BICYCLE COMPANY 16th Cavalry Regiment
1 Captain as Company Commander (Pistol)(in staff car ) [Note 1]
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Company Headquarters
Headquarters Section
1 Bugler /Observer (Rifle, Flare Pistol)(in staff car)
2 Messengers (Rifles) (on motorcycles)
7 Messengers (Rifles) (on bicycles)
1 Motor Vehicle Driver (Rifle)(in staff car)
2 motorcycles
1 staff car
Admin Section
1 NCO Chief (Pistol)(on bicycle)
1 NCO Administrative (Rifle)(on bicycle)
1 NCO Commissary (Rifle)(on field wagon)
1 NCO Clerk (Rifle)(on field wagon)
1 NCO Medic (Rifle)(on field wagon)
1 Motor Vehicle Driver (Rifle)(in truck)
1 Mechanic/Gunsmith (Rifle)(in truck)
1 Tailor (Rifle)(in truck)
1 2 Cooks (Rifles)(in truck)
1 truck with field kitchen
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3 Rifle Platoons, each with
1 Lieutenant as Platoon Leader (Pistol)(on bicycle)
1 Second Lieutenant or NCO Assistant Platoon Leader (Pistol)(on bicycle)
Platoon Headquarters
1 Mechanic for bicycles (Rifle) (on bicycle)
1 Medic (Pistol) (on bicycle)
1 Messenger (Rifle) (on bicycle)
4 Rifle Squads, each with
1 NCO as Squad Leader (Rifle) (on bicycle)
Rifle Team
5 Riflemen (Rifles) (on bicycles)
MG Team
1 Corporal as Machine Gun Team Leader (Rifle) (on bicycle)
1 Machine Gunner (Pistol) (on bicycle)
2 Ammo Handlers (Rifle)(on bicycles)
2 Riflemen (Rifles)(on bicycles)
1 Light Machine Gun wz. 1928 (BAR) [Note 2]
Special Platoon [Note 3]
Platoon Headquarters
1 Lieutenant as Platoon Leader (Pistol)(on bicycle)
1 Mechanic from bicycles (Rifle) (on bicycle)
1 Observer (Rifle, flare pistol, binoculars)(on bicycle)
1 Messenger (Rifle)(on bicycle)
2 Heavy MG Sections, each with:
1 NCO as Machine Gun Team Leader (Pistol)(on bicycle)
1 Machine Gunner (Pistol)(on bicycle)
1 Ammunition Strip soldier (Pistol)(on bicycle)
1 Assistant (Rifle)(on bicycle)
2 Ammo Handlers (Rifles)(on bicycles)
2 heavy MG Browning wz 30
Mortar Section with:
2 Mortar Gunners (Pistols) (on bicycles)
4 Ammo Handlers (Rifles) (on bicycles)
2 mortar wz. 1936 (46mm) [Note 4]
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4 Officers, 9 NCO, 110 enlisted. (Some publications indicate that this company had only 84 soldiers, but probably this is a mistake.)
2 or 4 LMG (different sources), 2 HMG, 2 Light Mortar (46mm), 3 AT Rifles [Note 5];
1 staff car, 1 truck; 2 motorcycles, 94 bicycles (64 military and 30 civilian bicycles).
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NOTES:
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[1]
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Offically a captain, in practice a lieutenant. (Bicycle Company Leader Lieutenant Jerzy Woszczynski)
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[2]
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Lieutenant Stanislaw Szczepkowski (Platoon Leader), (as well as the Second Company Commander
and the 1st Platoon Leader) noted in 1945 that the company was equipped with four LMG BAR.
So possibly, in this company at least, each platoon was equipped with two LMG.
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[3]
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There are 4 bicycles in the HMG Section which carry 2 stands for MG and 2 for HMG.
However, note that during the 1939 Polish Campaign the two HMG sections were transported in two field wagons
(Polish name taczanka), possibly requisitioned.
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[4]
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Bicycle Company did not officially have a Light Mortar Section,
but soldiers from this company and Lieutenant Szczepkowski often tell about two mortars (46mm wz. 36).
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[5]
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Lieutenant Szczepkowski remembered that this bicycle company did not have the Antitank Rifle (7,92mm wz35),
but another soldiers from this company say that the company did have 3 AT Rifles.
Possibly these were ATR that soldiers collected on battlefield during the campaign.
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