Welcome to Cold War Gamer, a blog I am using to record my Cold War wargaming projects. These range from fictitious Cold War hot projects to historical conflicts that took place around the globe throughout the Cold War era, all modelled and gamed in 20mm. The blog includes links to various resources useful to the Cold War Gamer.

My current projects include: Central Front; British & Soviet. South African Border War; Angolans and South Africans. Soviet Afghan War; Soviets and Afghans
Showing posts with label British. Show all posts
Showing posts with label British. Show all posts

Friday, 10 March 2017

Review - Book, Todays Army Air Corps, Paul Beaver, 1987




The first thing to point out about what I think is a very handy little reference is that the title is a complete misnomer.  Written in 1987 the Today in the title very much refers to the Army Air Corps of yesterday and you will certainly struggle to find even a mention of the AH 64 which was a distant aspiration at the time of writing.  What the book does do well is provide a compact overview of the British Army Air Corps This includes:
  • A Short History of Army Flying
  • Structure and Command Arrangements
  • Regiments Squadrons and the AAC Center
  • Aircraft
  • Weapons Roles and Equipment
  • Future Programme
  • Training and Tactics


This book is an excellent snap shot of the Army Air Corps at the backend of the Cold War. The Historical section is too short to do anything but provide pointers to conflicts in which the Army Air Corps had previously played a role.  The real value to the Cold War Gamer lies in less than half the book, primarily in the sections on:
  • Structure and Command Arrangements. This section is a little thin but provides an overview of how the Army Air Corps supports the rest of the Army with both Aviation Advice, staff support and planning functions as well as the broad structure of the units and a view of the organisations that support is provided to essentially BAOR, UKMF, Special Forces and Northern Ireland.
  • Regiments Squadrons and The AAC center. This section is the first of the two absolute nuggets in this book this covers each regiment and independent squadron and in a terse paragraph summarizes location role, equipment holdings and the HQ they report to, which is immensely useful for context and scenario planning if you want to refer to the real units.
  • Training and Tactics. The second nuget is the training and tactics section which is sadly all too short and in a few pages talks through HELARM tactics with Gazelle and Lynx as they would operate in Germany.  This looks at both the Anti Armour and Recce/Air Op roles. It would have been nice to see something on Forward Air Refueling and cross FLOT (Forward Line of Own Troops) operations but the data supplied is enough to give you a basic understanding of how the Aviation assets would be used.  Its easy to forget that other missing items such as JAAT (Joint Air Attack Teams) post date this title, within the British armed forces.
The rest of the books information is useful but can be obtained easily else where, including online sources. For an out of print obscure little book it contains some very useful information. It can be picked up on Amazon, last I looked for .01p, at that price it pays for itself if you can use it to make the gaming table more stable by sticking it under one of the table legs. A thin tome but a worthwhile addition to the Cold War library if you have an interest in British aviation capability at the back end of the Cold War.

Today's Army Air Corps @ Amazon













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Sunday, 5 March 2017

ORBAT - NATO's Northern Army Group, 1 BR Corps Deployment






The 1 Br Corps deployment zone sits between Hanover in the North to Einbeck in the South. Deployed to the North is 1 GE Corps and to the South covering the more broken terrain of the Harz Mountains and the Saurland is 1 Be Corps.  The detail of NORTHAGs deployment was previously covered here.

The Corps area is dissected by the Rivers Weser and Leine and has the Harz mountains on its Southern boundary and the Teutoburger Wald to its rear.  The city of Hieldesheim sits in the center of the Corps area of responsibility with the ground to the south of Hieldesheim being more broken and to the North more open.  The Corps sits astride an Axis of Advance to the Ruhr industrial conurbation.

The Corps concept of operations saw a covering force fighting a delaying action from the Inner German Border back to a Main Defensive Position that sat forward of the River Weser and across the River Leine.  The covering force battle would buy time for the preparation of the MDP and potentially the deployment of units from the UK if this had not happened in transition to war.  To the rear was the reserve Division with the primary task of launching a counterstroke into the advancing Soviet Armies once the main axis of advance had been identified and this would create the conditions for a counter offensive by the NORTHAG reserve to restore the Inner German Border.


