British Infantry Battalion War Establishment - Korean War

Has anyone ever come across a contemporary reference for the War Establishment Table used by British Infantry Battalions in the Korean War?

The wartime WE, II/233/3, appears to have remained in use into 1948, when a new table, ref II/804/1, was issued. The outline organisation does not appear to have changed much, at least according to the wire diagram in the Jan 1952 pamphlet "The Infantry Battalion in Battle".

Bn HQ
HQ Coy -
Coy HQ
Sig Pl
Admin Pl
Support Coy -
3-in Mortar Pl (six mortars)
MMG Pl (six MMGs, three Wasp eqpts)
Atk Pl (six 17-pdr guns)
Assault Pnr Pl
Four Rifle Coys, each -
Coy HQ
Three Rifle Pls, each three LMGs, one 2-in mortar

The pamphlet does not go into great detail, other than to say the MMG Pl is carrier mounted and has a fourth Section that can be equipped with Wasp flamethrowers if ordered, and give the atk guns as 17-pdrs.

The last WE ref I've seen for the Infantry Bn is II/804/6, from the 1960s, given in the "Rifle Platoon in Battle". That would suggest four further issues between II/804/1 and II/804/6 in the intervening decade or so!

I've always been curious as to whether the Inf Bns in Korea used the 'standard' Home WE, or whether they adopted something specific to the conditions and needs of the theatre after a while. I think they quickly brought in the 3.5-in 'Super Bazooka', after experience with the Soviet era tanks used by the North and the PLA, which went into wider British service in 1953.

Cheers,

Gary

 

Gary,

sorry, don't have II/804/1, as you may have already surmised, but I can refine the formal part:
A.C.I. 209 of 1949, 09.03.1949, cancelled II/233/3 with effect from 16.02.1949, without any successor.

Found instead II/804/2 (LE) - An Infantry Battalion, superseding II/804/1 (LE) - An Infantry Battalion, in A.C.I. 279 of 1949, 30.03.1949. Suppose you have the A.C.I. for II/804/1 (LE) already, otherwise let me know.

Wolfgang

 

Appendix H of Volume 1 of the Official History, dated 8 August 1950, gives WE II/804/2:

38 Officers and 945 Ors and 1st Rfts of 9 Officers and 176 ORs, but there is no further breakdown.

There is a column headed AF G1098 (that I don't understand).

The entry for the three infantry battalions here is: 5004/3(Mod): Incl 12 Ors per battalion due to additional 17pds (Anti-Tank Guns)

 

Had to look up the (LE) suffix as it isn't in my focus and had forgotten the details. Just in case it is not totally clear:
A.C.I. 635 of 1947, 06.08.1947, abolishes the titles "War Establishment" and "Peace Establishment", replacing them with "Higher Establishment" and "Lower Establishment" respectively. For establishments remaining unchanged both in respect of numbers of personnel and organization, the title will be "Establishment". For establishments dealing with a special task, the title will be "Special Establishment". Accordingly, the suffixes (LE) and (S) were introduced.

 

Army Form G1098 are the war equipment tables, at least during wartime. Most probably, the term "war" had already been cancelled at the time of the Korean War.

 

Thanks very much for that, so that does validate the WE ref and show that /1 had been superseded by 1950 at least. AFG1098 is, as described above, the equipment table, issued in tandem with the WE. The increment of 12 ORs might indicate the Bn could be issued with 6-pdrs or 17-pdrs, and if the latter were used then they would require additional gun numbers.

Gary

 

Thanks as always for the ACI background.

Years back, I did get copies of the index pages for the WEs for the first half of 1948 from TNA. They introduced a new series of ref numbers, which process had begun in 1947, and did away with the WW2 era ones I know. Many of the 1948 WE Tables are also suffixed as (LE), but none as (HE) in the first six months of that year. Only one was suffixed as (S), this being the aforementioned II/804/1 (S), and there is also a II/804/1 (LE) as well. The Motor Battalion is just shown as II/804/2 (LE). Certain tables appear to have two issues, one being (LE), and others have just one entry. I had assumed back then that LE meant Lower Establishment, and I think when I got the copies I interpreted that as the units involved being put on a much reduced scale of personnel and transport, with the intent being to increase them in time of war.

