sharlin
Banned
Colonel’s Fuller and Collins stood on the podium waiting for the hubbub of conversation to die down before Fuller stepped forwards and cleared his throat, instantly there was silence and all eyes turned to him.
“Thank you gentlemen, now we’ve been working together for the past two years in training in the field and in our headquarters and it is my pleasure to tell you that as of…now” the Colonel said as the clock in the theatre chimed midday. “The Experimental Armoured Force is no longer purely Experimental. The Ministry of Defence and Government has authorised an expansion of the Force and has allocated funds to further spread this to not only our armoured forces but the Army as a whole.”
That announcement got everyone talking for sure and the Colonel waited for the noise to die down before continuing. “I don’t know what happened, it seems that either someone saw common sense or Devine Intervention, either way I am not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. For budgetary reasons the planned adoption of Infantry and Cruiser tanks will not proceed, our urgings for a Universal Tank on grounds of effectiveness, cost and function appear to have sunk in and Vickers is starting work on a new design to replace our Mark Is and II’s used in trials.
I am sure there will be some.. opposition to these changes but they are necessary! As you know we can not plan to fight the last war as the French are doing, overseas we’ve all heard of the German rearmament and who here after reading Herr Hitler’s speeches can honestly say that War with Germany will not come and come soon?”
“We are going to be pioneers gentlemen and have no doubt that the Ministry and Army as a whole will be watching us like hawks, we will not fail to impress, we will give Great Britain the army she so rightly deserves.”
On August 12th 1929 the British Government formally accepted the Experimental Armoured Force as a recognised unit and in turn forced the Army to accept it as well. Some of the old ‘Warhorses’ resisted both publically and privately bemoaning the loss of their beloved horse cavalry that had proven almost utterly ineffective in the First World War and loathed the adoption of the tank and truck but these objections were mostly ignored. With tensions in Europe rising the Government started belatedly to rearm. The expansion of plants required to produce the new mechanised armed forces envisioned and dreamed lead to a greater demand for workers and helped industries struggling in the throes of the Great Depression.
The divisive argument about the adoption of Infantry and so called Cruiser tanks was now firmly settled, there would be neither as it increased the logistics strain on units who would have to cater for multiple types of tanks and could lead to problems in battle where you have the wrong tank for the wrong job. The 18lber ‘Birch Gun’ Self Propelled artillery piece based on the slowly being retired Vickers Mk II tank was ordered into production as well as a larger tankette for carrying supplies and ammunition when the Carden-Lloyd Tankette was recognised as being barely suitable for purpose, this new machine would be designed by 1932 and would enter service as both a ‘prime mover’ for supplies and an artillery tug but with an enlarged open rear compartment could also haul an infantry squad with ease a huge improvement over the trucks used in exercises previously which had been left behind by their tracked colleagues in off road conditions.
The new Universal tank Mk 1 entered service a month after the new ‘Universal Carrier’ was released, armed with a longer barrelled and more modern version of the 47mm gun 3 pounder found on the Mark II Medium tanks the machine had a bow mounted machine gun as well as two more in the turret. The 47mm gun was capable of firing both armour piercing rounds and a small high explosive round for dealing with infantry and guns. Whilst it was an inferior weapon to the 2 pounder anti-tank gun entering service in terms of shell velocity it was deemed capable enough and was preferred for being more flexible.
This lead to the Universal Mark II which would ‘hit the shelves’ in 1936 and was a superior machine in every respect over the now viewed as ‘experimental’ Mark I and would feature a new 47mm gun based on an enlarged 2lber retaining the high muzzle velocity of the gun but also the useful ability to fire a HE shell. The 2lber was also mated to the new Universal carrier as a mobile tank destroyer to provide support for infantry and armoured forces whilst designs for a new and heavily armoured tank destroyer and ‘assault tank’ capable of engaging strongpoints and enemy vehicles and shrugging off return fire was also pursued.
The Combined arms approach of the Army had its drawbacks, cost being the biggest. Each of the Combined Arms Brigades would consist of the following:
Recon: 2 x Companies of Daimler Armoured Cars, 16 Universal Carriers armed with Boys Anti-tank rifles and machine guns.
Main Force: One tank Battalion, 48 Mark II Universal Tanks.
One Infantry Battalion with Universal Carriers down to Platoon level as well as an attached motorised Machine gun battalion mounted in Universal Carriers (also armed with Boys AT Rifles and when they were introduced the 2lber)
Artillery detachment: One Mechanised Artillery Brigade of four batteries of 18lb ‘Birch Guns’ SP Artillery, one towed battery of 3.7 inch light howitzers towed by half tracks.
