Alternate British Armed Forces stuff...

[95th Rifleman]

Well we had less kit in the 90's mate!

No grenadiers as the GL36 didn't come into service till the Afghan war.

All we had where the L85, L86 and Gimpy along with the LAW80 and Milan for anti-tank work.

[natehale1971]

Dude, stop scaring me! I was about to write about commonwealth when I read the above.

ok, we wouldn't get any Canadians or ANZACs, they are independent nations with their own militaries who serve alongside the british.

However there are severaly countries who send men (and women) to the UK to serve directly in UK regiments. I live in the town of Bicester which is the garriosn town for the 23rd Pioneer regiment. A large percentage of these lads are Fijian with some carribean, St Lucian and african lads aswell as the usual mix of Brits.

I can imagine a stepped up program to recruit for these overseas countries would go alongside an expansion of the Uk forces.

So would the Canadians and ANZACS send their troops as full Brigdes or Divisions as their Expeditiationary Forces who'd be used as full commands of their own

As i said earilier I was thinking of African Rifles being one of the units like the Brigade of Gurkhas being part of the Commonwealth of Nations personnel recruited for fleshing out the British Armed Forces.

Would it be easier for the biggest expansions of the British Army to have come through the Territorial Army units

[95th Rifleman]

So would the Canadians and ANZACS send their troops as full Brigdes or Divisions as their Expeditiationary Forces who'd be used as full commands of their own

As i said earilier I was thinking of African Rifles being one of the units like the Brigade of Gurkhas being part of the Commonwealth of Nations personnel recruited for fleshing out the British Armed Forces.

Would it be easier for the biggest expansions of the British Army to have come through the Territorial Army units

Yeah the Canadians and ANZACs woud have their own divisons/brigades and their own command linked in with british high command they way they operated back in WW1 and WW2.

The TA where established with future, emergency expansion in mind so yeah, they would do the lion's share of wartime expansion, but only in wartime.

If your talking about peactime expansion due to the threat of the Russian bear then it would be done the old fashioned way (slowly) as recruitment is stepped up and battalions formed organicly before being split offfrom parent regiments to form their own regiment (like I mentioned with the 9th/12th lancers).

The inherent beuty of the regimental system is it is surprisingly easy to expand as it is to cut down, all you need are numbers and time.

[natehale1971]

Well we had less kit in the 90's mate!

No grenadiers as the GL36 didn't come into service till the Afghan war.

All we had where the L85, L86 and Gimpy along with the LAW80 and Milan for anti-tank work.

This is the only notes that i've been able to find on a British Platoon organization... is it right

British Army Platoon:
2Lt/Lt <>, Platoon Commander
Sgt./SSgt. <>, Platoon Sergeant
<>, Singnaller
<>, Mortar man
Section:
Cpl. <>, Section/Fire Team Leader & Grenadier
Pte. <>, Automatic Rifleman
Pte. <>, Rifleman
Pte. <>, Designated Marksman
LCpl. <>, Fire Team Leader & Grenadier
Pte. <>, Automatic Rifleman
Pte. <>, Rifleman
Pte. <>, Designated Marskman
Section:
Cpl. <>, Section/Fire Team Leader & Grenadier
Pte. <>, Automatic Rifleman
Pte. <>, Rifleman
Pte. <>, Designated Marksman
LCpl. <>, Fire Team Leader & Grenadier
Pte. <>, Automatic Rifleman
Pte. <>, Rifleman
Pte. <>, Designated Marskman
Section:
Cpl. <>, Section/Fire Team Leader & Grenadier
Pte. <>, Automatic Rifleman
Pte. <>, Rifleman
Pte. <>, Designated Marksman
LCpl. <>, Fire Team Leader & Grenadier
Pte. <>, Automatic Rifleman
Pte. <>, Rifleman
Pte. <>, Designated Marskman

[Rainbow Six]

I had thought of other units like the rebirth of the African Rifles that would be a unit similar to the Gurkha's... just drawn from the African Commonwealth states.