  • The Covering Force was provided by 2 Armoured Reconnaissance Regiments from 1 and 4 Divisions together with 644 Squadron AAC.  The Recce Regiments at this time were 1st The Queens Dragoon Guards and The 16/5th Queens Royal Lancers. They were effectivly under command 1 Br Corps in this phase.
  • The Northern MDP Division was provided by 1st Armoured Division covering the more open ground South of Hanover and North of Hildershiem.
  • The Southern MDP Division was provided by 4th Armoured Division deployed in the Southern part of the corps area covering the more broken around the Sibbessa gap.  
  • The Parachute Regiment Group deployed to Hildershiem in the centre of the area and I would imagine they intended to stay put regardless of the developing situation.  Hildersheim and the Parachute Regiment Group came under command of 1st Armoured Division.
  • Corps Reserve was provided by 3rd Armoured Division. The corps reserve supplied its reserve Brigade to enable the withdrawal of the covering force through the main defensive position by securing crossing points over the Rivers forward of the Leine.  Once the covering force had withdrawn 3rd Division's reserve Brigade would join the rest of the Division West of the Weser and launch its counter stroke.
  • The Corps Rear area was secured by 2nd Infantry Division, which also included 24 Airmobile Brigade which would primarily be used for counter penetration tasks into the forward areas and could be deployed in support of either the MDP or Covering Force Battle. Of Interest during Ex Lionheart in 1984, the German 53 Heimatschutz Brigade reinforced 2nd Division and 24 Brigade (at the time a Mech (W) Brigade) was released for deployment else where.
  • The Rear Combat Zone and Communication Zone sat behind the Corps rear boundary.



Behind the forward deployed Corps of NORTHAG sat III US Corps, once it had completed its deployment from the US it would conduct subsequent operations to restore the line of the Inner German Border.


By the close of the Cold War NORTHAG reserve included a multinational Airmobile division that included:
  • UK 24 Airmobile Brigade
  • Ge 255 Luftlande Brigade
  • Be Para Commando Regiment
Over the duration of the Cold War I suspect this plan changed a number of times but this is what I intend to use as the operational context for games involving my British forces.

The Essentials of the 1 BR Corps plan were therefore:
  • Covering Force - Recce and 644 Squadron AAC Forward
  • Main Defensive Position Battle including Divisional Covering Force and Divisional counter attacks/penetration.
  • Counter Penetration by 24 Brigade (88/89) after formation of Brigade and prior to move to multinational Airmobile Division.
  • Counter Stroke - 7 Panzer Division & 3rd Armoured Division
The unifying purpose being to achieve the destruction of the first operational echelon between the R Weser and the R Leine.
UK based components would deploy during transition to war or in the opening stages of the conflict, these included.
  • 3rd Armoured Divisions Recce Regiment
  • 4th Armoured Divisions 19 Infantry Bde
  • 665 Sqn AAC
  • 2nd Infantry Division



My intent is to set a number of Scenarios within the 4th Armoured Divisions area of responsibility primarily as it had a slightly more diverse force structure than 1 Armoured Division deployed in the more open ground to the North and therefore holds a little more variety in the type of actions and forces that can be used.  19 Brigades deployment area around Bockenem is shown on the map below.



The Divisions were tailored in their task organisation to their areas of responsibility. The 4th Armoured Division included 2 Armoured Brigades and an Infantry Brigade.  The table below outlines exactly what this meant in terms of the detailed composition of the different divisions in 1 Br Corps.


So essentially the 4th Armoured Division was a Mechanised Division with 1 Mech (T) Brigade, 1 Mech (W) Brigade and an Armoured Brigade.  The organisation of the 4th Armoured Division was as follows:


The Unit composition and equipment distribution of the Combat and Combat Support units around 1988/89 were as follows:

  • 16/5th Queens Royal Lancers, Divisional Recce Regiment (CVR(T))
  • 4 Regiment Army Air Corps (Lynx/Gazelle)
  • 45 Field Regiment RA (FH70) 19 Bde (Assumed)
  • 26 Field Regiment RA (M109/Javelin) 11 Bde
  • 49 Field Regiment RA (M109) 20 Bde
  • 35 Regiment Royal Engineers (FV 432)
  • 11 Armoured Brigade; 

  • 5th Inniskilling Dragoon Guards (Chieftain) 
  • 3 Royal Anglian (FV 432)
  • 2 Queens (FV 432)

  • 20 Armoured Brigade; 

  • 15/19 Hussars (Challenger)
  • 4/7th Royal Dragoon Guards (Challenger)
  • 1 Royal Regiment of Wales (FV 432) replaced by 1 RIRISH in 1990 (Warrior)

  • 19 Armoured Brigade; 

  • 1 Kings Own Scottish Borderers, (Saxon)
  • 2 Royal Anglian, (Saxon)
  • 1 Staffords, (Saxon) 
  • Royal Hussars (Chieftain, Less 1 Sqn to UKMF)

    • Engineers and artillery would tend to be attached to the brigades, recce squadrons could be attached to brigades but tended to operate as a divisional asset along with the AAC Regiment. Additionally the division would have a squadron from 32 Armoured Engineer Regiment with troops being attached to brigades as required.


