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German Assault Troops of World War I
Organization, Tactics, Weapons, Equipment, Orders of Battle, Uniforms
Author:Thomas Wictor
Publisher:Schiffer Books
Reviewed By:Steven Weakley
When World War I began, Germany had no dedicated assault units within the German Army. However, the terms “assault troops” (Sturmtruppen) and “assault detachment” (Sturmabteilung) had been in use by the German General Staff since 1906 with regards to German Colonial troops in Southwest Africa. In 1910, the War Ministry published Instructions for Combat against Fortresses which laid out the basic guidelines for the use of assault troops in combat. These instructions would be implemented and later expanded upon by the German Army when World War I began.
Within the typical German Army Divisions of the period, the Pioneer units were those first designated and trained as assault troops with emphasis upon taking single fortified positions. With the evolution of trench warfare, Pioneer/Assault troops would typically be called in by the infantry to roll-up a trench with hand grenades whose use the infantry had not been trained in at that early point of the war. Eventually, the infantry began adopting the Pioneer tactics and formed within every platoon a hand grenade squad (Handgranatentrupp) of six men each. The men chosen for this duty were the bravest, most daring veterans who had already demonstrated their abilities in combat and were extremely skilled in their throwing abilities. These new grenadier units were given newly created badges to designate their specialty skills and were used both offensively and defensively during the war. When utilized in combat, these six man teams were led by an officer, typically a Lieutenant, with the officer and two of the men leading the way, armed with pistols while the remainder were armed with daggers\trench knives and slung rifles with fixed bayonets and all carried as many grenades as possible.
It was during the early years of the war that the development of specialized equipment for these troops began in earnest, with everything from steel trench shields, body armour, flamethrowers; nail studded clubs, trench mortars, etc. Many of the weapons developed were actually remakes in a sense of medieval hand weapons due to their usage in close quarters, hand to hand combat.
It was also during World War I that the first full-scale use of flamethrowers was used extensively, first by the Germans and eventually by all combatants. The Germans combined these flamethrower units with their rapidly growing assault units which made for devastating trench attacks especially in the early part of the war. There are even multiple accounts from both sides that the Germans used flamethrowers to disperse diphosgene poison gas at the battle of Rawa, 76 miles southeast of Warsaw against Russian troops in June of 1915 and is the only known use of a flamethrower being used to disperse poison gas in WW1.
As the war progressed and the stalemate on the western front continued, both the weapons and the tactics improved as the Germans tried to find some advantage over their enemies. One of the main developments late in the war was the development of the sub-machine gun for use in the trenches with the Germans developing the MP18.1, which was the first practical sub-machine gun used in combat. Over the course of the war, the German Army High Command created not only detailed training manuals for the training of the assault units but also elaborate training areas to practice flamethrower tactics, grenade attacks, gas attacks, etc. Unfortunately these live round training exercises resulted in quite a few causalities and fatalities which caused the Germans to scale back some of the more dangerous aspects of these training facilities.
With the introduction of the tank by the British in 1916, the Germans needed to develop special tactics for combating this new menace on the battlefield and so the assault units began to develop various means to disable the tanks. Specialized explosive charges, high powered anti tank rifles like the Mauser 13mm T-Gewehr, the modification of trench mortars as straight ahead antitank weapons and flamethrowers. As in the case of the flamethrowers, the flame unit would have to attack the front of the tank where the hatches, pistol ports and vision slits could not be closed tightly enough to keep out the burning oil. The closer the flamethrower unit was to the front of the tank, the greater the destructive effect; with an ideal range being about 11-16 yards. Talk about hazardous duty. There is also an illustration included that is pretty much the exact drawing depicting a swarm of German assault troops over-running a British tank that was used for the basis of Andrea’s “Tank Fight on the Western Front, 1916”
By the end of the war, these assault units had become some of the most highly specialized troops in the German Army trained during the conflict. These same troops, who upon the signing of the Armistice, would later gravitate to the various para-military units that would fight for control of Germany in the postwar era and would eventually train the next generation of German Army assault troops.
This latest release from Schiffer is a virtual goldmine of both information and photos of these assault units for the miniature modeler. Trench scenes, both static and battle scenes are depicted along with the various weapons used by these units. The book is divided into 15 chapters that cover the early assault troops, official assault units, weapon and tactics development, major battles where assault/shock troops were employed, antitank warfare, etc. Each chapter extensively covers its subject with historical text, first hand eyewitness accounts, official training manual excerpts and of course tons of first rate photos of the era. The photos depict staged shots, actual battle scenes, training maneuvers and everyday photos of the troops and their various tools of the trade. The one major thing I took away after reading this book was the sheer brutality and carnage of The Great War. As you look at the pictures of the various fronts and the men who were engaged in the battles, one cant begin to imagine what it must have been like fighting under these conditions and that it went on for so many years is a tribute to the fortitude, bravery and ingenuity of the troops on both sides of the conflict.
