A Unit Through the War in Flames of War - Schwere Panzerjäger-Abteilung 653 - Part 1

This second full installment of “A Unit Through the War in Flames of War” focuses on Schwere Panzerjäger-Abteilung 653. Famous later in the war for their employment of the Elefant and later Jagdtiger heavy tank destroyers, Schwere Panzerjäger-Abteilung 653 was formed initially as Stürmgeschutz-Abteilung 197 with an activation date of November 25, 1940. Part 1 will focus on the unit as it served as Stürmgeschutz-Abteilung 197 in Early War, while Part 2 will cover Mid War, and Part 3 will cover Late War.

Originally formed as Sturmartillerie-Abteilung 197, the battalion was formed alongside Sturmartillerie-Abteilung 192 at Jütterbog. Though training started in November 1940, the unit had to wait a few weeks for their vehicles to arrive, but by January 1941, the unit was completing live fire exercises. The unit was equipped with the Stürmgeschutz III Ausf B, which mated the short 7.5cm gun of the Panzerkampfwagen IV to the lighter Panzerkampfwagen III chassis in a fixed superstructure. Training of the unit was not without its hazards, as the unit suffered one killed in an accident when he was crushed between two of the units assault guns.

First Action… Maybe!?!

By April 8, 1941, the unit’s training was effectively complete and it was loaded onto trains to support "Führer Directive No. 25" – the invasion of Yugoslavia. Stürmgeschutz-Abteilung 197 was moved to the border of Austria and Yugoslavia, but was unable to advance further because the bridges of the Drau River had been blown up. It took three days for engineers to build a bridge over the river, but by that time the Yugoslavian army was in full retreat. Some accounts indicate that portions of the unit at least never fired a shot in anger. Other accounts indicate that the unit was involved in battles around Belgrad (Belgrade) and Sarajevo. The lack of any clear indication of which formations the battalion supported makes it difficult to nail down

Fielding Stürmgeschutz-Abteilung 197 as it was equipped in early war presents some challenges, as there are no lists that let the player take the early model and organization of Stürmgeschutz-Abteilung 197 as HQ and Combat Platoons. The player is therefore generally forced to use the battalion in support of some other force unless you want to form a Support Company, which is usually only allowed in “Total War” games or with your opponent’s permission.

To field the battalion in its support role in Yugoslavia, it could be used in support of one of the various divisions that actually took part in the battle.  Though the invading forced included panzer divisions, motorized divisions, infantry divisions, and even mountain divisions, Stürmgeschutz-Abteilung 197 shouldn’t (and by the EW lists can’t) be taken in support of a Panzerkompanie force.

Stürmgeschutz-Abteilung 197 in support of Motorized Infantry – Yugoslavia 1941

List used:  Blitzkrieg Schützenkompanie, p 74.

·         HQ:  As per list – p. 75

·         Combat Platoons:  As per list – p. 75

·         Weapons / Support Platoons:  Any allowed

·         Add Stürmgeschutz-Abteilung 197 – use Assault Gun Platoon in the “Armour” Divisional Support Platoon box – p. 102.

Stürmgeschutz-Abteilung 197 in support of Motorized Infantry – Yugoslavia 1941

List used:  Blitzkrieg Infanteriekompanie (Motorisiert), p 92.

·         HQ:  As per list – p. 93

·         Combat Platoons:  As per list – p. 93

·         Weapons / Support Platoons:  Any allowed

·         Add Stürmgeschutz-Abteilung 197 – use Assault Gun Platoon in the “Armour” Divisional Support Platoon box – p. 102.

Stürmgeschutz-Abteilung 197 in support of Infantry – Yugoslavia 1941

List used:  Blitzkrieg Infanteriekompanie (Heer), p 92.

·         HQ:  As per list – p. 93

·         Combat Platoons:  As per list – p. 93

·         Weapons / Support Platoons:  Any allowed

·         Add Stürmgeschutz-Abteilung 197 – use Assault Gun Platoon in the “Armour” Divisional Support Platoon box – p. 102.

Stürmgeschutz-Abteilung 197 in support of Mountain Divisions – Yugoslavia 1941

List used:  Burning Empires Gebirgsjäger Infanteriekompanie, p 56.

