A casual ramble around the topic to be sure, but I picked up a lot of snippets of information from these two videos. I particularly like the theory that platoons & companies make some kind of organic sense, in a way that is comparable, perhaps, to the way in which inches, feet, yards etc. are more naturally and instinctively human than metric measurements because they are related to our bodies and the actions we take with them. A platoon being of a size that approximates the limit of how many men can be commanded, controlled and considered as individual soldiers. A company being of a size near the limit of how many men you can have a meaningful connection with. No doubt there are things you might pick holes in--which I'd welcome.
A level down, there are several references in early-war literature of 6 men being the maximum number of men that can be commanded by a single NCO.
I thought both videos were informative, although I must admit I have limited knowledge of the subject. Agree the theory about the "natural size" of these formations was interesting. The presenter reminded me of Richard Stilgoe. Did Richard Stilgoe have a son by any chance?
Charley, if you want the full SP on this matter, then I would suggest that you e-mail Frank ? He has about fourteen pages on THE ORGANISATION OF AN INFANTRY BATTALION IN ITALY 1944. The packs are most use-full. The pack that I have is a ring folder. It would take some work to post on this forum.Edit, not sure about the chap with a tin hat. Regards Stu.
Those were interesting. One thing I can say with assuredness based on my own (utterly unscientific) study of small unit organisation is that for every universal constant there was an exception. There were multiple examples of Companies being close to 200 all ranks at authorised strength, and Motorised/Armoured Inf types could exceed 200. British organisation was in the minority in not having organic HMG or medium calibres mortars at Company level (US, German and Red Army all had something of that type) in normal Inf Bns, but did in some specialist types (Motor, Air Landing). I think the impression I've gained is that smallest Section/Squad that could be feasibly used was six men, as once you go below that there's no effective rifle element as the LMG takes three men to keep running. The Red Army started the war using a Rifle Squad of 11 men, and by 1945 their new authorised strength was to be just six, and there were numerous reduced strength models already in use. The pre-war British Section was eight men, but experience in France during the Phoney War period lead to an increase to 11 men, trimmed back to 10 men by 1941. The German Rifle Platoon was almost 50 men in 1940 and was slashed back to 33 by 1943/44. Gary
The same YouTube channel has more on the British Vs German LMG supply and section/company tactics here: Apparently his perspective in the Spandau was controversial and warranted a follow-up: Counter-Argument Rebuttal More on the M-34 tactics from an amusingly shouty weapons instructor: Interesting stuff at around 10mins in when he begins to discuss how the German squad/section was based around the strengths and limitations of their LMG and how their tactics were similarly based. Obvious, perhaps, but lots of little details. Interesting, too, to see the contrast in stability between the M-34 and the BAR on the range.
