Organisation British Army during the Second World War

1 organisation

1.1 infantry division
1.2 armoured division
1.3 artillery
1.4 special forces
1.5 auxiliary territorial service
1.6 home guard

organisation

left right bernard montgomery, archibald wavell , claude auchinleck rose prominence during war, pictured here in june 1946.

prior war, british army small professional army, designed able win quick victories using superior mobility , using technology in place of manpower. nevertheless, effectiveness hampered doctrine of casualty avoidance, measure adopted due high losses sustained in first world war (1914–1918). army knew british society, , soldiers themselves, never again allow them recklessly throw away lives. there conservative tendency consolidate gains made on battlefield instead of aggressively exploiting successes. structure of british army had been organized in such way sacrificed firepower mobility , removed commanders fire support weapons needed advance on battlefield.

the british army had analysed lessons of first world war , adopted them inter-war doctrine, @ same time trying predict how advances in weapons , technology might affect future war. developments constrained treasury. in 1919, ten year rule introduced, stipulated british armed forces should draft estimates on assumption british empire not engaged in great war during next ten years . in 1928, winston churchill, chancellor of exchequer, , later become prime minister, urged british government make rule self-perpetuating , hence in force unless countermanded.

in 1920s, , of 1930s, general staff tried establish small mechanized professional army, using experimental mechanized force prototype. however, lack of identified threat, army s main function garrison british empire. during time, army suffered lack of funding. royal navy, being first line of defence, received major proportion of defence budget. second priority creation of bomber force royal air force (raf) retaliate against expected attacks on british cities. development of radar in 1935, had ability track enemy aircraft, resulted in additional funding being provided raf build fighter aircraft force. army s shortage of funds, , no requirement large armoured forces police empire, reflected in fact no large scale armoured formations formed until 1938. @ outbreak of second world war, 2 armoured divisions (the 1st , 7th) had been formed, in comparison 7 armoured divisions of german army.

in september 1939, british army had total of 892,697 officers , men in both full-time regular army , part-time territorial army (ta). regular army muster 224,000 men, supported reserve of 173,700 men. of regular army reservists, 3,700 men trained , remainder had been in civilian life 13 years. in april 1939, additional 34,500 men had been conscripted regular army , had completed basic training on eve of war. regular army built around 30 cavalry or armoured regiments , 140 infantry battalions. territorial army numbered 438,100, reserve of around 20,750 men. force comprised 29 yeomanry regiments (eight of still mechanized), 12 tank , 232 infantry battalions.

conscription introduced in 1939 meet threat of nazi germany, military training act 1939. act required men aged 20 , 21 take 6 months military training. on outbreak of war on 3 september 1939, national service (armed forces) act 1939 rushed through parliament. extended liability military service fit men between 20–23. age group increased war continued, applying fit men between ages of 18–41.

by end of 1939, british army s strength had risen 1.1 million men, june 1940 stood @ 1.65 million men, , had further increased 2.2 million men following june. size of british army peaked in june 1945, @ under 3 million men. end of second world war , final demobilisations in 1946, on 3.5 million men had served in british army.

in 1944, united kingdom facing severe manpower shortages. may 1944, estimated british army s strength in december 1944 100,000 less @ end of 1943. although casualties in normandy campaign, british army s main effort of 1944 was, lower anticipated, losses causes still higher replaced. 2 infantry divisions , brigade (59th , 50th divisions , 70th brigade) disbanded provide replacements other british divisions in 21st army group , men being called army trained infantrymen. furthermore, 35,000 men raf regiment , royal artillery transferred infantry , retrained rifle infantrymen, majority of combat casualties fell. in addition, in eighth army fighting in italian campaign of mediterranean theatre several units, infantry, disbanded provide replacements, including 1st armoured division , several other smaller units, such 168th brigade, had reduced cadre, , several other units had amalgamated, such happened 2nd , 6th battalions of royal inniskilling fusiliers, merged in august 1944. furthermore, infantry battalions in italy had reduced 4 3 rifle companies.

the pre-war army had allowed recruits assigned corps of wishes. led men being allocated wrong or unsuitable corps. secretary of state war, leslie hore-belisha attempted address these problems, , wider problems of british army. process of allocating men remain ad hoc @ start of war. army without quotas of men required skilled professions , trades, modern warfare demanded. british army being least popular service compared royal navy , raf, higher proportion of army recruits said dull , backwards.

