DIE GRUPPE – WEAPONS AND EQUIPMENT OF THE GERMAN INFANTRY SQUAD (1939 – 1945)

English. 256 pages. Hard cover. Ricardo Recio Cardona

Die Gruppe is a visual book about the standard and regulatory gear carried by the German soldiers who made up a squad (Die Gruppe) during WWII.

The book explains the role assigned to each of the men in the group (which theoretically could not exceed nine members) with numerous historical photographs. Every single weapon and piece of equipment carried by those soldiers is described in detail, using detailed photographs of items and gear from private collections and museums. The publication is a faithful reflection of how these soldiers lived, through a collection of personal objects, high-quality photographs, and curiosities.

Die Gruppe, known as a “squad” in most armies, was the smallest combat unit of the German infantry. It was composed of a variable number of men led by a corporal or a non-commissioned officer called a Gruppenführer (literally, group leader). This unit was organized around a light machine gun, which could be an MG 34 or an MG 42.