Some Questions and Statements about Ersatz and MG units.
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Q1. When the Ersatz brigades joined their division, did they lose control of their non-infantry units, or did they act as permanent Combined Arms formations?
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Q1.5. If they lost control of the non-inf units, were the newly-divisional units combined under a higher HQ, or did the Divisional Commander have to deal with a dozen independent units?
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Q2. Have you been able to find any reliable sources on the allocation of MGs in Ersatz Brigades? Cron's book presents many wildly different options, ranging from 2 Platoons to 2 Battalions per (which I believe is due to the overuse of the term Abteilung in the German Armies and translation errors with the term). After analysis and further (mostly fruitless) research online, I believe that the most likely answer is that around half of the Brigade-Ersatz-Battalions raised a 2-gun Platoon, meaning that, on average, each Ersatz Brigade had 4 MGs.
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S1. Most Ersatz Brigades had a pioneer company, which meant that the Ersatz divisions had the highest concentration of pioneers among the initial divisions (and the 1st-4th series divisions later on).
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S2. Around 33% of Reserve Infantry Regiments and all Landwehr Regiments had no MG Company, but that was remedied relatively quickly as hundreds of MG units were raised. See Q2. for discussion on MG units in Ersatz Brigades.
Inspired by your questions, I did a bit of digging in the documents put online by the Bundesarchiv. In particular, I looked at the records of Ersatz divisions and brigades. Unfortunately, none shed any light on the issues that you raised.
The next step is to acquire a full set of the five microfilm rolls of German mobilization records held by NARA! (In the days before digitization, I made many copies of individual frames. These, alas, are also silent on the question of Ersatz formations.)
Some Questions and Statements about Ersatz and MG units.
-
Q1. When the Ersatz brigades joined their division, did they lose control of their non-infantry units, or did they act as permanent Combined Arms formations?
-
Q1.5. If they lost control of the non-inf units, were the newly-divisional units combined under a higher HQ, or did the Divisional Commander have to deal with a dozen independent units?
-
Q2. Have you been able to find any reliable sources on the allocation of MGs in Ersatz Brigades? Cron's book presents many wildly different options, ranging from 2 Platoons to 2 Battalions per (which I believe is due to the overuse of the term Abteilung in the German Armies and translation errors with the term). After analysis and further (mostly fruitless) research online, I believe that the most likely answer is that around half of the Brigade-Ersatz-Battalions raised a 2-gun Platoon, meaning that, on average, each Ersatz Brigade had 4 MGs.
-
S1. Most Ersatz Brigades had a pioneer company, which meant that the Ersatz divisions had the highest concentration of pioneers among the initial divisions (and the 1st-4th series divisions later on).
-
S2. Around 33% of Reserve Infantry Regiments and all Landwehr Regiments had no MG Company, but that was remedied relatively quickly as hundreds of MG units were raised. See Q2. for discussion on MG units in Ersatz Brigades.
-
Source: the aforementioned Cron book
Inspired by your questions, I did a bit of digging in the documents put online by the Bundesarchiv. In particular, I looked at the records of Ersatz divisions and brigades. Unfortunately, none shed any light on the issues that you raised.
The next step is to acquire a full set of the five microfilm rolls of German mobilization records held by NARA! (In the days before digitization, I made many copies of individual frames. These, alas, are also silent on the question of Ersatz formations.)