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Description

Backstory:

The German naval infantry was a branch long neglected since the First World War. This of course was due to the naval restrictions imposed onto the German Empire after they lost. However, Germany itself seemed to not have a strong naval tradition at all in general. The empire had some naval infantry battalions, but nothing much to speak of when it came to amphibious landing experience. This would change in 1938 with the creation of a Marinestosstruppkompanie, but this wasn’t enough. In 1939, the Kriegsmarine laid-out plans to reform the naval infantry into a combat-ready force, which meant getting rid of their navy-blue uniforms and adopting a new uniform based on that of the coastal artillery. However, this still wasn’t ideal for a force which would land and fight on land, so in 1940 a new uniform would be adopted which resembled the Heer’s standard combat dress. From then on, the evolution of the naval infantry’s uniforms would follow that of the Heer.

  They had a patch with an anchors on two crossed rifles with bayonet, buttons with anchors and irregular shoulder boards with an anchor in the middle to distinguish them from regular army personnel. Apart from that, nothing stood out for the marines, which was a clear sign the Kriegsmarine had adopted the doctrine of “infanterism” or “infanterieismus” in German for their ground troops instead of keeping with their tradition of using gold.

  In 1940, the company was expanded into the “Marine-Stosstrupp-Abteilung” of six companies. This of course wasn’t enough to exert naval dominance in Europe, so plans were made to expand the overall naval forces to over 770,580 men. This was due to the enormous amount of quick-reaction naval forces needed to invade Denmark, Norway, The British and Irish Isles, naval invasions in the Baltic and many more. Their performance would first be tested not on these countries however, it would be Poland that would see the first German naval-landing operation of the war.

  The 1st Naval Infantry Division (Ger: 1. Marine-Infanterie-Division) would invade Danzig supported by admiral Erich Raeder’s Ostseeflotte consisting of landing craft, support craft, cruisers of all types, several battleships and destroyers. It, for the most part, did not encounter much resistance and was aided by the SS-Heimwehr Danzig when clearing the city. Their uniforms were still those based on the coastal artillery crew outfit, and thus stood out like a sore thumb. So despite taking almost no losses, the fact the marines could be spotted quite easily was considered a huge flaw to the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht. However, when Poland fell, the Gau of West-Preußen would become home to the 1st Naval Infantry Division when it needed to be garrisoned, reequipped, retrained or upgraded with the latest technological advances.

  Naval infantry would be, along with the paratroopers, the stars of the Danish and Norwegian campaigns. Raeder utilised the 2nd and 3rd in the south of Norway to outflank allied reinforcements, sieging Oslo alongside the 4th Amphibious Mechanised Division (Ger: 4. Seelande-Panzer-Grenadier-Division). The marines had several pieces of artillery bearing down whilst the halftracks and self-propelled artillery pieces, assault guns and other armoured vehicles assaulted the city centre. In Denmark the 5th Naval Infantry Division would land close to the biggest cities and would be supported by heavy cruiser artillery to submit the population.

  Before Sea Lion, the naval forces were expanded to their max extend (with German personnel), reaching a total of 30 naval-landing divisions for the invasion. This was no small number, but it was estimated that, due to the difficulties, many casualties would be suffered, so best to be sure they would overwhelm their adversary. Amphibious tank and mechanised divisions would be the most important in these actions, but one can’t forget the new elites the Kriegsmarine had to offer: the Küstenjäger. These last formations would be crucial in sabotaging and taking enemy coastal gun emplacements and fortifications. The standard naval infantry would stay the bulk of the forces in the 1st invasion wave though, with 18 divisions bearing down on the entire island having been launched from Brittany and all the way up to Norway.

  Due to the successes in naval invasions the Kriegsmarine continued receiving support for their projects to secure the European seas for the Reich. After a certain degree of integration was achieved amongst the Germanic populations, the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht allowed conscription to be implemented, allowing the Kriegsmarine to also claim a portion of that manpower. Especially Flemish and Dutch divisions were raised, with Norwegian, Swedish, Danish and even Icelandic volunteers/conscripts mainly being used as garrison battalions.

