Today I'm going to tell you something about the organization and weapons composition of the U.S. army's ordinary infantry squad during world war ii. Let's take a look at the personnel and weapons composition of the squad with the most automatic weapons and the most powerful firepower in world war ii.
A standard U.S. infantry squad consists of 12 men, including 1 squad leader, 2 recon soldiers, 3 automatic rifle teams (BAR teams), 4 infantry men and 1 deputy squad leader.
The rank of the squad leader is usually sergeant or staff sergeant, and the main post is to command the whole squad, including the daily training, discipline and health control of the squad, inspection of the maintenance of guns, estimation and report of ammunition and other supplies, and execution of the instructions issued by the platoon leader. The weapon is M1 garland.
Next came three combat groups, each with the rank of private first or private
As the name suggests, a recon Team is also called a Able Team. The first to die under fire, standard M1 garland. However, later on (especially after the d-day landings), it was found that the scouts often needed more firepower to deal with emergencies. Therefore, the company sometimes issued Thomson /M3 submachine guns to improve the firepower suppression of the scouts at the moment of contact with the enemy.
The automatic rifle unit is also called the Baker Team. Only one BAR, although called an automatic rifle, actually served as a light machine gun in world war ii. The firepower is not nearly as consistent as the light machine guns of the same period in the second world war, but at least the semi-automatic rifles of the us army are replenishing it.
One is a BAR holder, the other two are M1 garland riflemen, and their duty is to carry ammunition for the automatic riflemen as much as possible. In addition, he has undergone relatively professional training of BAR during his training. If the automatic rifleman falls down, these two riflemen should take over at any time.
The rifle Team is made up of five people, also known as Charlie Team. In 1943 four men held the M1 garland and one held the tethered springfield M1903. But the Canadian bolt was not intended to strike (M1903A4 is a combination). The early M7 grenade launchers for garland were not widely available, but springfield's M1 grenade launchers were plentiful in U.S. military warehouses. So this person is a grenade thrower and can fire anti-tank grenades, shrapnel, smoke grenades, flares, white phosphorus, etc.
But by the time garland's grenade launchers were widely deployed in late 1944, riflemen would have three of them, including one dedicated to anti-tank grenades. So M1903 was supposed to be the time when M1903 officially retired from the army.
The rank of a vice squad leader is usually held by corporal or sergeant, who is responsible for assisting the squad leader in assigning tasks and doing some groceries that the squad leader sometimes does not want to do (such as checking ammunition stocks). At this time, the vice squad leader will take over the command of the deployment of B and C teams, and also carry M1 garland.
For the most part, these three groups are the same. The reconnaissance team is led by the squad leader to carry out reconnaissance missions and carry out tactical deployment. The automatic rifle division carries out the fire suppression, while the rifle division is in charge of the main attack. All told, a standard infantry squad consists of an M1903 grenade launcher, 10 M1 garland, and a BAR automatic rifle. But in the later stages it was usually 11 shots, including three with a grenade launcher and one BAR. Of course this is standard, but company and platoon units will also have more automatic weapons for the infantry squad, and even the bazuka, depending on the nature of the mission. Especially after the d-day landings, the U.S. infantry squad had two bars and M1/M3 submachine guns, which could be seen fighting in the low-bush countryside or towns of Europe.