Organization, Tactics, Weapons, Equipment, Orders of Battle, Uniforms
Author:Thomas Wictor
Publisher:Schiffer Books
Reviewed By:Steven Weakley
When World War I began, Germany had no dedicated assault units within the German Army. However, the terms “assault troops” (Sturmtruppen) and “assault detachment” (Sturmabteilung) had been in use by the German General Staff since 1906 with regards to German Colonial troops in Southwest Africa. In 1910, the War Ministry published Instructions for Combat against Fortresses which laid out the basic guidelines for the use of assault troops in combat. These instructions would be implemented and later expanded upon by the German Army when World War I began.
Within the typical German Army Divisions of the period, the Pioneer units were those first designated and trained as assault troops with emphasis upon taking single fortified positions. With the evolution of trench warfare, Pioneer/Assault troops would typically be called in by the infantry to roll-up a trench with hand grenades whose use the infantry had not been trained in at that early point of the war. Eventually, the infantry began adopting the Pioneer tactics and formed within every platoon a hand grenade squad (Handgranatentrupp) of six men each. The men chosen for this duty were the bravest, most daring veterans who had already demonstrated their abilities in combat and were extremely skilled in their throwing abilities. These new grenadier units were given newly created badges to designate their specialty skills and were used both offensively and defensively during the war. When utilized in combat, these six man teams were led by an officer, typically a Lieutenant, with the officer and two of the men leading the way, armed with pistols while the remainder were armed with daggers\trench knives and slung rifles with fixed bayonets and all carried as many grenades as possible.
It was during the early years of the war that the development of specialized equipment for these troops began in earnest, with everything from steel trench shields, body armour, flamethrowers; nail studded clubs, trench mortars, etc. Many of the weapons developed were actually remakes in a sense of medieval hand weapons due to their usage in close quarters, hand to hand combat.
It was also during World War I that the first full-scale use of flamethrowers was used extensively, first by the Germans and eventually by all combatants. The Germans combined these flamethrower units with their rapidly growing assault units which made for devastating trench attacks especially in the early part of the war. There are even multiple accounts from both sides that the Germans used flamethrowers to disperse diphosgene poison gas at the battle of Rawa, 76 miles southeast of Warsaw against Russian troops in June of 1915 and is the only known use of a flamethrower being used to disperse poison gas in WW1.
As the war progressed and the stalemate on the western front continued, both the weapons and the tactics improved as the Germans tried to find some advantage over their enemies. One of the main developments late in the war was the development of the sub-machine gun for use in the trenches with the Germans developing the MP18.1, which was the first practical sub-machine gun used in combat. Over the course of the war, the German Army High Command created not only detailed training manuals for the training of the assault units but also elaborate training areas to practice flamethrower tactics, grenade attacks, gas attacks, etc. Unfortunately these live round training exercises resulted in quite a few causalities and fatalities which caused the Germans to scale back some of the more dangerous aspects of these training facilities.
With the introduction of the tank by the British in 1916, the Germans needed to develop special tactics for combating this new menace on the battlefield and so the assault units began to develop various means to disable the tanks. Specialized explosive charges, high powered anti tank rifles like the Mauser 13mm T-Gewehr, the modification of trench mortars as straight ahead antitank weapons and flamethrowers. As in the case of the flamethrowers, the flame unit would have to attack the front of the tank where the hatches, pistol ports and vision slits could not be closed tightly enough to keep out the burning oil. The closer the flamethrower unit was to the front of the tank, the greater the destructive effect; with an ideal range being about 11-16 yards. Talk about hazardous duty. There is also an illustration included that is pretty much the exact drawing depicting a swarm of German assault troops over-running a British tank that was used for the basis of Andrea’s “Tank Fight on the Western Front, 1916”
By the end of the war, these assault units had become some of the most highly specialized troops in the German Army trained during the conflict. These same troops, who upon the signing of the Armistice, would later gravitate to the various para-military units that would fight for control of Germany in the postwar era and would eventually train the next generation of German Army assault troops.
This latest release from Schiffer is a virtual goldmine of both information and photos of these assault units for the miniature modeler. Trench scenes, both static and battle scenes are depicted along with the various weapons used by these units. The book is divided into 15 chapters that cover the early assault troops, official assault units, weapon and tactics development, major battles where assault/shock troops were employed, antitank warfare, etc. Each chapter extensively covers its subject with historical text, first hand eyewitness accounts, official training manual excerpts and of course tons of first rate photos of the era. The photos depict staged shots, actual battle scenes, training maneuvers and everyday photos of the troops and their various tools of the trade. The one major thing I took away after reading this book was the sheer brutality and carnage of The Great War. As you look at the pictures of the various fronts and the men who were engaged in the battles, one cant begin to imagine what it must have been like fighting under these conditions and that it went on for so many years is a tribute to the fortitude, bravery and ingenuity of the troops on both sides of the conflict.