the following memorandum executive committee of army council highlighted growing concern.

british army wasting manpower in war badly did in last war. man posted corps entirely on demand of moment , without effort @ personal selection proper tests.

only creation of beveridge committee in 1941, , subsequent findings in 1942, situation of skilled men not being assigned correctly addressed. findings led directly creation of general service corps, , remain in place long after war.

infantry division

during war, british army raised 43 infantry divisions. not of these existed @ same time, , several formed purely training or administrative formations. ten divisions raised regular army, eleven first-line territorial army , twelve second-line territorial army. 5 others created during war.

infantry division structure.

the 1939 infantry division had theoretical establishment of 13,863 men. 1944, strength had risen 18,347 men. increase in manpower resulted increased establishment of division s subunits , formations; except specialist supporting services, overall structure remained substantially same throughout war. 1944 division typically made of 3 infantry brigades; medium machine gun (mmg) battalion (with 36 vickers machine guns, in 3 companies, , 1 company of 16 4.2-inch mortars); reconnaissance regiment; divisional artillery group, consisted of 3 motorised field artillery regiments each twenty-four 25-pounder guns, anti-tank regiment forty-eight anti-tank guns , light anti-aircraft regiment fifty-four bofors 40 mm guns; 3 field companies , 1 field park company of royal engineers; 3 transport companies of royal army service corps; ordnance field park company of royal army ordnance corps; 3 field ambulances of royal army medical corps, signals unit of royal corps of signals; , provost company of royal military police. during war, royal electrical , mechanical engineers formed take on responsibility of recovering , repairing vehicles , other equipment. division had 3 workshop companies, , recovery company reme.

there few variations on standard establishment – example, 52nd (lowland) infantry division converted mountain division, lighter equipment , transport. other differences result of local exigencies. (a lower establishment existed divisions stationed in britain or inactive theatres, not intended take part in active operations.)

with cavalry , armoured regiments committed armoured formations in part of war, there no units left divisional reconnaissance, reconnaissance corps formed in january 1941. ten infantry battalions reformed reconnaissance battalions. reconnaissance corps merged royal armoured corps in 1944.

the infantry brigade typically had hq company , 3 infantry battalions. fire support provided allocation of mmg company, anti tank battery, royal engineer company and/or field artillery regiment required. brigade groups, operated independently, had royal engineer, royal army service corps, royal army medical corps , royal electrical , mechanical engineers units permanently assigned. brigade groups formed on ad-hoc basis , given whatever resources needed complete objective. however, intended before war division lowest formation @ support (particularly artillery fire) concentrated , coordinated. lieutenant general montgomery reimposed , reinforced principle when assumed command of eighth army in north africa in 1942, halting tendency split divisions uncoordinated brigades , penny packets .

the infantry battalion consisted of battalion headquarters (hq), hq company (signals , administration platoons), 4 rifle companies (hq , 3 rifle platoons), support company carrier platoon, mortar platoon, anti tank platoon , pioneer platoon. rifle platoon had hq, included 2-inch mortar , anti tank weapon team, , 3 rifle sections, each containing 7 riflemen , three-man bren gun team.

armoured division


armoured division structure 1940.

at start of war, british army possessed 2 armoured divisions: mobile division, formed in britain in october 1937, , mobile division (egypt), formed in autumn of 1938 following munich crisis, these 2 divisions later redesignated 1st armoured division, in april 1939, , 7th armoured division, in january 1940, respectively.

during war, army raised further 9 armoured divisions, of training formations , saw no action. 3 formed first-line territorial or yeomanry units. 6 more raised various sources. infantry divisions, not existed @ same time, several armoured divisions disbanded or reduced skeleton establishments during course of war, result of battle casualties or provide reinforcements bring other formations full strength.

the structure of british armoured divisions changed several times before , during war. in 1937, mobile division had 2 cavalry brigades each 3 light tank regiments, tank brigade 3 medium tank regiments, , pivot group (later called support group ) containing 2 motorised infantry battalions , 2 artillery regiments. mobile division (egypt) had light armoured brigade, cavalry brigade, heavy armoured group of 2 regiments , pivot group.

