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The Original 43rd Sturmpionier Bataillon
The original 43rd Sturmpionier Bataillon was activated in 1936 in Weikreiss III with Headquarters Berlin as part of the new Wehrmacht. They were thus, "Old Army" by the time of the war as the unit had been in existence before the war began. The 43rd was not assigned to any division, per se, as they were used in action as a general headquarters unit, held in reserve and used for special, or specific purposes.
The first major action of the unit came in 1940 during the crossing of the River Meuse. The unit was attached to Heinz Guderian's XIX Panzerkorps and assisted with crossing the river and attacking some of the forward positions of the French 9th Army. As more German troops passed over the next day, Guderian received word that a French armored cavalry unit was attacking the southern end of his bridgehead. This seriously threatened the overall German offensive and Guderian dispatched the 43rd, along with other units, to intercept the French armor and hold them off. The 43rd participated in the battle that ensued and succeeded in knocking out several French tanks with hand-held shaped charges. Guderian singled them out in one of his dispatches for their valor.
After the French campaign, the 43rd was sent to Poland to prepare for Operation Barbarossa. The 43rd, for their part, were assigned to Army Group North, with the objective of capturing Leningrad. Once the invasion of the Soviet Union began, the Army Group called the Sturmpioniers to bridge the Dvina River, which was held by Soviet infantry who were dug-in on the opposite bank. Using assault boats, the 43rd crossed the river and drove off the Russians while beginning construction of the bridge. The unit even managed to hold off several determined counterattacks by Russian infantry and a few tanks.
By the end of the difficult winter of 1941-2, the bataillon had lost so many men to combat and non-combat losses that OKH decided to have them withdrawn and reconstituted. This was completed by April, 1942 and they were assigned to be the Panzerpionier Bataillon for the Grossdeutschland Panzergrenadier Division. There is no indication that they abandoned their original designation, but they may have. The 43rd participated in many major battles with Grossdeutschland including: Kursk; the Battle of the Bulge; and the Defense of Berlin.
We selected the 43rd to be our impression for several reasons:
1) They were "regular army." Nothing special; just average soldiers.
2) They were a GHQ unit and could be assigned in almost any number, to any place where needed meaning that we would not constantly have to change our impression for different events.
3) As pioniers, their weapon alotment was much more task-oriented which means that they often had more variations in their issued weapons.
4) They were motorised, which means we get to ride.
5) We get to play with all the cool engineering stuff.