Hello Guy,
Unfortunately the part of my site John refers to is not yet online again so I answer your question this way.
1 and 2: Can surely be answered by someone else... I would have to look it up and I am in a bit of a hurry.
3) You have basically four types of medical personnel relevant to this question.
a) Hilfskrankenträger= auxiliary stretcher bearers - were normal members of a company with a little bit advanced first aid training. In case a combat situation made it necessary they "dropped" their weapon, got a armband (either "Hilfskrankenträger" or a red cross armband), a basic first aid pouch and mainly recovered wounded comrades from the field plus providing basic aid (bandages etc...).
There were usually 8 such men preselected for this.
b) Krankenträger - Stretcher bearers - were constantly with the company, constantly marked with a red cross armband, had two medic pouches and a pistol. There were usually four in an 1941 infantry company. They were better trained in first aid. These Krankenträger had the same colour of arms on their uniform as the company type.
c) Sanitätsunteroffizier - medical NCO - There was one in each company size formation. He was responsible for the professional medical treatment and organisation in the company during garrison and in the field. He was specially trained in a medical school (training about 6 months) + special courses. They always were marked with a red cross armband and a caduceus emblem on the left respectively right lower arm (army or Air force) and showed the cornflower blue colour of arms of the medical branch.
If necessary the medical NCO´s of the companies gathered and built the Truppenverbandplatz of the battalion.
d) Sanitätsoffiziere - medical officers - were doctors. The first level they were seen is the battalion doctor in the battalion headquarter. This was usually a young doctor who provided first professional life supprt at the troop bandaging station of the battlion. Of course in mobile situations etc.. directly at the patient in the field.
I think this answers 3 and 4.
5) Everyone!.... this could be the ambulances of the Krankenkraftwagenzüge or the headquarter formations as well as the comrades on horse drawn or manpower drawn coaches. In times of war everything was necessary.
6) Krankenträger had....
1 anatomical tweezers, 1 clinical thermoneter, 1 wood-spatula, 1 nail-cleaner, 1 scissor 14cm - 16cm long, 3 band aids 5m x7cm , 6 band aid packs, 1 ligature-bind, 1 leather case with 20 safety-pins, 1 piece waterproof band aid 50 x 45cm
1 paper-box with 2 iodine bottles 4ccm Tinctura Jodi, 1 artificial resine soapbox with 50g soap, 1 paperbox with 1 roll Collemplastrum Zinci 5m x 2,5cm, 5 band aid packs 8cm x 9,5cm in paper, 1 grey aluminium box with 1 one tube 10ccm Unguentum saliicylici 2%ig, 2 tubes 10ccm Unguentum Formaldehydi 8%ig, 1 tube 10ccm alcalic eye-ointment. 5 aluminium tablet-tubes with 20 tablets Acidum acetylosalicylicum 0,5g, 20 tablets Opium 0,03g, 15 tablets Rhizoma Rei 0.5g, 20 tablets Cardiazol 0,1g, 10 tablets Natrium bicarbonic 1,0g.
Weight: 1,6kg, dimensions: 17x8x10,5cm, Packordnung: H.Dv.208/4
7) As said above.. in each frontline formation there was medical personnel .
YES they were more or less often forced to defend themselves.
9) Well, there is no answer to this question. You have to specify it. That depends on when he was captured (some were exchanged during war), who catched them, who the soldier was, what he did, where he was taken to etc.. etc...
From the USSR the first returned on 22.JUly 1946 and the last 1955 or 56.
/Christoph