OK, I have long hesitated to post about this, but here goes. For a long time, I have been designing a notional WWII Allied army. I'm not a wargamer or anything, but I am a nut on the subject of TOEs (WEs to you) and OOBs. I haven't worked on this very systematically, but I find it fun and I think it is also instructive. I try to stick to some semblance of WWII reality and the whole exercise gives me some idea of what real armies and real planners must have gone through. I am just offering this as an amusement which people are free to comment on. Now, on to the basics. My state--which for now is 'F"--is not defined very closely yet but it is aligned with the western Allies and particularly Britain. Organization and equipment of the army is based on the British model, but there are many differences and some of these are quite significant. The army has a three or four-line structure with regular, reserve, militia, and home guard forces. F has a pretty good if imitative war industry, so it is not entirely dependent on outside supply. As in reality, I do try to allow for some time lag when getting things into service. I have not done much on F army's doctrine and tactics, but so far F seems to be very fond of both artillery and machine guns.There is a tendency to overload the establishments out of a desire to have something of everything, and F units and formations are thus larger than those of other nations. Some trimming will be needed, but I find that difficult. I have done the most work on mid to late war, particularly on the infantry and armored divisions and the infantry battalion. Early war is a lot harder because there is a serious shortage of good worthwhile types in certain categories, particularly tanks and armored cars. Here, anyway, is an organigramme of the 1940 infantry division. Note that it retains the four battalion brigade of 1914-1917. The division is fully motorized. INFANTRY: 3 x Infantry Brigade, each 4 x Infantry Bn MG Bn HQ Defence Coy (platoons allotted to div and bde HQs) ARTILLERY: 1 x Field Arty Bde (HQ) with 3 x Field Regt, 1 x Lt Field Regt in close support role (3 x howitzer btys allotted to inf bdes for cs), 1 x Medium Regt, 1 x LAA Regt, 1 x Anti-Tank Regt, 1 x Hy Mortar Bty RECCE & ARMOR: 1 x Recce Unit (includes armd car, light tank, and motor inf squadrons) [1 x Tank Bn--this is supposed to be there in 1940 but isn't yet because there aren't enough tanks] ENGINEERS: 1 x Engineer Gp (HQ) with 1 x Engineer Bn (includes bridging platoon) 1 x Pioneer Bn (doubles as infantry) SERVICES: 1 x Service Gp (HQ) with 1 x Signals Regt 1 x Medical Regt (includes mobile bath) 1 x Service Corps Unit (includes reserve transport) 1 x Ordnance Unit 1 x Electrical and Mechanical Unit 1 x Military Police Company 1 x Divisional Reinforcement & Training Unit That's it for now, comments are very welcome. I will have some details on equipment in the next post.
OK, on to early war equipment, infantry weapons first. RIFLES: The SMLE (Mk III/III*) is standard, in production, and available in sufficient quantity. There are also some Mk Vs, which F likes better than the British Army did. The P14 is standard as a sniper rifle (with scope). It also used without a scope by section sharpshooters and is widely issued to non-infantry units, services, etc. SMGS: The Thompson (M1928 and M1928A1 types) is the standard, issued on a scale of one per section and also to platoon and company commanders. Some other types obtained by purchase may be used by third and fourth line units until sufficient Thompsons are available from domestic production. These guns (Steyr-Solothurn, Suomi, maybe MP28 and EMP 35) are all in 9mm. PISTOLS: A wide variety of types are in service or reserve, including many oddities obtained during the Great War, but there is some attempt to rationalize them. Revolvers are most common but F is interested in automatics too and the Colt M1911 is front line standard in either .45 ACP or .455 British automatic. The M1911 is issued to some officers, but most carry .455 revolvers. The Mark VI is the preferred first line type, with Colt New Service and S&W .455s going to second and third line divisions. Other ranks are issued .380 revolvers (Enfield No. 2 or Webley Mk IV, later also S&W Military and Police and Colt Official Police). SHOTGUNS: The US Winchester M1897 trench model with bayonet is standard. It is used primarily as a guard weapon by MPs and regimental police, but may be issued to pioneers for assault work. LMGS: Each F infantry section has two light automatics, one being intended to provide covering fire while the other moves with the assault element. (Yes, I know this idea has some flaws, but that's what they're doing) The LMG equipment situation, though, is very confused. F had been looking for a satisfactory replacement for the mix of Lewis and light Hotchkiss and in the early 30s they purchased the Madsen as a stopgap and then opted for the Vickers-Berthier as standard. Hardly had this been decided when Britain adopted the Bren, and after some agonizing it was decided to adopt the Bren in the interests of commonality. The FM24/29 is also made under contract