Organization of the

Red Army Motorised Rifle Battalion

1942 to 1945

 

The Red Army deployed two types of motorised infantry unit from early 1942 onwards.  One of these was the Motorised Rifle Battalion, and was found in the Motorised Rifle Brigades that formed part of the Tank and later Mechanised Corps.  Where a Motorised Brigade was reinforced by the addition of its own tank unit, it became a Mechanised Brigade, which did not affect the organization of the Battalion.

For the purposes of this study the evolution of the Motorised Rifle Battalion can be roughly divided into four stages;

1.    The Motorised Rifle Battalion in its initial form, as authorised in March 1942.

2.    The first major revision, with the addition of a Machine Gun Company and increase in anti-tank weapons.

3.    The superseding organization of February 1943, which deleted the majority of the Battalion’s organic motor transport.

4.    The amendments of mid-1943, which incorporated various reductions in command ranks and greatly increased the issue of submachine guns.

The more well-known Motor Rifle Battalion, later Motorised Submachine Gun Battalion, found in the Tank Brigades of 1942 onwards, is a different unit and will be covered separately.

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 1942 and 1945.  There are then separate files detailing in full the information as found in the штат, or Shtat (State) for the unit concerned, which gave the authorised numbers of personnel, transport and weapons for the unit at full strength.

At the time of writing I have only been able to obtain a copy of the original Shtat table, reference 010/371, dated 31st March 1942.  Its successor, 010/421 of February 1943 remains missing.  As a result the files for February 1943 and June 1943 below are heavily reconstructed, using the handful of summary details available as a guide.

All files in the below links are in PDF.

Organization of the Red Army Motorised Rifle Battalion 1942 to 1945

Red Army Motorised Rifle Battalion March 1942

Red Army Motorised Rifle Battalion end of 1942

Red Army Motorised Rifle Battalion February 1943

Red Army Motorised Rifle Battalion June 1943

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