Organization of the
Red Army Rifle Battalion
1941 to 1945
The Red Army Rifle Battalion
underwent near constant revision during the course of what was termed in the
Soviet Union the Great Patriotic War. This
study covers only those that would be found in the Rifle Regiments of Rifle
Divisions (including Guards), which equate to Infantry Regiments and Divisions
of other armies. For the purposes of
this study they can be roughly considered as covering the following periods;
1.
The Rifle Battalion at the time of the Nazi
invasion in June 1941 and its Reduced Strength version of several months later.
2.
The Rifle Battalion organization of late
1941, which removed all mortars, and its slightly reinforced version of March
1942.
3.
The Rifle Battalion of July 1942 and its
successor of the following December, the latter of which remained in force
until the end of the war in Europe.
4.
The modified Guards Rifle Battalion of
December 1942 and its planned replacement of December 1944.
Other variations of Rifle
Battalions will be detailed separately, as and when they are compiled.
Below are links to the files
that make up this study. The first is a
narrative of the Battalion organization and how it evolved between 1941 and
1945. This also includes some
information on weapons, ammunition and signal equipment. There are then separate files detailing in
full the information as found in the штат, or
Shtat (State) for the unit concerned.
This gave the authorised numbers of personnel, transport and weapons for
the unit at full strength and in all cases is derived from copies of the
original Shtat tables. Known amendments are also included, likewise
will be any relevant information from additional documents.
All files in the below links
are in PDF.
Red Army Rifle
Battalion organization 1941 to 1945
Red Army Rifle Battalion April
1941
Red Army Rifle Battalion July 1941
(Reduced Strength)
Red Army Rifle Battalion December
1941
Red Army Rifle Battalion March
1942
Red Army Rifle Battalion July 1942
Red Army Rifle Battalion December
1942
Red Army Rifle Battalion December
1942 (amended to early 1944)
Red Army Guards Rifle
Battalion December 1942
Red Army Guards Rifle
Battalion (amended to early 1944)
Red Army Guards Rifle
Battalion December 1944
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