Highly unlikely in my opinion - as 95th Rifleman has said, Commonwealth countries are all independent nations and would be unlikely to commit organised military units to serve under British command, although individuals can serve, again as mentioned by 95th Rifleman.

One of the things that the British Armed Forces to remember, is that they still have Hong Kong as a Garrison... and have to put forces there after things turn sour with the Beijing Pact when North Korea launches an attack on South Korea and Japan... lot's of things that happen without people understanding why until much later.

IRL Hong Kong garrison at the end of the 80's consisted of one British Battalion and approx three - four Gurkha Battalions. To put a stronger garrison in HK you'd have to take them from elsewhere....robbing Peter to pay Paul so to speak. Your best option here would be Gurkhas. I'd recommend looking at the British Army oder of battle on the Etranger website (specifically the 6th Division) for a good example of how to raise additional Gurkha Battalions.

http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~dheb/2300/Historical/BritA2K.htm

[95th Rifleman]

That's about right for a modern platoon, aye. in the 90's we'd have no genadiers and no desigated marksmen as that is a relatively recent introduction into British platoons.

I think we had 4 section platoons back in the 90's and one of them was a support section with the gimpy while the other 3 sectons would have L86's as their SAW equivalent. Today the Minimi is used for most SAW use.

[Rainbow Six]

Would it be easier for the biggest expansions of the British Army to have come through the Territorial Army units

This would also probably be the cheapest option, so that would make it a winner with the politicians...

[natehale1971]

That's about right for a modern platoon, aye. in the 90's we'd have no genadiers and no desigated marksmen as that is a relatively recent introduction into British platoons.

I think we had 4 section platoons back in the 90's and one of them was a support section with the gimpy while the other 3 sectons would have L86's as their SAW equivalent. Today the Minimi is used for most SAW use.

how many personnel were in the support sections for supporting the gimpys

[natehale1971]

This would also probably be the cheapest option, so that would make it a winner with the politicians...

So alot of Gurhka's and Territoral Army units would make the expansion of the British Army from 1992 to the start of the Euro-Soviet War in 2003 or so then.

[95th Rifleman]

how many personnel were in the support sections for supporting the gimpys

A support section was the same size as a regular section, just they had gimpys instead of L86's.

generaly the support section would cover an advance or retreat while the rifle sections would do the old leapfrog.

[natehale1971]

A support section was the same size as a regular section, just they had gimpys instead of L86's.

generaly the support section would cover an advance or retreat while the rifle sections would do the old leapfrog.

Was it something like this

Support Section:
Cpl. <>, Section/Fire Team Leader & Grenadier
Pte. <>, Machinegun Gunner
Pte. <>, Rifleman / Assistant Machinegun Gunner
Pte. <>, Rifleman / Ammo Bearer
LCpl. <>, Fire Team Leader & Grenadier
Pte. <>, Machinegun Gunner
Pte. <>, Rifleman / Assistant Machinegun Gunner
Pte. <>, Rifleman / Ammo Bearer

Would he rank of the Singaller and Mortar Man be Cpl. or Sgt

[Rainbow Six]

So alot of Gurhka's and Territoral Army units would make the expansion of the British Army from 1992 to the start of the Euro-Soviet War in 2003 or so then.

It's a possibility...

Do you have a rough idea of how many Divisions you want to end up with or how many locations you want to deploy British troops in

[natehale1971]

It's a possibility...

Do you have a rough idea of how many Divisions you want to end up with or how many locations you want to deploy British troops in

So far my notes have this...

British Forces Europe
- 1st UK Army (British Army of the Danube): Southern Europe/Balkans
- 2nd UK Army (British Army of the Rhine): Northern Europe
British Forces Americas
- 6th UK Army (British Army of the Amazon): Central & South America
British Forces Africa
- 5th UK Army (British Army of the <>): Africa
British Forces Far East
- 7th UK Army (British Army of the <>): Asia & the Pacific Rim
British Forces Near East
- 8th UK Army (British Army of the Euphrates): The Middle East
British Forces Gibraltar
British Forces Hong Kong
British Forces Brunei
British Forces Cyprus
Sovereign Base Area Akrotiri
Sovereign Base Area Dhekelia
British Forces Falkland Islands
British Forces Caribbean

[Rainbow Six]

Wow...that's...big...