    The Divisions operational concept had the Armoured Brigade and the Armoured Recce Regiment deployed forward as a covering force. The Armoured Recce Regiment being initially under command of 1 Br Corps as a component of the Corps covering force.  The 2 Mechanised Brigades then developed and manned the Main Defensive Position with the covering force withdrawing back into reserve where it would be reconstituted by replacement crews and vehicles from the Armoured Delivery Regiment. The AAC regiment would take a very active role in counter penetration as the ground lent itself well to HELARM anti tank ambushes. I expect it would have been active in both the divisions covering force battle and the MDP battles.
    19 Brigade the Mech (W) Brigade would deploy in the North of the area around the Bockenem bowel at the entrance to the Sibbessa gap and 11 Brigade, the Mech (T) Brigade to the South around Bad Gandershiem and Seesen. 20 Brigade would provide both the covering force and the reserve.  




    References:

    Web:

    M136 Exercise Picture Archive
    British Army Units since 1945
    Fire and Furry Cold War Orbats and Modern Resources
    Staff Rides 1Br Corps Material and Maps

    Books:

    The Royal Armoured Corps in The Cold War
    The British Army in Germany, an Organisational History 1947 - 20
    British Army of the Rhine,  TJ Gander
    The Royal Engineers, TJ Gander
    Other Posts of Interest:
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    Saturday, 1 November 2014

    ORBAT - 1980s British BG, NATO Reinforcement Part3, Type A Mech (Wh) and Light



    This post looks at the organisational structure of the Saxon equipped battalions and how that changed from their introduction through to the end of the Cold War. My primary interest is 19 Brigade which was a core component of 4 Armoured Division in the later part of the Cold War period. 19 Brigade originally under command 3 Division shifted to 4 Division in April 1986 where it routinely deployed into the Bockenem area south of Hildershiem and west of the Sibbesa gap in Lower Saxony.



    In the closing years of the Cold War the Brigade included the Kings Own Royal Border Regiment, The Argyl and Sutherland Highlanders and the 3rd Battalion the Royal Anglian Regiment.  Other Infantry Units in 19 Brigade over the period were:
    • 1 STAFFs 1983-1986
    • 1 RANGLIAN 1983 - 1987
    • KOSB 1983-1887
    • 1A&SH 1986-1989
    • KORBR 1987 - 1992
    • 3 RGJ 1987-1989
    • 3 RANGLIAN 1989 -1991
    • 1 GLOUCESTERSHIRE 1990-1994
    The Type A Infantry Battalion was the basic organisational structure for the infantry units in the BAOR reinforcement role  whether these were Mechanised or light it was similar in structure to the Armoured and Mechanised Infantry units based permanently in Germany.  From a gaming perspective once you have the figures for one type of unit variations in the vehicle fleet let you play quite a wide range of British capability.


    AT105 Saxon equipped units were known as Mechanised Wheeled Battalions all the Mech (Wh) units were UK based and due to the incremental nature of the Saxon procurement their structure changed a number of times. The original intent of the procurement was to provide protected mobility for deployment to Germany and only regular battalions were equipped with the vehicle. The TA Battalions of 2nd Infantry Division and 1 Infantry Brigade remained truck borne although they had originally been considered for an equipment upgrade.



    Over the period of the Saxon production run from 1983 - 1989 two distinct orbats were supported for the Mech (Wh) Battalions the first used 43 Saxons and the second 64 Saxons I have referred to these units as follows:
    • Mech (Wh) Bn Type A (43)
    • Mech (Wh) Bn Type A (64)
    Following the end of the Cold War the Saxon Battalions were subject to further restructuring, so quite a confusing picture of their organisation is presented.


    Throughout these changes the unit remained based on the Type A Infantry Battalion it was  comprised of:
    • HQ Company, covering Battle Group HQ, Logistic, Medical and Administrative functions
    • 3 Rifle Companies each of 3 Platoons and an HQ
    • 1 Support company including Milan, Mortars, Recce and GPMG SF.