·         HQ:  As per list – p. 58

·         Combat Platoons:  As per list – p. 59

·         Weapons / Support Platoons:  Any allowed

·         Add Stürmgeschutz-Abteilung 197 – Technically the Gebirgsjäger list isn’t allowed to take the Assault Gun Platoon on page 68, but if your opponent agrees – take it anyway using the “Heer” point values.

Operation Barbarossa

Starting on June 22, 1941, Stürmgeschutz-Abteilung 197 was committed (along with most of the rest of the German Army) to Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union. Once again, records are scarce regarding exactly which units the battalion supported during this operation, but it is known that the initial border fighting was around Galicia and the unit took part in breaching the Stalin line on June 25.  The unit also fought at Zhitomir and Kiev through July and August, and later fought at Kharkov and Belgorod.  During these engagements, the unit likely supported various infantry, motorized infantry, and mechanized infantry formations.  By December, the unit had been transferred south to attack Sevastopol.

Stürmgeschutz-Abteilung 197 in support of Mechanized Infantry – Operation Barbarossa 1941

List used:  Barbarossa Panzerschützenkompanie, p 18.

·         HQ:  As per list – p. 19

·         Combat Platoons:  As per list – p. 19

·         Weapons / Support Platoons:  Any allowed

·         Add Stürmgeschutz-Abteilung 197 – use Assault Gun Platoon in the “Armour” Divisional Support Platoon box – p. 34.

Stürmgeschutz-Abteilung 197 in support of Motorized Infantry – Operation Barbarossa 1941

List used:  Barbarossa Schützenkompanie, p 20.

·         HQ:  As per list – p. 21

·         Combat Platoons:  As per list – p. 21

·         Weapons / Support Platoons:  Any allowed

·         Add Stürmgeschutz-Abteilung 197 – use Assault Gun Platoon in the “Armour” Divisional Support Platoon box – p. 34.

Stürmgeschutz-Abteilung 197 in support of Infantry – Operation Barbarossa 1941

List used:  Barbarossa Infanteriekompanie, p 28.

·         HQ:  As per list – p. 29

·         Combat Platoons:  As per list – p. 29

·         Weapons / Support Platoons:  Any allowed

·         Add Stürmgeschutz-Abteilung 197 – use Assault Gun Platoon in the “Armour” Divisional Support Platoon box – p. 34.

Note:  There are some digital exclusive lists that will likely also have the Assault Gun Platoon in support – these could be substituted using the examples above as a template.

Modeling Stürmgeschutz-Abteilung 197 in Early War

Stürmgeschutz-Abteilung 197 used the early models of the StuG III during its campaigns in 1941. At this point, Battlefront makes two miniatures that will help the modeler portray the unit during this time. The first is the StuG III Ausf A (GE120). While it doesn’t appear that Stürmgeschutz-Abteilung 197 actually used the “A” model, it did use the visually similar early “B” model at least in training. Battlefront also produces the StuG III Ausf D (GE121) which can also be used as the unit received some of the visually similar C models in late 1941. However, photographic evidence suggest that the vast majority of vehicles used, especially early in Barbarossa, were the late "B" models. The major difference from the Ausf A is the drive sprocket is of the later type (as on the Ausf D) while the idler remains the earlier type. This is a fairly minor detail which would require some small amount of surgery on the tracks, which likely isn’t worth it for most modelers and players.

Painting and markings for the unit were also fairly simple – all vehicles by this point in the war were painted in overall Panzer Grey. The Sturmgeschütz were marked with the national insignia (Balkenkreuz), which was generally of the open white variety. Frequently a letter signifying which gun in the battery each vehicle represented was included (A, B, C, D, E, and F for the 3 batteries), and on many vehicles the unit insignia of an eagle with wings displayed perched on crossed cannons was included (see below)

Many phots show that as the war in the Soviet Union bogged down, the initially fairly tidy assault guns began to acquire more and more stowage. As winter set in, the Germans were generally unprepared, so whitewash was very rare during the winter of 1941. At this point I’ve been unable to find photos of a whitewashed assault gun or halftrack from Stürmgeschutz-Abteilung 197 even as late as December 1941 – so I would surmise that they didn’t receive any during the “Early War” period for Flames of War.

Part 2 will cover the unit in Mid War as it continues its campaign in Russia and receives new vehicles through 1942 before being transitioned over to the Ferdinand in 1943.