Engineering Detachment: One Company of Royal Engineers on halftracks and Universal Carriers.
The sheer expense of equipping such formations meant that their expansion was slow but the Army also finally embraced mechanisation, adopting a wide range of trucks, halftracks and the ubiquitous Universal Carrier. There were cutbacks too, the sheer cost of a mechanised army meant that some Regiments were disbanded as a cost saving measure. This was met with stiff opposition in the House of Commons but got through with the recognition that the modern British army thanks to its new doctrines were more efficient and powerful despite a reduction in manpower.
By 1939 there were six full Brigades of Combined Arms Units with the Mark IV SP Artillery entering production built to carry the brand new Royal Ordnance QF 25 Pounder rapidly replacing the aging 18 pounder and built on the Universal Mark II chassis. The Universal Mark III tank was also entering service, the Mark II was in general service with the army whilst the Mark III, called the Matilda by its men after a popular comic character (which became its official name) featured the new 6 pounder AT gun, like its 3 pounder predecessor was capable of also firing a HE round out to useful ranges.
Development of an ‘assault tank’ also saw success with the introduction of the Matilda. Nuffield tinkered with the Mark III to make it into an entirely different and much bigger beast. Armed with a 6 pounder the AT-1 (Assault tank design No 1) was a lumbering beast at 20kph and although the design featured a turret, the turret itself was fixed and immobile to save weight. The weight saved with the turret and the smaller engine went into armour and here Nuffield outdid themselves with a staggering 203mm of armour on the front and 104mm on the flank the AT-1 had thicker armour on its vitals than many cruisers. Designed to attack strongpoints like the feared Siegfried Line as well as provide anti-tank fire support for Combined arms units the AT-1 Centurion was starting to see service, issued out in 6 vehicle platoons to the Combined Arms Brigades the machines caused no end of woe for the attached Engineers who had to see if the 41 tonne machines could cross bridges and often had to make bridges for them.
On the First of September 1939 Germany Invaded Poland and the British Army went on alert, all six CAB's (Combined Arms Battalions) were to ordered to form up to prepare to move should Diplomacy fail.
The AT-1 Assault tank.
Something I wrote during a coffee break, plausable or not? Also why does 2 and a half pages on Word always come out as dinky here :s
“Thank you gentlemen, now we’ve been working together for the past two years in training in the field and in our headquarters and it is my pleasure to tell you that as of…now” the Colonel said as the clock in the theatre chimed midday. “The Experimental Armoured Force is no longer purely Experimental. The Ministry of Defence and Government has authorised an expansion of the Force and has allocated funds to further spread this to not only our armoured forces but the Army as a whole.”
That announcement got everyone talking for sure and the Colonel waited for the noise to die down before continuing. “I don’t know what happened, it seems that either someone saw common sense or Devine Intervention, either way I am not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. For budgetary reasons the planned adoption of Infantry and Cruiser tanks will not proceed, our urgings for a Universal Tank on grounds of effectiveness, cost and function appear to have sunk in and Vickers is starting work on a new design to replace our Mark Is and II’s used in trials.
I am sure there will be some.. opposition to these changes but they are necessary! As you know we can not plan to fight the last war as the French are doing, overseas we’ve all heard of the German rearmament and who here after reading Herr Hitler’s speeches can honestly say that War with Germany will not come and come soon?”
“We are going to be pioneers gentlemen and have no doubt that the Ministry and Army as a whole will be watching us like hawks, we will not fail to impress, we will give Great Britain the army she so rightly deserves.”
On August 12th 1929 the British Government formally accepted the Experimental Armoured Force as a recognised unit and in turn forced the Army to accept it as well. Some of the old ‘Warhorses’ resisted both publically and privately bemoaning the loss of their beloved horse cavalry that had proven almost utterly ineffective in the First World War and loathed the adoption of the tank and truck but these objections were mostly ignored. With tensions in Europe rising the Government started belatedly to rearm. The expansion of plants required to produce the new mechanised armed forces envisioned and dreamed lead to a greater demand for workers and helped industries struggling in the throes of the Great Depression.