    Prior to the introduction of Saxon the Type A Battalions were Light role battalions which would have moved the rifle companies in 4 ton trucks but otherwise were organisationally similar to the Mech (Wh) battalions that were to replace them.



    The initial scale of issue of Saxon vehicles was 43 to each Battalion, the Mech (Wh) Bn Type A (43). In this configuration only the 3 Rifle companies were equipped with Saxon each had 13 APCs and 1 Repair and Recovery variant making for a total of 14 Saxon.  Additionaly the rifle companies were scaled for 2 3/4 ton Land Rovers, a 3/4 ton ambulance and 1 4t Truck. The rifle Company composition was:
    • Company HQ, Company Commander, Company 2IC, Company Seargent Major and a detachment from the Signals platoon providing communications experts. 1 Saxon and 1 3/4 ton Land Rover.
    • Rifle Platoons.  Each of the 3 Rifle Platoons consisted of 3 sections of 8 and a platoon HQ, each section would deploy a Carl Gustarv AT Weapon, a number of 66mm AT Rockets, 7 SLR and 1 GPMG, they converted in the late 80's to 2 LSW, 6 SA80 and a number of 94mm LAW. Throughout the period the Pl HQ would deploy a 51mm Mortar in addition to thier personal weapons. The platoon was equipped with 4 Saxon.
    • Company Aid Post, 3/4 Ton Landrover ambulance with Driver and Medic.
    • CQMS Detachment, normally a Land Rover and 4 Ton Truck which provided Resupply together with elements of the battalions A1 Echelon. The CQMS was supported by a small staff of store men and drivers.
    • REME Repair and Recovery Detachment.  A Single Saxon crewed by REME personel who provided the immidiate repair capability for tasks that could not be handled by the crews.
     The Battalion CO was also provided with a Saxon allthough the rest of BG HQ remained in Soft skin vehicles.

    The remainder of the Battalion initially remained in soft skin vehicles, together with the majority of any supporting arms. The primary vehicles used included 1/2 ton, 3/4 ton and 1 ton Land Rovers together with either Bedford Mk 4s or the leyland DAFs that replaced them in the early 1990's.

    Both Milan and Mortars used the 1 ton Landrover as their primary means of transport.  

    The Milan Platoon consisted of: 

    • Milan Platoon HQ, 
    • Milan Sections, each of the 4 Milan sections deployed 5 Milan firing posts, 1 with the section commander and the remainder in 2 Detachments each of 2 firing posts. 1 3/4 Ton Landrover, 2 1 ton Landrover and Trailer.
    • Milan Mobile section, the Milan Mobile Section fielded 4 Firing posts. 4 3/4 Ton Landrover

    The 1 Ton Land Rover was modified for the Milan Platoon to provide stowage for 15 Milan Missiles in a rack immediately to the rear of the Cab, this could be accessed by rolling up the tilt or dropping the sides on the left hand side of the vehicle. With 2 two man crews and two firing posts this left little room for the detachments personal equipment, rations, spare gas bottles and other essentials  as such these vehicles would routinely deploy with trailers.  In good weather tilt sides might be rolled up but seldom completely removed as the roof of the vehicle provided a stowage position for the camouflage nets. 



    Whilst racking was provided for missiles and firing posts in the 3/4 ton Landrovers of the Section Commanders and the Milan Mobile Section the weapon could not be mounted and fired from the vehicle. The 110 land rover started replacing the series 3 from 1983.  


    With the increase in scale of Saxon the Milan platoon received 14 Saxons, 2 in the Platoon HQ and 3 per section with the section commander having one vehicle and each of the detachments also having one.  Milan mobile remained in 3/4 ton Land Rovers.



    The Mortar Sections also deployed in 1 Ton Landrovers with the MFCs and section commanders in 1/2 ton land rovers.  When the battalion was upscaled the 3 MFCs all recieved a Saxon each whilst the remainder of the Mortar platoon retained its soft skin vehicles.



    The remaining Saxons provided in the 21 vehicle upgrade, of which their were 4 went to Battalion HQ. Based on the production analysis model outlined in the Reinforcement Brigade post it seems likely that the Milan and Morter platoons could be equipped with Saxon from 1987 although units with all support elements in soft skin vehicles could be fielded through to 1988.


    As originaly configured it would appear that the SF Guns were grouped with the Companys the orbat for the later part of the period shows an SF GPMG platoon constituted as part of support company. This include an HQ in a 1/2 ton land rover and 3 Sections of 3 GPMG SF mounted in 2 3/4 ton land rovers with trailers. I suspect how this was used varied considerably between units.  If SF were grouped with either the rifle Company or Milan it would be reasonable to shift them in the Rifle Platoon or Milan Section Command Saxons.