It always felt like 1948-49 represented the last hurrah of the old wartime organisations, possibly incorporating the 'lessons learned' from the campaigns of 1943-45 in particular, and still being largely equipped with the same small arms, armour, artillery and vehicles. I never followed up on getting copies of the post-war WEs, as it seemed as though the 1948 issues put pretty much all units on the LE level, so I don't know if that was borne out by the documents.

Gary

 

Gary,

sent you two mails.

Wolfgang

 

I am but a paddler in these waters, but I'd suggest that the numerous War Office pamplets issued across the 46-51 period bear out your thesis. Those I have seem very much to codify what was seen as the best of wartime practice and regularise it.

Some of it is very clearly 'Monty's voice' speaking.

 

Yes, something I think you also see in immediate post-war US publications, with the successful conclusion of the war against Germany and Japan being taken to vindicate the basic organisations and tactics, and looking for incremental improvements to these rather than completely rewriting them. Also tempered by the fact that while new kit was coming in a lot of projects were being cancelled meaning wartime equipment did literally soldier on into Korea and a ways beyond.

Also need to correct my above on the Motor Bn; it was issued as II/803/1 (LE) in mid 1948, and then again as II/803/1 the following quarter (thank you Wolfgang!). It does appear that post-war they reverted the Motor Bn to four Motor Coys, each with a smaller Scout Pl, three Motor Pls and two 3-in mortars, and deleted Support Coy. That was something discussed in several conferences of 1944-46. The Armd Bde was also increased to four Armd Regts, seemingly with both an Armd Car Regt and a Divl Regt, RAC, and an Inf Bde of four Bns, lorried, which allowed the pairing on Armd Regts and Inf Bns utilised in 1944-45 to be continued. None of this is relevant to my original post of course but it is a subject I can get easily diverted on.

Gary

 

I've been able to get a copy of the post-war WE for the Infantry Battalion (Higher Establishment), ref II/804/2, notified in ACIs 9th November 1949, effective 30th September 1949. In case it's of interest to anyone else, the basic details and structure are below. Thankfully the figures do match with those dug out by CF in the above responses (less the Anti-tank Platoon increment).

Personnel -

Battalion Headquarters - 6 officers, 69 other ranks

Headquarter Company - 5 officers, 151 other ranks

Company HQ - 1 officer, 6 ORs
Signal Platoon - 2 officers, 54 ORs
Administrative Platoon - 2 officers, 91 ORs

Support Company - 7 officers, 185 other ranks

Company HQ - 1 officer, 8 ORs
Mortar Platoon - 2 officers, 43 ORs
Carrier Platoon - 2 officers, 55 ORs
Anti-tank Platoon - 1 officer, 40 ORs
Assault Pioneer Platoon - 1 officer, 39 ORs

Four Rifle Companies, each - 5 officers, 132 other ranks

Company HQ - 2 officers, 15 ORs
Three Rifle Platoons, each - 1 officer, 39 ORs

Total, including attached - 38 officers, 933 other ranks, 971 all ranks (assumed to be 983 with an increment for 17-pdr anti-tank guns)

First Reinforcements -

9 officers, 176 other ranks

Transport -

Bicycles - 7
Motorcycles - 19
Car, heavy utility - 1
Cars, 5-cwt - 21
Trucks, 15-cwt, GS - 20
Armoured ambulance - 1
Trucks, 15-cwt, water - 2
Lorries, 3-ton, GS - 21
Lorry, 3-ton, office - 1
Lorry, 3-ton, winch - 1
Scout car - 1
Universal carriers - 33
Carriers, 3-in mortar - 7

Weapons -

LMGs - 70
MMGs - 6
2-inch mortar - 25
3-inch mortar - 6
PIATs - 24
Guns, 6-pdr - 6

Points of interest in the developments since 1945 (with most incorporated into the 1948 Infantry Battalion WE, backdated to 1947) include:

Rifle Platoon increased by 3 men, with Rifle Section now 11. Otherwise Rifle Platoon remained unchanged (though the orderly lost his bicycle).

Rifle Company HQ adds a second Universal carrier. HQ retains 3 PIATs for allocation as required and a 2-inch mortar, and now has 2 LMGs.