by 1939, intention armoured division consist of 2 armoured brigades, support group , divisional troops. armoured brigades each composed of 3 armoured regiments mixture of light , medium tanks, total complement of 220 tanks, while support group composed of 2 motorised infantry battalions, 2 field artillery regiments, 1 anti–tank regiment , 1 light anti–aircraft regiment.

valentine tank in desert, carrying infantry section.

in late 1940, following campaign in france , belgium in spring, realised there insufficient infantry , support units, , mixing light , cruiser tanks in same brigade had been mistake. armoured divisions organisation changed each armoured brigade incorporated motorised infantry battalion, , third battalion present within support group.

in winter of 1940–41, new armoured regiments formed converting remaining mounted cavalry , yeomanry regiments. year later, 33 infantry battalions converted armoured regiments. second battle of el alamein, in late 1942, british army had realised entire infantry brigade needed within each division, until mid 1944, idea armoured , motorised infantry brigades should fight separate albeit coordinated battles persisted. battle of normandy in 1944, divisions consisted of armoured brigade of 3 armoured regiments , motorised infantry battalion, , infantry brigade containing 3 motorised infantry battalions. division s support troops included armoured car regiment, armoured reconnaissance regiment, 2 field artillery regiments (one of equipped 24 sexton self-propelled 25-pounder guns), 1 anti–tank regiment (with 1 or more batteries equipped archer or achilles tank destroyers in place of towed anti–tank guns) , 1 light anti–aircraft regiment, usual assortment of engineers, mechanics, signals, transport, medical, , other support services.

the armoured reconnaissance regiment equipped medium tanks, bringing armoured divisions strength of 246 medium tanks (roughly 340 tanks in total) , end of battle of normandy divisions started operate 2 brigade groups, each of 2 combined arms teams, each in turn of 1 tank regiment , 1 infantry battalion (the armoured reconnaissance regiment matched armoured brigade s motor battalion provide fourth group).

armoured division structure 1944.

in 1944, division s armoured regiments comprised 78 tanks. regimental headquarters equipped 4 medium tanks, anti–aircraft troop 8 crusader anti–aircraft tanks, , regiment s reconnaissance troop eleven stuart tanks. each regiment had 3 sabre squadrons; comprising 4 troops each of 4 tanks, , squadron headquarters of 3 tanks. sabre squadrons contained 3 close support tanks, 12 medium tanks, , 4 sherman fireflys. additionally, 18 tanks allocated armoured brigade s headquarters , further ten division s headquarters.

artillery

25-pounders firing in support of guards armoured division september 1944

the royal artillery large corps, responsible provision of field, medium, heavy, mountain, anti-tank , anti-aircraft units. (some field regiments, particularly self-propelled regiments in later part of war, belonged prestigious royal horse artillery, organised of ra.)

the main field artillery weapon throughout war 25-pounder, range of 13,400 yards (12,300 m) mk ii model, employed in direct fire role effective anti–tank weapon until 6-pounder anti–tank gun became available. 1 shortcoming of using 25-pounder in role effectiveness above 1,200 yards (1,100 m) limited , deprived army of indirect fire support. 78 25-pounders had been delivered when war began, old 18-pounders, many of had been converted using 25-pounder ammunition 18/25-pounders, employed.

each field artillery regiment organised 2 batteries, each of 2 troops of 6 guns. changed late in 1940 3 batteries each of 8 guns. perhaps important element of battery forward observation officer (foo), directed fire. unlike armies of period, in artillery observers request fire support, british army foo (who supposedly captain subaltern) demand it, not merely own battery, full regiment, or entire field artillery of division if required. artillery s organisation became flexible , effective @ rapidly providing , switching fire.

the medium artillery relied on world war vintage guns until arrival, in 1941, of 4.5-inch medium gun, had range of 20,500 yards (18,700 m) 55 pounds (25 kg) shell. followed in 1942 5.5-inch medium gun, had range of 18,600 yards (17,000 m) 80 pounds (36 kg) shell. heavy artillery equipped 7.2-inch howitzer, modified first world war weapon nevertheless remained effective. during war, brigade–sized formations of artillery, referred army group royal artillery (agra), formed. these allowed control of medium , heavy artillery centralised. each agra allocated provide support corps, assigned needed army hq.