    The Recce Platoon deployed 8 Recce vehicles generally in 4 sections each of 2 cars. In the light role units in the early 80s these were in Landrovers. The Saxon battalions were intially equiped with the Fox Armoured cars these were initially replaced by Scimetar around 1990 and these in turn were replaced by Sabre but this probably occurred after 1994.

    The Mechanised Wheeled Battalion could be task organised with or supported by a range of organisations although these would vary depending on whether a unit from 24 Brigade, 19 Brigade or 1 Brigade was being represented. The following options are covered in detail in the brigade post but represent a credible group for use with a 19 Bde mechanised wheeled battalion or light role battalion:
    • Cheiftain Tank Squadron The Brigade included a Type 43 Tank Regiment which could have elements grouped with the infantry units or have infantry sub units grouped with it.
    • A Recce Squadron, from the Divisional Recce Regiment. QDG are shown as being part of 19 Bde but I suspect this was administrative,  this grouping was more likely in the deployment phase rather than any other.
    • Army Air Corps HELARM task group from 657 Squadron also shown as a component of 19 Brigade in some sources.
    • Army Air Corps Air Observation Post also from 657 Squadron.
    • Artillery Tac party from FH 70 Regiment. The Tac party I assume would deploy in Saxon, whilst the FH70s would be towed by Foden 6x6 tractor/limbers.  The Artillery Regiment supporting 90 Brigade was originally 40 field but they were replaced by 45 Field Regiment.
    • Regular or TA Javalin Troop. Regular javalin in Scimeter, TA in Landrover.
    • Tracked or Towed Rapier Troop, this would either as part of the divisional Air defence plan  or as part of the Corps rear areaAir defence plan in both cases Rapier would provide area cover than be a specific attachment to the unit
    • Engineer Section/ Troop or Engineer plant, 3 Ton truck and a range of engineer plant usually diggers of 1 type or another.

    As with Mechanised Tracked battalions the Companies would form company groups which would include, Milan SF and supporting arms including tank troops and Squadrons, Engineers, Artillery Tac Parties, and under certain circumstances Air Defence assets.


    Once deployed to the Bokenham area the brigade used the villages and woods that dotted the land scape to enable a matrix of dug in Infantry and Milan positions around which the attached armour could manoeuvre.


    Killing areas would be selected into which the enemy would be channeled and the exists from which would be enhanced with obstacles to slow their exit.


    The Anti Armour assets provided by the Armoured Corps, Army Air Corps, Royal Artillery and the Infantry could all then be coordinated to achieve the maximum destructive effect on the enemies armour.  It would be reasonable to involve any or all of these assets in a structured scenario


    So what might all this look like from a wargaming perspective, for our Rapid Fire modern games we tend to use a vehicle scale of 1:3 with the traditional under representation of Infantry transport .  For the Mech (Wh) Type A (43) Battalion I will be using the following:
    • BG HQ 
      • 1 Saxon, 4 Figures, 1 Command, 2 SLR, 1 Sniper, 1 3/4 ton Land Rover
    • Rifle Companies x 3 
      • 1 Saxon, 8 Figures,  1 Command, 1 GPMG 4 SLR, 1 66mm, 1Carl Gustarv.
    • Milan Platoon 
      • 4 Milan sections of 1 x 1 Ton Landrover & trailer, 2 Milan Firing Post 4 Figures.
      • 1 Milan Mobile section of1 3/4 ton Landrover, 1 Milan Firing Post, 2 Figures.
    • Morter Platoon 
      • 2  Mortar Sections of 1x 1 Ton Landrover, 1 x 81mm Mortar, 3 Figures,
      • 1 MFC 1 Land Rover 3/4 ton, 1 OP, 2 Figures
    • SF Platoon 
      • 3 sections each 1 3/4 Ton Landrover and trailer, 1 GPMG SF, 2 Figures
    • Recce Platoon
      • 2 Sections each 1 Fox Armoured Car
    • A1 Echelon
      •  4 Ton Truck, 1 UBRE
      • 1 Foden wrecker, 1 Landrover 3/4 ton Ambulance
    Notes:
    • Infantry companies may be  SA80 equipped, 1 Command, 2 LAW 80, 2 LSW, 3 SA80
    • For  Mech (Wh) Type A (64); Milan Sections, BGHQ and MFCs may replace Land Rovers for Saxon
    • For Type A Light Role; BG HQ and Rifle Companies become 1 Land Rover 3/4 Ton, 1 Truck 4 Ton.
    • SF Platoon may drop their transport and travel as part of Milan Sections or Rifle Companies.


