KStN 1124 Kraftfahr-Pionierzug

[Paulus II]

Hi all,

Looking at KStN 1124 there is something that I can’t figure out.
According to Christoph’s site this Kraftfahr-Pionierzug was divided into a Zugtrupp and Zug. The Zugtrupp is clear to me but the Zug has three Gruppenführer and that would indicate that the Zug was divided into three Gruppen.
But how was this division made?
There are 24 Pioniere (excluding the two on the sKrad mit Beiwagen) which can be divided by three and 12 men with 3 MG’s which can also be divided by three and the six trucks with their drivers that can also be divided by three so that each Gruppe could consist of 8 Pioniere, an MG-Trupp and their transport. But then what of the Waffenmeistergehilfe, 2 Pioniere on the sKrad and the two Kfz 15’s and their drivers?
Or could it have been divided into, for insatnce, a Pioniergruppe (with all 26 Pioniere including the sKrad), an MG-Gruppe and a Kraftfahrgruppe (?) including the trucks, Kfz 15’s, their drivers and the Waffenmeistergehilfe?
Or yet some other division?

Any help is welcome! Thanks in advance.

Cheers,

Paul

[Leo Niehorster]

This is something that also bothered me for many years. It appears that the platoon that could be divided up into sections. As you have noticed, the exact composition of the sections was not specified in the KStN. I think the sub-units would be formed to fit the mission. This is typical for most German engineer platoons. Only a few show an actual division into sections. Heeresdienstvorschrift (HDv) 220/9 shows the vehicle manning for KStN 1124 as follows:

Engineer Platoon
— Platoon Headquarters
  1 medium cc car with equipment boxes (Kfz. 15): enlisted driver, lieutenant platoon leader, NCO platoon headquarters leader
  1 motorcycle with sidecar: 1 engineer technical sergeant + 1 enlisted surveyor
  2 solo-motorcycles: 2 enlisted messengers
— Platoon
  1 motorcycle with side car: 2 enlisted pioneers
  1 medium cc car with equipment boxes (Kfz. 15): enlisted driver, NCO section leader, 1 enlisted man
  1 medium cc car with equipment boxes (Kfz. 15): enlisted driver, NCO section leader, 1 enlisted man
  1 light cc truck (Pi.Kw. III): 1 enlisted driver, 6 pioneers; 1 LMG
  1 light cc truck (Pi.Kw. III): 1 enlisted driver, 6 pioneers.
  1 light cc truck (Pi.Kw. III): 1 enlisted driver, 1 NCO section leader, 5 enlisted pioneers; 1 LMG
  1 light cc truck (Pi.Kw. III): 1 enlisted driver, 6 enlisted pioneers
  1 light cc truck (Pi.Kw. III): 1 enlisted driver, 6 enlisted pioneers; 1 LMG
  1 light cc truck: 1 enlisted driver, 6 enlisted pioneers; 1 LMG

Contrary to the KStN 1124, no differentiation is made in between the pioneers, the gunners, and the assistant armorer, so even with this information, an exact seating allocation within the vehicles cannot be made.
The same applies to the light truck for equipment and the five Pi.Kw. III, as the same symbol is used for all six, and all six trucks are shown with 1 + 6 men.

Cheers
Leo