
74 Towed Artillery guns and Howitzers
9  Flame Throwers
 

The Infanterie Regiment
3 Infantry Battalions (1-12 coy)
1 Infantry artillery Coy (13. Kp ”Infanteriegeschoss”)
1 Anti-tank company
1 Motorized Light unit
Signals Platoon
Mounted platoon
Regimental Orchestra

Note: with the exception of staff,- and AT-units, which were motorized, all other units depended on horses.

The Battalion
3 Rifle Companies
1 SMG (MG on tripods) Company (the regimental 4, 8 and 12th company)

Rifle Company
Strength 201 men. (2 officers/21 NCO´s)
Had 3 platoons and 1 staff platoon.

Weapons:
16 Sub-machine guns
12 Machine Guns
44 Pistols
130 Rifles
3 Anti-tank rifles
3 50 m.m Mortars

SMG Company
Strength |77 men. Had 3 SMG platoons(each w/ 4 SMG´s) and 
1 Mortar Platoon (6 x 81 m.m Mortars)

Infantry Artillery Company (Infanteriegeschoss)
180 men w/ 133 horses.

3 light platoons, each w/ 2 x 7,5 cm guns
1 heavy platoon w/ 2 x 15 cm guns

Anti-Tank Company
150 men, had 12 x 37 m.m PAK´s and 4 MG´s.

Artillery Regiment
3 light Battalions (Abteilungen), each w/ 4 x 10,5 cm howitzers, and 2 MG´s.
1 heavy battalion w/ 4 x 15 cm howitzers, and 2 MG´s.

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Bjoern Jervaas is one of the major contributors to this site,
and has written many articles for other ww2 sites.
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