    I would like to thank Andy (AT) of the Guild who supplied much of the information around the Milan Platoon and their vehicles.   Many of the photos shown here are from the excellent Military Database site which contains a large number of photographs of NATO exercises in the Cold War and is an excellent resource.



    References:

    Books:
    Web:
    Other Posts of Interest:

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    Friday, 29 August 2014

    Review - Book, The Iron Division, The History of the 3rd Division 1809-1989



    Iron Division is an excellent little reference book on the 3rd Divisions History from 1809-1989 the first edition was published in 1978 and written by Robin McNish.  This review focuses on the revised edition, published in 1989.  In 1986 the division approached Charles Messenger who was both a historian and a watch keeper on the Divisions staff to update the text to cover the Divisions activities in the period 1978 - 1989 which produced some very focused writing on the late Cold War period .

    From my perspective all the post war content is relevant and illuminating charting as it does change in the British Army through the eyes of the Divison up until 1989 however the most useful chapters are 11 and 12 which deal respectively with:
    • The 1970's; 3 Division Role as the UKMF which was a NATO rolled reinforcement division deployable to either flank.
    • The 1980's; which covers the restructuring to and from field forces, the evolving doctrinal concepts around forward defence and a very detailed look at the life of the Division which is particularly revealing in the context of the exercises it participated in.
    The remainder of the Book covers the History of the division through the following conflicts:
    • Napolionic Wars
    • Crimean War
    • Boar War
    • 1st World War
    • 2nd World War
    The bulk of the book covers post 1944 operations and about 1/3 is dedicated to post 1950s operations the final two chapters total around 140 pages and are focused fairly exclusively on activities in the later stages of the Cold War.  It is very much a "unit" history and with extensive coverage of peace time life there is a fair bit of content on Royal visits and D Day commemorations.  That aside their are some real gems in the last two chapters which benefited from being published post Cold War and written by an historian who was a Divisional watch keeper so had significant knowledge of the wider operational context.

    I picked up my copy second hand, if you can source it for under £5 its definitely worth a look. Just make sure you get the right version as the 1978 publication probably has limited Cold War coverage.

    Iron Division - History of 3rd Division: 1809-1989 @ amazon

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    Sunday, 24 August 2014

    ORBAT - 1980s British BG, NATO Reinforcement Part 2, The Infantry Brigades


    In the late 1980's the British Army purchased the AT105 Saxon APC and converted a number of light role infantry battalions to the Mechanised Wheeled role.  These units were part of 3 Infantry Brigades with reinforcement roles onto the continent in time of war. The purpose of this post is to look at the organisation of these brigades how they changed over the period and the range of units and subunits that could be task organised as battle groups with the Mech (Wh) battalions.


    The 3 Regular Army infantry Brigades converted were:
    • 19 Brigade a component of 3rd Armoured Division which was the Corps Reserve,  in 1986 the brigade became part of 4th Armoured Division.
    • 24 Brigade in 2nd Infantry Division provided rear area security, in 1988 the Brigade converted to the Airmobile role.
    • 1 Brigade this brigade formed the core component of the United kingdom Mobile Force (UKMF) and deployed to LANDJUT as part of the AFNORTH force to defend Denmark.
    In addition there were a variety of Armoured Corps, Artillery, AAC, and Engineer units with direct reinforcement roles who deployed with these brigades.


    There is a degree of conflicting evidence both for the organisation of the Brigades and the battalions. This I believe has to do with a number of factors:
    • The production rate and the rate of introduction of the Saxon between 1984 - 1989.
    • The two Orbats that were produced for Mech (Wh) Battalions, which may well have been a function of the production rate. 
    • The re rolling of 24 Bde as an Airmobile Brigade in 1988.
    • The variance between the formation deployment environments:
      • The 1 Brigade UKMF deployment had no parent British division.
      • The 24 Bde deployment with 2nd Infantry Division which was a TA division with a distinctive  Orbat that included 2 Yeomanry Recce Regiments and TA Air Defence assets.  Although A Rapier Regiment was allocated to defence of the Line of communication area.
      • The 19 Bde 4 Division deployment which was in the context of a regular Division.
    • The lack of a Mechanised Division HQ which lead to units being allocated under command of particular Brigades for peace time administration, deployment to theatre and operations.
    • Equipment change such as the withdrawal  of Fox and replacement initially by Scimitar then by Sabre.