  Rommel’s Panzer Army Africa (Ger: Panzerarmee Afrika) would be heavily supported by the 1st Marine Army (Ger: 1. Marine-Armee) and the 1st and 2nd Küstenjäger divisions. They would act as diversions for the Allies as to split them up and to lift some of the burden Rommel’s still preparing army was faced with. After the panzer army was successful in driving the British out of Egypt, the marines would follow them inland, embarking from time to time to do further naval invasions along the African coasts. The 1st Amphibious Panzer Corps would later join the Africa campaign as well, being one of the first formations to breach into South-Africa by late 1945.

  Especially in the Black Sea German marines would be appreciated. Hitler’s plan to take the Caucasus oilfields within a few months was nigh impossible via land, but via sea the Red Army wouldn’t see thousands of enemy soldiers coming, not with the Red Fleet in such poor state. No, Trotsky had no idea tens of thousands of naval infantry, coastal raiders and amphibious tanks and halftracks were crossing the Black Sea, covered by Dönitz’s sea wolves and Raeder’s battleships. They would land near Sevastopol, Odessa and on the Georgian and Armenian coasts. Those landing in Armenia had the objective of securing the oil fields, those in Georgia and the Volga region had the dual purpose of stopping Trotsky’s counterattack on the oil fields and to evacuate the Volga Germans under threat of being branded traitors and being exterminated. Finally, those near Odessa and Sevastopol had orders to siege the cities, securing the ports and to cut off Red Army supply hubs in the south. A smaller contingent also tried landing near Murmansk to cut off western trade, but in this task they were unsuccessful, mainly due to the freezing cold and the bigger Red Navy presence.

  After the first German-Soviet War concluded, the naval divisions were stationed in key ports or naval points, some were split up into smaller contingents to cover a greater area. They would still be important when the Reich invaded more countries with vast coasts like Turkey, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, etc. The navy had seen its golden age during the Reich’s conquests and as far as the OKK was concerned, it would show its importance more and more as Germany expanded its colonies and needed to rule many more waves and the fleets and naval infantry would be the backbone of it all.

Disclaimer: I do not support any of the views these people might have had, this is just for creative purposes and alt-history curiosity!

Credit to TheRanger1302 for his Rangerbase tools.

Description

Backstory:

The German naval infantry was a branch long neglected since the First World War. This of course was due to the naval restrictions imposed onto the German Empire after they lost. However, Germany itself seemed to not have a strong naval tradition at all in general. The empire had some naval infantry battalions, but nothing much to speak of when it came to amphibious landing experience. This would change in 1938 with the creation of a Marinestosstruppkompanie, but this wasn’t enough. In 1939, the Kriegsmarine laid-out plans to reform the naval infantry into a combat-ready force, which meant getting rid of their navy-blue uniforms and adopting a new uniform based on that of the coastal artillery. However, this still wasn’t ideal for a force which would land and fight on land, so in 1940 a new uniform would be adopted which resembled the Heer’s standard combat dress. From then on, the evolution of the naval infantry’s uniforms would follow that of the Heer.

  They had a patch with an anchors on two crossed rifles with bayonet, buttons with anchors and irregular shoulder boards with an anchor in the middle to distinguish them from regular army personnel. Apart from that, nothing stood out for the marines, which was a clear sign the Kriegsmarine had adopted the doctrine of “infanterism” or “infanterieismus” in German for their ground troops instead of keeping with their tradition of using gold.

  In 1940, the company was expanded into the “Marine-Stosstrupp-Abteilung” of six companies. This of course wasn’t enough to exert naval dominance in Europe, so plans were made to expand the overall naval forces to over 770,580 men. This was due to the enormous amount of quick-reaction naval forces needed to invade Denmark, Norway, The British and Irish Isles, naval invasions in the Baltic and many more. Their performance would first be tested not on these countries however, it would be Poland that would see the first German naval-landing operation of the war.

  The 1st Naval Infantry Division (Ger: 1. Marine-Infanterie-Division) would invade Danzig supported by admiral Erich Raeder’s Ostseeflotte consisting of landing craft, support craft, cruisers of all types, several battleships and destroyers. It, for the most part, did not encounter much resistance and was aided by the SS-Heimwehr Danzig when clearing the city. Their uniforms were still those based on the coastal artillery crew outfit, and thus stood out like a sore thumb. So despite taking almost no losses, the fact the marines could be spotted quite easily was considered a huge flaw to the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht. However, when Poland fell, the Gau of West-Preußen would become home to the 1st Naval Infantry Division when it needed to be garrisoned, reequipped, retrained or upgraded with the latest technological advances.