for the French and that too gets thrown into the pot, especially for divisions intended for deployment to France. So you have first line and some second line divisions with a mix of Brens and FM24/29s, and third line and some second line divisions with VBs and Madsens. The Lewis is also retained for a variety of roles. F troops like it for its high magazine capacity and it makes a better AA weapon than the Bren, so each infantry platoon has one to give a reserve of extra firepower. MMGS: The Vickers is standard and available in sufficient quantity. It equips the divisional MG battalions and each infantry battalion also has a Vickers platoon in the support company. The support platoons of infantry rifle companies also have a pair of air-cooled MMGs, either the Browning Mk II series or the older Vickers Mk V, both of course being aircraft guns adapted for ground use. HMGS: Each infantry battalion support company has a section of two Vickers .5 Mark V guns in the MG platoon for long-range work and the divisional MG battalion has a platoon of four such guns in each company. The Hotchkiss M1930 is used as a light AA weapon. Each artillery regiment has a section of these guns for local protection and they may also be used in the light AA regiment. MORTARS: Each infantry platoon has an SMLE EY for grenade launching. The platoon is also supposed to have a 2-inch mortar, but not all have gotten it yet. The support platoon of the infantry rifle company has a section of two or three Hotchkiss-Brandt M1935 60mm mortars. The battalion level weapons are either the British 3-inch or the French 81mm Mle 27/31. F has adopted the French Mle 1936 120mm heavy mortar, but so far only enough have been made to equip a 12 or 16 tube battery in each division. ANTITANK WEAPONS: The Boys rifle (one per platoon and extras in the support platoon) and anti-tank rifle and hand grenades.
Early war artillery next. This is rather complicated and unsettled right now. FIELD GUNS: The standard first line field regiment has 24 x 25-pdr Mark I (18/25 pdr) in. three 8 gun batteries; when the 25-pdr Mk II comes on the line the Mk I is passed to second and third line divisions. Until that happens, the field regiments of those divisions have 18 x 18-pdr Mk IV or Mk V and 6 x 105mm Schneider M1913 guns for a total of 24 pieces, all in six-gun batteries. Each division also has a fourth field regiment for close support. This unit has 24 pieces in three eight-gun batteries. Each such battery has four howitzers and four field guns, the howitzers being 4.5" Mk II or 3.7" Mk I and the guns either 18-pdr Mk II or 75mm M1897. All pieces are fitted for motor traction. MEDIUM GUNS: Each division has an organic medium regiment. This unit has 8 x 6 inch howitzers and 8 x 60-pdr guns. The latter are Mk II in first line and some second line divisions, Mk I in other divisions. The 4.5" Mk I medium gun is just becoming available; it is allotted to some corps medium regiments, others having the usual mix of 60 pdr and 6 inch howitzer. Some of those regiments also have the 155mm Schneider M1917 howitzer, which has a slightly longer range than the 6 inch howitzer. HEAVY GUNS: There are few surprises here. The standard heavy field gun is the 6-inch Mk 19, but some regiments are starting to get the French 155mm M1917 GPF-T (Touzard carriage). The older 6-inch Mark 7 is used by some third line regiments. Third line and some second line regiments have the 8-inch Mk VI howitzer, first line and some second the Mk VII/VIII. SUPER-HEAVY AND RAILWAY GUNS: Pretty standard: 9.2 Inch Mk II how, 12 inch Mk IV how, 9.2 inch Mk 13 railway gun, 12 inch Mk V railway how., etc. ANTI-TANK GUNS: F is well aware that the Germans rely on their panzer force, so they place a strong emphasis on anti-tank defense. Each infantry battalion has an anti-tank platoon with the 37mm M35 Bofors. This gun is light enough to be handled by infantry and can also fire an HE shell. The 2-pdr is the main weapon of the anti-tank regiments. F ordnance is not too fond of this weapon because the carriage is complicated and heavy and because the gun lacks an HE round. Accordingly, each battery of the anti-tank regiment also has a four-gun troop with the French M37 47mm, which is hard-hitting and can also fire HE. The 75mm M1897 and 18-pdr Mk II in the divisional close support regiment can also be used against armor. AA GUNS: I have not done much on this, but the 3.7-inch is the standard heavy gun and of course there aren't enough of them yet. The 3-inch 20 cwt is used by second line and third line regiments, and some first and second line units have the Vickers 75mm M1931, a reasonably modern weapon. The Bofors 40mm is the standard LAA gun and supply is adequate. The 13.2mm Hotchkiss M1930 HMG is bottom of the LAA tree, at least until the Oerlikon shows up on a field carriage. MOUNTAIN GUNS: The 3.7 inch how is standard and so is the Schneider M1906 65mm gun, the latter being especially common in third line and colonial batteries. Some older 10-pdr QF guns and 75mm Vickers howitzers are in reserve and in the colonies. COASTAL GUNS: Too muddled to describe right now, more work needed.