    Saxon Unit Conversion

    The production rate of Saxon governed the conversion rate of the brigades.  I have no data in which order units converted but have hypothesised a scenario which illustrates the issues.  An examination of the purchasing production and reorganisation cycle can provide if not the answer then a level of understanding of what may have been going on:

    • Saxon was first produced in 1975 and was purchased by the British Army in 1983. 
    • The Initial order for 47 Vehicles saw first deliveries arrive with Kings Own Royal Border Regiment in 1984. 
    • This was followed by a second order for 247 vehicles that was further extended in 1985 by further 200. 
    • Production was complete in 1989. 

    A total of 447 vehicles were produced in 5 Years, assuming the production rate was fixed then GKN were producing 89 per year. The  total order of 494 vehicles allowed 6 Battalions to be equipped with 64 vehicles with 110 left over for war maintenance Reserve.  This would enable three Brigades to consist of two Mech (Wh) battalions and 1 light role battalion which is one of the Orbats stated for these Brigades. RA Air Defence Battery Command variants were subject to a separate order completed in 1987 as were 100 Saxon Patrol purchased in 1991 for internal security.





    A roll out plan to convert 3 Brigades to 2 Mech (Wh) Bns and 1 Light Bn with units initially converting to the 43 vehicle orbat then to the 64 vehicle orbat given a production rate of 89 vehicles a year could look like this:
    • 1983 Initial Production and delivery 47 Vehicles
    • 1984 
      • 1 Bn converted KORBR 24 Bde.
      •  Bde Orbats 24 Bde 1 Mech Bn, 2 Lt Bn. 19 and 1 Bde 3 Light Bn.
    • 1985 
      • 2 Bn converted (86 vehicles), I assume 19 Bde, (1 STAFFORDS records converting in 1985).
      •  Bde Orbats 24 Bde 1 Mech Bn(43), 2 Lt Bn. 19 Bde, 2 Mech Bn(43), 1 Light Bn and 1 Bde 3 Light Bn.
    • 1986 
      • 2 Bn converted (86 vehicles), I assume 1 Bn 24 Bde, 1 Bn 1 Bde, 
      • Bde Orbats 24 Bde 2 Mech Bn(43), 1 Lt Bn. 19 Bde, 2 Mech Bn(43), 1 Light Bn and 1 Bde 1 Mech Bn(43) 2 Light Bn.
    • 1987 
      • 1 Bn converted 2 upgrade to full fleet (85 vehicles), I assume 1 Bn 1 Bde and 2Bn upgrade 64 vehicles. 19 Bde.
      • Bde Orbats 24 Bde 2 Mech Bn(43), 1 Lt Bn. 19 Bde, 2 Mech Bn(64), 1 Light Bn and 1 Bde 2 Mech Bn(43) 1 Light Bn.
    • 1988 
      • 4 Bn upgrade to full fleet (84 vehicles), 1 Bde and 24 Bde, 
      • Bde Orbats 24 Bde 2 Mech Bn(64), 1 Lt Bn. 19 Bde, 2 Mech Bn(64), 1 Light Bn and 1 Bde 2 Mech Bn(64) 1 Light Bn.
    • 1989
      • War Maintenance Reserve and complete production. 
      • 24 Bde convert to airmobile and pass on a Bn of Saxons to 19 Bde, (1 Bn in 24 Brigade remained Mechanised when they initially converted).
      • Bde Orbats 24 Bde 1 Mech Bn(64), 2 Airmobile Bn. 19 Bde, 3 Mech Bn(64), and 1 Bde 2 Mech Bn(64) 1 Light Bn.



    Once all the 24 Brigade units converted to Airmobile or when the brigade adopted its 2 Infantry Bn, 2 Aviation regiment structure in 1994 then 1 and 19 Brigade could each consist of 3 Mech (Wh) Battalions each. Whilst the order of conversion is not clear the impact of the production rate on Brigade and unit Orbats can be appreciated, different policies for issuing vehicles would produce different patterns.



    against this hypothetical deployment model the following brigade orbats are supported:
    • A 2 Mech Bn 1 Light Bn Bde can be Fielded from 1985
    • A 1 Mech Bn, 2 Light Bn Bde could be fielded from 1984 until 1986.
    • Type A(43) Mech Bns (an invented term) can be fielded from 1984 until 1988
    • Type A(64) Mech Bns (an invented term) can be fielded from 1987
    • A 3 Mech Bn Bde can be fielded from 1989

    In addition to the infantry units that were part of the Infantry Brigade a range of other units would also be included in the Brigades Orbat.  The detail of these is outlined below.