The divisive argument about the adoption of Infantry and so called Cruiser tanks was now firmly settled, there would be neither as it increased the logistics strain on units who would have to cater for multiple types of tanks and could lead to problems in battle where you have the wrong tank for the wrong job. The 18lber ‘Birch Gun’ Self Propelled artillery piece based on the slowly being retired Vickers Mk II tank was ordered into production as well as a larger tankette for carrying supplies and ammunition when the Carden-Lloyd Tankette was recognised as being barely suitable for purpose, this new machine would be designed by 1932 and would enter service as both a ‘prime mover’ for supplies and an artillery tug but with an enlarged open rear compartment could also haul an infantry squad with ease a huge improvement over the trucks used in exercises previously which had been left behind by their tracked colleagues in off road conditions.
The new Universal tank Mk 1 entered service a month after the new ‘Universal Carrier’ was released, armed with a longer barrelled and more modern version of the 47mm gun 3 pounder found on the Mark II Medium tanks the machine had a bow mounted machine gun as well as two more in the turret. The 47mm gun was capable of firing both armour piercing rounds and a small high explosive round for dealing with infantry and guns. Whilst it was an inferior weapon to the 2 pounder anti-tank gun entering service in terms of shell velocity it was deemed capable enough and was preferred for being more flexible.
This lead to the Universal Mark II which would ‘hit the shelves’ in 1936 and was a superior machine in every respect over the now viewed as ‘experimental’ Mark I and would feature a new 47mm gun based on an enlarged 2lber retaining the high muzzle velocity of the gun but also the useful ability to fire a HE shell. The 2lber was also mated to the new Universal carrier as a mobile tank destroyer to provide support for infantry and armoured forces whilst designs for a new and heavily armoured tank destroyer and ‘assault tank’ capable of engaging strongpoints and enemy vehicles and shrugging off return fire was also pursued.
The Combined arms approach of the Army had its drawbacks, cost being the biggest. Each of the Combined Arms Brigades would consist of the following:
Recon: 2 x Companies of Daimler Armoured Cars, 16 Universal Carriers armed with Boys Anti-tank rifles and machine guns.
Main Force: One tank Battalion, 48 Mark II Universal Tanks.
One Infantry Battalion with Universal Carriers down to Platoon level as well as an attached motorised Machine gun battalion mounted in Universal Carriers (also armed with Boys AT Rifles and when they were introduced the 2lber)
Artillery detachment: One Mechanised Artillery Brigade of four batteries of 18lb ‘Birch Guns’ SP Artillery, one towed battery of 3.7 inch light howitzers towed by half tracks.
Engineering Detachment: One Company of Royal Engineers on halftracks and Universal Carriers.
The sheer expense of equipping such formations meant that their expansion was slow but the Army also finally embraced mechanisation, adopting a wide range of trucks, halftracks and the ubiquitous Universal Carrier. There were cutbacks too, the sheer cost of a mechanised army meant that some Regiments were disbanded as a cost saving measure. This was met with stiff opposition in the House of Commons but got through with the recognition that the modern British army thanks to its new doctrines were more efficient and powerful despite a reduction in manpower.
By 1939 there were six full Brigades of Combined Arms Units with the Mark IV SP Artillery entering production built to carry the brand new Royal Ordnance QF 25 Pounder rapidly replacing the aging 18 pounder and built on the Universal Mark II chassis. The Universal Mark III tank was also entering service, the Mark II was in general service with the army whilst the Mark III, called the Matilda by its men after a popular comic character (which became its official name) featured the new 6 pounder AT gun, like its 3 pounder predecessor was capable of also firing a HE round out to useful ranges.
Development of an ‘assault tank’ also saw success with the introduction of the Matilda. Nuffield tinkered with the Mark III to make it into an entirely different and much bigger beast. Armed with a 6 pounder the AT-1 (Assault tank design No 1) was a lumbering beast at 20kph and although the design featured a turret, the turret itself was fixed and immobile to save weight. The weight saved with the turret and the smaller engine went into armour and here Nuffield outdid themselves with a staggering 203mm of armour on the front and 104mm on the flank the AT-1 had thicker armour on its vitals than many cruisers. Designed to attack strongpoints like the feared Siegfried Line as well as provide anti-tank fire support for Combined arms units the AT-1 Centurion was starting to see service, issued out in 6 vehicle platoons to the Combined Arms Brigades the machines caused no end of woe for the attached Engineers who had to see if the 41 tonne machines could cross bridges and often had to make bridges for them.
On the First of September 1939 Germany Invaded Poland and the British Army went on alert, all six CAB's (Combined Arms Battalions) were to ordered to form up to prepare to move should Diplomacy fail.
The AT-1 Assault tank.
Something I wrote during a coffee break, plausable or not? Also why does 2 and a half pages on Word always come out as dinky here :s