  Naval infantry would be, along with the paratroopers, the stars of the Danish and Norwegian campaigns. Raeder utilised the 2nd and 3rd in the south of Norway to outflank allied reinforcements, sieging Oslo alongside the 4th Amphibious Mechanised Division (Ger: 4. Seelande-Panzer-Grenadier-Division). The marines had several pieces of artillery bearing down whilst the halftracks and self-propelled artillery pieces, assault guns and other armoured vehicles assaulted the city centre. In Denmark the 5th Naval Infantry Division would land close to the biggest cities and would be supported by heavy cruiser artillery to submit the population.

  Before Sea Lion, the naval forces were expanded to their max extend (with German personnel), reaching a total of 30 naval-landing divisions for the invasion. This was no small number, but it was estimated that, due to the difficulties, many casualties would be suffered, so best to be sure they would overwhelm their adversary. Amphibious tank and mechanised divisions would be the most important in these actions, but one can’t forget the new elites the Kriegsmarine had to offer: the Küstenjäger. These last formations would be crucial in sabotaging and taking enemy coastal gun emplacements and fortifications. The standard naval infantry would stay the bulk of the forces in the 1st invasion wave though, with 18 divisions bearing down on the entire island having been launched from Brittany and all the way up to Norway.

  Due to the successes in naval invasions the Kriegsmarine continued receiving support for their projects to secure the European seas for the Reich. After a certain degree of integration was achieved amongst the Germanic populations, the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht allowed conscription to be implemented, allowing the Kriegsmarine to also claim a portion of that manpower. Especially Flemish and Dutch divisions were raised, with Norwegian, Swedish, Danish and even Icelandic volunteers/conscripts mainly being used as garrison battalions.

  Rommel’s Panzer Army Africa (Ger: Panzerarmee Afrika) would be heavily supported by the 1st Marine Army (Ger: 1. Marine-Armee) and the 1st and 2nd Küstenjäger divisions. They would act as diversions for the Allies as to split them up and to lift some of the burden Rommel’s still preparing army was faced with. After the panzer army was successful in driving the British out of Egypt, the marines would follow them inland, embarking from time to time to do further naval invasions along the African coasts. The 1st Amphibious Panzer Corps would later join the Africa campaign as well, being one of the first formations to breach into South-Africa by late 1945.

  Especially in the Black Sea German marines would be appreciated. Hitler’s plan to take the Caucasus oilfields within a few months was nigh impossible via land, but via sea the Red Army wouldn’t see thousands of enemy soldiers coming, not with the Red Fleet in such poor state. No, Trotsky had no idea tens of thousands of naval infantry, coastal raiders and amphibious tanks and halftracks were crossing the Black Sea, covered by Dönitz’s sea wolves and Raeder’s battleships. They would land near Sevastopol, Odessa and on the Georgian and Armenian coasts. Those landing in Armenia had the objective of securing the oil fields, those in Georgia and the Volga region had the dual purpose of stopping Trotsky’s counterattack on the oil fields and to evacuate the Volga Germans under threat of being branded traitors and being exterminated. Finally, those near Odessa and Sevastopol had orders to siege the cities, securing the ports and to cut off Red Army supply hubs in the south. A smaller contingent also tried landing near Murmansk to cut off western trade, but in this task they were unsuccessful, mainly due to the freezing cold and the bigger Red Navy presence.

  After the first German-Soviet War concluded, the naval divisions were stationed in key ports or naval points, some were split up into smaller contingents to cover a greater area. They would still be important when the Reich invaded more countries with vast coasts like Turkey, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, etc. The navy had seen its golden age during the Reich’s conquests and as far as the OKK was concerned, it would show its importance more and more as Germany expanded its colonies and needed to rule many more waves and the fleets and naval infantry would be the backbone of it all.

Disclaimer: I do not support any of the views these people might have had, this is just for creative purposes and alt-history curiosity!

Credit to TheRanger1302 for his Rangerbase tools.