The 3-inch Mortar Platoon loses two 15-cwt trucks and adds a 3-ton lorry. Still has six Detachments, each complete in a carrier, with one more for the Platoon commander. Three Detachments each have an LMG and three each a PIAT. A Subaltern is added to Platoon HQ.

The Carrier Platoon still has 13 carriers, with one at HQ and four Sections, each of three carriers. Sections 1 to 3 are now MMG, each with a commander's carrier (LMG and PIAT) and two MMG carriers (each one Vickers, and one also a 2-inch mortar). No.4 Section is now Wasp, (commander's vehicle with LMG and PIAT and two vehicles each Wasp equipment and LMG).

The Anti-tank Platoon now six Detachments (increased from four in the superseded 1948 WE), each of a 6-pdr and a Universal carrier, with an LMG and 2-inch mortar per carrier. There's no note re the possible rearming of the Platoon with 17-pdr guns at this point. There is a diagram in the pamphlet for the 1950 Armoured Divisional Signal Regiment that indicates the Battalion's Anti-tank Detachments had 4x4 White scout cars, which could indicate the 17-pdr, though the preferred towing vehicle was found to be the halftrack. The "Infantry Battalion in Battle" of January 1952 refers to six 17-pdrs but makes no mention of towing vehicle type.

The Assault Pioneer Platoon now has three Assault Sections, each 11 strong and provided with a Universal carrier with LMG. The tradesmen pioneer personnel are now in the Admin Platoon.

The Signal Platoon now has two carriers, one for forward control (basically taking over the function of the old No.18 set fitted in the Battalion HQ carrier) and one for cable laying.

Battalion HQ has a lot more transport, with a half dozen Jeeps, one truck and three lorries, and a White in the ambulance role (which was a late 1945 amendment).

Wireless sets are now given throughout as the No.88 and the No.31, which was also the case with the 1948 WE for the Infantry Battalion.

For those familiar with the actions of the Korean War period, I'm not sure whether the above tallies with any descriptions of the Infantry Battalions involved. The Battalion organisation is definitely an evolution of that from 1945 (via a 1948 WE which had four 6-pdrs, no MMGs and three small Assault Sections in the Assault Pioneer Platoon plus a tradesmen Pioneer Section).

My understanding is that an Anti-tank Regiment was still a part of the Infantry Division until early 1950, after which time they began to be disbanded. My guess is that the increment of 12 men (2 per gun) was added to the Battalion via an amendment, which sadly I doubt can be found anywhere. Similarly, the appearance of MMGs in the Carrier Platoon (not seen in the 1948 WE) was a consequence of the disbandment of the MG Battalions. Ironically, I think the 4.2-inch mortars were then to go to the Anti-tank Regiments, however as noted they popped off shortly afterwards themselves. I've no clear idea of which units took on the 4.2-inch after that in the 1950 Infantry Division.

Gary

 

I post this 'as is' with no knowledge of whether it directly helps or whether something might be squeezed from it.




Extracted From:
WO 268/265 - HQ Royal Artillery 1949 Jun-Dec



Extracted From:
WO 268/266 - HQ Royal Artillery 1950 Jan-Mar

 

Also, from the War Office to FARELF 6/7/49:



Extracted from:
WO 32/15525 - Hong Kong - Size and Shape of Garrison 1949-53

 

Thanks very much for digging those pages out. Every now and again it's satisfying to see another source actually confirm some figures from a WE Table! In this case, the total of 6 officers and 144 ORs does tally with the Lower Establishment version of II/666/1 for a Composite Anti-tank Battery (two Tps towed and one Tp SP 17-pdr) of 05 Apr 1948. The vehicles are almost all in agreement as well, though on review I think the figures for 15-cwt fitted for wireless is transposed in the above summary, with 2 on the Atk Bty WE versus 6 required for the 4.2-in Mortar org.

I also found a few pages at the below site on 61 Light Regiment, RA, formed for service in Korea and seemingly equipped with the 4.2-inch mortar.

Parnell - Addendum A - 61st Light Regiment Royal Artillery - Gunner Flann

The only reference I've found to the Anti-tank Regiment using 4.2-inch mortars is from the 1950s pamphlet on the Infantry Divisional Signal Regiment, which has a single diagram showing the Anti-tank Regiment re-armed as such.

Gary