    Armoured Corps

    • The Wimbish Recce Regiment which provided the Formation Recce Regiment for 3rd Armoured Division and later for 4th Armoured Division is shown in a number of sources as under Command 19 Bde (QDG and then 17/21L).
    • The Tidworth Recce Regiment is shown under command UKMF, 1 Bde  less 1Sqn which deployed to AMF(L),  (13/18 Hussars).
    • The Tidworth Armoured Regiment (4RTR then Royal Hussars) shown under command UKMF but allocated routinely to both 1 and 19 Brigade. (HQ + 3 Sqn to 19 Brigade as Type 43, 1 Sqn UKMF to 1 Brigade). Their is  evidence from Exercises that this could be varied (See Below).

    Engineers

    • 3 Engineer Regiments supplied at least a Squadron to each of the brigades whilst their main roles lay else where, these were:
      • 22 Engineer Regiment Tidworth shown under command UKMF, (1Bde)
      • 38 Regiment RE Ripon, 51 Fd Sqn (AM) to 24 Bde, 
      • 39 Regiment RE

    Artillery


    • a Low Level AD Battery, Rapier from 16 AD Regt is shown under command UKMF, which provided area air defence for UK Forces in LANDJUT, I have assumed this was not required by other Brigades as they would come under there parent Division. 
    • 40/45 Regt RA, 26 Regt and 47 Regt variously supported the 3 Bdes all equipped with FH70 155mm towed howitzers. I am assuming that some stage the TAC parties for these regiments received Saxon but have no evidence, other than a general policy of conformance with the supported units vehicle type.
    • An AD Battery, 21 Battery RA shown as under command 24 Brigade, but I believe this probably provided a Troop to each brigade. I am also assuming they were Spartan mounted.
    Aviation


    • 2 AAC Sqns 657 Sqn allocated to (19 Bde) and 656 Sqn (1Bde). with 1 Brigades role as UKMF it seems clear that 656 Squadron would support throughout, whilst 657 Squadrons relationship with 19 Brigade is less clear.
    A Mechanised Brigade Orbit




    If we ignore the Wimbish regiment as it was clearly allocated to divisional Recce and assume that the Tidworth regiment whilst organised with 3 Recce squadrons and a GW squadron might on War have deployed 4 balanced squadrons. Then a Standard Mech Brigade with the infantry component outlined above could be accommodated that would additionally contain:
    • Up to 1 TA Light Role Battalion
    • Up to 3 Armoured Squadron Chieftain and Recce Troop Scorpion, 
    • Up to 2 Armoured Recce Squadrons, usually 1, for 24 Brigade this could potentialy be Yeomanry or Regular.
    • 1 FH 70 Regiment
    • 1 Engineer Field Squadron
    • Up to 1 AAC squadron
    • 1 AD Troop Javelin
    • Up to 1 Rapier Battery
    Equally there was enough stuff for a mechanised Division though I suspect no sensible place to send it hence the 3 Independent Brigades.



    Exercise Task Organisation

    Groupings for exercises can also illuminate the issue:
    • A History of the Royal Hussars indicates that "The Regiment as a whole came under command of HQ United Kingdom Mobile Force and in August 1989 and February 1990, took part in two major exercises, Crimson Rambler I and II, on Salisbury Plain”
    • Lionheart 1984
      • 4RTR at the time was the Tidworth Regiment deployed 2 Squadrons and Recce troop on the exercise having deployed with 19 Bde they were then grouped and regrouped through out the exercise:
        • A Sqn to 19 Bde a B Squadron to 24 Bde
        • Battlegroup to 19 Bde,
        • Battlegroup to 20 Armd brigade
      • 24 Bde was reinforced with a TA Bn and detached from 2. Div which received the Bundeswehr's 53 HS Brigade.
    This demonstrates the flexibility in Brigade and Divisional task organisation, which would be driven by the higher level scenario.


    Many of the photos shown here are from the excellent Military Database site which contains a large number of photographs of NATO exercises in the Cold War and is an excellent resource.

    Other Posts of interest:



    Cold War Gamer, a Post War Gaming Facebook information stream.

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