Comments by "Luke Sandy High Ground" (@Luke_Sandy_High_Ground) on "Historigraph"
channel.
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Formation of British Army infantry:
Section: Contains around 8 soldiers and is commanded by a Corporal with a Lance Corporal as his 2iC (second in command). Each section contains two fireteams (charlie and delta), one fireteam led by the section commander and the other his 2iC. Each fireteam contains three privates.
Platoon: A platoon is a part of an infantry company and is further divided into three or four sections including a headquarters section. A British platoon usually consists of 25 to 30 soldiers. Platoons are commanded by a lieutenant or second lieutenant. The platoon commander has a Sergeant as his 2iC. This NCO has around 12 years experience in the British Army and is there to mentor the young platoon commander and enforce discipline.
Company: A company is part of a battalion and usually consists of between 100 and 150 soldiers. They are usually lettered A through to D, and made up of at least two or three platoons but sometimes they have names such as ‘Grenadier Company’ or ‘Fire Support Company’. Companies are commanded by a Major who has a Captain as his 2iC. The most senior NCO in a company is the Company Sergeant Major who holds the rank Warrant Officer Class 1. This is the largest formation in the British Army where the officer in command is expected to fight the enemy.
Battalion: A battalion is a regimental sub-unit of infantry amounting to between 500 and 1,000 soldiers. It normally consists of a headquarters and three or more companies. A battalion is led by a Lieutenant Colonel with a Major as his 2iC. Each regiment usually has around two regular army battalions e.g. 1st Battalion, the Royal Anglian Regiment
Regiment: Unlike other armies a British regiment is an administrative unit rather than a tactical unit. Most British Army regiments don't deploy all of its battalions together with but there are exceptions like the Parachute Regiment. The British Army has "county regiments" where each region/ country has its own regiment where soldiers from the local area can fight together. This improves morale and creates an 'esprit de corps'. Some examples include the 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland (Black Watch) which recruits soldiers from Fife, Dundee, Angus, and Perthshire and the 1st Battalion, The Royal Anglian Regiment which recruits soldiers from Suffolk, Norfolk, and Cambridgeshire. The advantage of the regimental system is that they can quickly expand in wartime. The Durham Light Infantry went from two battalions in 1914 to forty-eight battalions by 1918!
Brigade: A tactical grouping of battalions is called a brigade. This is a formation consisting of three infantry battalions usually from different regiments. During the world wars a brigade numbered between 3,500 and 4,000 soldiers. When forming part of a division, a brigade has no internal support. But when operating independently (usually called a brigade group), it includes supporting reconnaissance, artillery, engineers, supply and transport. A brigade is commanded by a Brigadier who has a team of staff officers to assist him. For example, the 44th Infantry Brigade (part of the 15th (Scottish) Infantry Division) in WW2 contained: the 8th Battalion, Royal Scots, the 6th Battalion, King's Own Scottish Borderers, the 7th Battalion, King's Own Scottish Borderers, 11th Battalion, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, 6th Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers. None of these regiments exist in 2024 btw.
Division: A division is made up of three infantry brigades. Divisions are usually equipped to operate independently in the field, and have a full complement of supporting reconnaissance, artillery, engineers, medical, supply, and transport troops. Divisions usually have around 16,000 men and are commanded by a Major-General. The 23rd Division during the Battle of the Somme in 1916 contained the 68th Brigade, 69th Brigade, and 70th Brigade. The British Army deployed 51 infantry divisions in total during the Battle of the Somme🤯. The British Army in 2024 has two deployable infantry divisions, the 1st Division and the 3rd Division. The land force in the Falklands War an emergency ad-hoc collection of two infantry brigades at divisional strength but its wasn't an official British Army infantry division.
Corps: This is a tactical formation of around 45,000 soldiers made up of two or three divisions and commanded by a Lieutenant-General. Corps are normally identified by Roman numerals for example VIII Corps. During the First World War the British Army grew to around 22 infantry corps. The British Army hasn't had an infantry formation of Corps strength since I Corps disbanded at the end of the Cold War in 1994.
Field Army: An Army is a large formation consisting of two or more infantry corps. They are usually commanded by a General and contain between 100,000 and 1 million soldiers. Eleven British field armies were formed during the First World War such as the 4th Army led by General Sir Henry Rawlinson which was part of the much larger British Expeditionary Force led by Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig. The British Army hasn't had a field army since the end of the Second World War in 1945
Army Group: An army group is a massive formation of more than one Army operating together. The First Canadian Army led by General Harry Crerar and the British 2nd Army led by General Sir Miles Dempsey formed the 21st Army Group led by Field Marshal Montgomery for the Normandy Landings in June 1944.
I hope this helps a bit.
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