[GZG] [DS] A real world battlegroup

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Gzg-l mailing list
Gzg-l@lists.csua.berkeley.edu
http://lists.csua.berkeley.edu/mailman/listinfo/gzg-lI have just been
reading "Dusty Warriors" by Richard Holmes which describes the actions of 1st
Battaltion Princess Of Wales Royal Regiment in Al Amarah in 2004. One aspect
that might be interesting to the dirtside players on the list is the
difference between their theoretical Table of Organistion and Equipment and
the one they actually fought with.

1 PWRR is an armoured role infantry battalion so their theoretical TO&E is
something like this:

Headquarters

Signals Platoon Light Aid Detachment Intelligence Platoon Medical Section

3 armoured infantry companies (A, B and C) each with:

2 warriors (command variant) 2 warriors (for the REME section) 3 FV432 tracked
APCs (1 for the REME, 1 for the CSM, 1 as an ambulance) 3 platoons each of 4
warriors

A support company (Y) with:

6x81mm mortar 6 MILAN firing posts Reconnaissance platoon (8 Sabre CVR(T))
Sniper platoon

When the battalion deployed to Iraq;the following changes were made:

* A Company was detached as the brigade reserve.

* B Company was detached to another battlegroup.

* A company of 1st Royal Welch Fusiliers was attached equipped with 13 Saxon
wheeled APCs.

* A squadron of the Queen's Royal Lancers was attached equipped with 14
Challenger 2 MBTs.

* 1 platoon of the Lowland Regiment attached to Y Company equipped with
armoured land rovers.

* K battery Royal Horse Artillery (mortar location radar) was attached.

For those of you who are not familiar with current British army equipment a
Warrior is a tracked infantry fighting vehicle with a 30mm cannon and a 7.62mm
coax MG. Each Warrior has a driver, a gunner, a commander and 7 infantry
dismounts. A Sabre is effectively a tracked armoured car "Combat Vehicle
Reconnaisance (Tracked)" with a 30mm cannon and a 7.62mm coax MG. An FV432 is
effectively a box on tracks similar to an M113. Challenger 2 is the current
main British Army tank equipped with a 120mm gun. A Saxon is a wheeled APC
with enough armour to keep out splinters based on truck parts.

All of which shows that you can justify just about any combination of kit and
call it a mission tailored battle group although I find that I like to have
some basic idea of the kind of resources the base of the battle group has as
well as what the next level up can provide as support.

Of course this is a pretty asymetrical conflict with the opposition equipped
basically as light infantry with RPGs, AKs and Mortars, on the
other hand one of the C Company Warrior drivers was Johnson Beharry -
who got the VC.

_______________________________________________
Gzg-l mailing list
Gzg-l@lists.csua.berkeley.edu
http://lists.csua.berkeley.edu/mailman/listinfo/gzg-l>I have just been
reading "Dusty Warriors" by Richard Holmes which
> describes the actions of 1st Battaltion Princess Of Wales Royal

The Iraqis were firing exploding truck parts....??!?
(Just had to get that one in before anyone else did.....)   ;-)

Seriously, very useful stuff - thanks Chris!

Jon (GZG)

> All of which shows that you can justify just about any combination

> The Iraqis were firing exploding truck parts....??!?(Just had to >get

There's a long history of that, Jon. Back when the Assyrians went to war in
chariots, they were noted for using battle axles.

> Jon T. wrote:

> A Saxon is a wheeled APC with enough armour to keep out splinters

Of course they were. There have been quite a few reports of car bombs in

Iraq recently, after all... :-/

Apparently one of the Challengers engaged a gunman with a main gun practice
round, so that probably counts as thowing stones!

[quoted original message omitted]

> Christopher Downes-Ward wrote:

> the dirtside players on the list is the difference between their

> cannon and a 7.62mm coax MG. Each Warrior has a driver, a gunner, a

> equipped with a 120mm gun. A Saxon is a wheeled APC with enough armour

> to keep out splinters based on truck parts.

> like to have some basic idea of the kind of resources the base of the
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> _______________________________________________

So it's interesting trying to figure out what the TO&E was at the time. You do
print and web research and then go to discussion groups and ask a

few questions. What you find is that units rotated back home all the time,
units were being refurbished, etc. Some were skeleton units in cadre form that
would be backfilled with units from UK if war started. In the event of war,
battlegroups would be formed with whatever was available to meet the threat.
With many NATO forces, including the BAOR stationed well behind the front, the
initial engagement would begin with

whatever survived the initial air attack and could get to the front quickly.

It's kind of amusing to read the GHQ forums with certain people bitching

about how a WW2 Panzer Battalion had a TO&E of 16 tanks and how hard it is to
get to that point when GHQ sells their vehicles 5 to a pack. Other

people point out that number is not only purely theoretical but depending on
battle losses and replacements, the actual number could easily vary from 9 to
22.