although infantry units each had anti-tank platoon, divisions had royal artillery anti-tank regiment. had 4 batteries, each of twelve guns. @ start of war, equipped 2-pounder. although perhaps effective weapon of type @ time, became obsolete tanks became heavier thicker armour. replacement, 6-pounder, nevertheless did not enter service until 1942. before 6-pounder introduced, felt heavier weapons needed, 17-pounder designed, first seeing service in north african campaign in late 1942.

each division had light anti-aircraft regiment. initially, batteries organised in troops of 4 guns, combat experience showed three-gun troop effective, shooting in triangular formation, batteries reorganised 4 troops of 3 guns. troops subsequently increased in size 6 guns, regiment had 3 batteries each eighteen bofors 40 mm guns. equipment , organisation remained unchanged throughout war.

the royal artillery formed twelve anti–aircraft divisions, equipped heavier weapons. these 3-inch , 3.7-inch anti–aircraft guns, 4.5-inch , 5.25-inch guns convenient. these divisions organised anti-aircraft command, commanded throughout war lieutenant-general sir frederick alfred pile. each anti-aircraft division responsible searchlight , barrage balloon units within assigned area.

special forces

special air service north africa 1943

the first raiding forces formed during war ten independent companies, raised volunteers second-line territorial army divisions. intended raiding , reconnaissance behind german lines in norwegian campaign, disbanded after campaign abandoned. remaining personnel carried out operation collar against german-occupied france, before being merged commandos.

later in 1940, british commandos formed following winston churchill s call specially trained troops of hunter class, can develop reign of terror down enemy coast. 1941, commandos carrying out raids on german occupied norwegian coast in operation claymore , operation archery , in 1942, formed assault troops st nazaire raid. formed 30 battalion-sized commando units (including 8 royal marines units), of organised within 4 brigades; 1st, 2nd, 3rd, , 4th commando brigades.

impressed german fallschirmjäger, winston churchill called formation of similar elite corps of troops. parachute regiment created , end of war possessed 17 battalions. first action bruneval raid in 1942. parachute battalions formed core of 1st , 6th airborne divisions , 2nd independent parachute brigade. in 1945, supplied battalions 50th , 77th indian parachute brigades.

units operated smaller bodies included long range desert group, formed in north africa report on movements , activities behind german , italian lines. special air service formed in 1941 raiding missions behind lines, , later special air service brigade formed support normandy landings. popski s private army, formed in august 1942, tasked missions behind lines gather intelligence, blow installations , ambush small patrols. special interrogation group unit formed anti-nazi germans , palestinian jews of german origin under british officers, wore german equipment, spoke german , lived everyday life members of africa corps. special boat service formed folboat section later special boat section of no 8 commando.

a little known force never saw combat auxiliary units, specially trained , secret organisation that, in event of invasion, provide resistance behind lines. auxiliary units equipped , supplied food 14 days, expected lifespan. selected aptitude , local knowledge, men recruited home guard, provided cover existence. in addition, special duties section recruited provide intelligence gathering service, spying on enemy formations , troop movements. reports collected dead letter drops , relayed radio operators of royal signals secret locations.

auxiliary territorial service searchlight unit


auxiliary territorial service

the auxiliary territorial service (ats) women s branch of british army during second world war. formed in september 1938, enlistment open woman aged 18 upwards enlist general or local service (local service served in own local area, general service sent needed , anywhere in country). ats served in non combat roles cooks, clerks , storewoman. large numbers of ats served artillery divisions crews guns, searchlights , barrage balloons. 1 notable ats member no. 230873 second subaltern elizabeth windsor, trained driver , mechanic, drove military truck, , rose rank of junior commander. last surviving head of state served in uniform during second world war.

home guard

home guard post central london june 1940

the local defence volunteers (ldv) formed in may 1940; renamed home guard in july 1940. civilians aged between 17–65, not in military service, asked enlist in ldv. response 250,000 volunteers attempting sign in first 7 days; july had increased 1.5 million volunteers. on 17 may ldv achieved official legal status when privy council issued defence (local defence volunteers) order in council, , orders issued war office regular army headquarters throughout britain explaining status of ldv units; volunteers divided sections, platoons , companies not paid , leaders of units not hold commissions or have power command regular forces. issue of weapons ldv , home guard units solved when emergency orders placed first world war vintage ross rifles canada , pattern 1914 enfield , m1917 enfield rifles united states. home guard stood down on 3 december 1944 , disbanded on 31 december 1945.

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