So far my notes have this...

British Forces Europe
- 1st UK Army (British Army of the Danube): Southern Europe/Balkans
- 2nd UK Army (British Army of the Rhine): Northern Europe
British Forces Americas
- 6th UK Army (British Army of the Amazon): Central & South America
British Forces Africa
- 5th UK Army (British Army of the <>): Africa
British Forces Far East
- 7th UK Army (British Army of the <>): Asia & the Pacific Rim
British Forces Near East
- 8th UK Army (British Army of the Euphrates): The Middle East
British Forces Gibraltar
British Forces Hong Kong
British Forces Brunei
British Forces Cyprus
Sovereign Base Area Akrotiri
Sovereign Base Area Dhekelia
British Forces Falkland Islands
British Forces Caribbean

[natehale1971]

Yes... they look very big.

The British Army of the Rhine is the largest single concentration of British Armed Forces outside of the UK.

The British Army of the Thames is the parent organization of all British Army units assigned to the British Isles. They are working at trying to keep the peace and rebuild the country and keep the British Forces out in the field supplied.

The British Army of the Danube is a single Corps that had been sent to reinforce Yugoslavia after they had declared to support NATO, but after Yugoslavia was dismantled by Med Alliance and Warsaw Pact... they are now going to push into Austria and Slovenia (their governments have already unified in all but name) so they can cut off the Italians and link up with the British Army of the Rhine.

The British Army formation in Africa is a single Corps that is built around a British Division supported by several brigades/divisions that are drawn from a coalition of African Commonwealth nations. They started the war in Kenya... trying to reinforce it from being surrounded on all sides by hostile forces.

The British Army of the Amazon is focused heavily on working alongside the US Southern Command fighting in Central and South America... and doing the island fighting campiaign in the Caribbean. They were assigned to reinforce the British Overseas Territories and Dependencies, but brought under a single unified command after the Havana Pact declared war on the UK.

The British Army of the Euphrates is a single Corps level formation that was centered around British Forces in the Middle East supporting USCENTCOM Operations. it's units from the British Army of the Euphrates that recovers evience of the incident that sparked the Sino-Soviet War, and the reason why the Beijing Pact launching a massive offensive against their Western Allies.

The British Army formation in Asia and the Pacific Rim has alot of Aussies and New Zealanders... in fact the bulk of the force is drawn from the Australian Army. Debated with the commander of the 7th UK Army having been a senior Australian officer.

The other forces are the same size as the garrisons that exist IRL, possibly with some reinforcements to account for the fighting... like British Forces Gibraltar (due to Spain being part of the Med Alliance), British Forces Hong Kong (after the Beijing Pact turns against it's western allies) and British Forces Cyprus (thanks to Greece pushing the Med Alliacne into War with NATO over their issues with Turkey)...

British Forces Europe
- 1st UK Army (British Army of the Danube): Southern Europe/Balkans
- 2nd UK Army (British Army of the Rhine): Northern Europe
- 3rd UK Army (British Army of the Thames): British Isles
British Forces Americas
- 6th UK Army (British Army of the Amazon): Central & South America
British Forces Africa
- 5th UK Army (British Army of the <>): Africa
British Forces Far East
- 7th UK Army (British Army of the <>): Asia & the Pacific Rim
British Forces Near East
- 8th UK Army (British Army of the Euphrates): The Middle East
British Forces Gibraltar
British Forces Hong Kong
British Forces Brunei
British Forces Cyprus
- Sovereign Base Area Akrotiri
- Sovereign Base Area Dhekelia
British Forces Falkland Islands
British Forces Caribbean