British Armoured Reconnaissance Regiment

[kojibear]

I have a question regarding what main troop carriers may have accompanied a British armoured recce regiment mid to late war, universal carriers, half tracks or lorries?

I gather that the universal carriers were often used as tows for large guns and for transporting mortar teams. Would I be right in saying that the troops accompanying an armoured recce regiment would be in lorries or half tracks?

Thanks in advance guys.

[Primarch]

I'm guessing you're asking about the Cromwell equipped Armoured Recon, not Armoured Car Recon which has a different order of battle. The Armoured Recon units didn't have any integral infantry support, instead they worked with whichever units they were deployed alongside. British infantry used Carriers, Trucks and Half-tracks for various roles, so you could use any of them.
Small teams such as MGs, Mortars etc ride in carriers. Half Tracks are for deploying troops into combat, trucks are for moving men up to the front. For a recce unit, half tracks are a better choice. Mind you, most units had access to carriers for transport purposes as well.
Depending on where, when and how the encounter took place, the infantry may not have had any transport available. If you are looking at the Market Garden operation, you would have US Airborne fighting alongside the British armoured units at various points as well.

[job]

As for the Welsh Guards and 11th Armored Recce Squadron Regiments in Market Garden, they both were supported by Brigade Level support from both Armored mechanized units in M5 half tracks (11th had .50 calls mounted on their M3s) and lorries infantry riding in trucks. It might be also mentioned that a lot of the British infantry were told to ride the tanks in the column and dismount at first sign of trouble. Also the 11th had the 159 Infantry Brigade with the 4th Battalion, King's Shropshire Light Infantry, 3rd Battalion Monmouthshire Regiment, 1st Battalion, Herefordshire Regiment; all were lorried infantry. There was also the 2nd MG company, Royal Northumberland Fusiliers. The 8th Motor Battalion was integrated into the 29 Armoured Brigade.

Also American paratroopers from the 101st fought alongside the 11th division. (The Band of Brothers TV show depicts some of this.)

Universal carriers were used mostly by support elements. MG platoons usually had them. Also Mortar platoons used a "Mortar carrier" and the 6 pdr. AT guns used "Loyd Carriers". Large numbers of the universal carriers were used for reconnaissance duties.

The British army was also very good about making sure almost all their vehicles had tow hooks, so even the tanks could be used to tow guns about.

Finally the Welsh Guards and the 11th used a variety of vehicles for reconnaissance. The 2nd household Guard with Daimler 1, Humber scout cars and Dingos supported the Welsh. The Welsh Guards also used Stuart tanks as integrated reconnaissance. The Inns and Court regiment supported the 11th with a mix of Daimler cars, Dingos and sawed-off Daimler Is (no turrets). Finally the 15/19th Hussar Regiment had Dingo and Humbler armored cars to serve in the reconnaissance roles.

(I'm using the Flames of War Market Garden book for most of this Information. I hope it helps.)

[kojibear]

Thanks for the great info gents. Much appreciated.

[kojibear]

Well, to attempt to muster some motivation to get my Bolt Action 6th Airborne Armoured Platoon finished, I thought I'd update this thread with what troops and vehicles I have to make up this platoon. Not particularly accurate by any means as although each unit will have been part of the 6th Airborne at some point during the war, my combination is historically inaccurate as far as my research has indicated.

Well, for the Nagoya Hammer Bolt Action fans, here are the models I have accumulated for the platoon:

Command Cromwell Tank

Cromwell Tank

Tetrarch Light Tank

Daimler Dingo

Universal Carrier + 5 man paratrooper rifle team

Universal Carrier + 5 man paratrooper rifle team

Universal Carrier + 3" mortar team

Welbike Motorbike Team - 6 man rifle team

Machine Gun Team + Jeep

Sniper Team

Now its time to get assembling and get reconnoitering!

[Primarch]

Command Cromwell Tank

Cromwell Tank

Tetrarch Light Tank

Daimler Dingo

Universal Carrier + 5 man paratrooper rifle team

Universal Carrier + 5 man paratrooper rifle team

Universal Carrier + 3" mortar team

Welbike Motorbike Team - 6 man rifle team

Machine Gun Team + Jeep

Sniper Team

Looks like a fun list, how many points is it?

[kojibear]

The list is coming in at about 1467 points, that is with adding some anti-tank grenades to the welbike team. I could get to 1500 by adding a few more grenades.


The funny thing is that the Tetrarch - in my British army book at least - does not have an option to be veteran This is a bit odd, isn't it?

[Primarch]

The list is coming in at about 1467 points, that is with adding some anti-tank grenades to the welbike team. I could get to 1500 by adding a few more grenades.


The funny thing is that the Tetrarch - in my British army book at least - does not have an option to be veteran This is a bit odd, isn't it?

Could be a lack of experience with the tank? Those things didn't last long once panzers got into range. (Which was usually long before the Tetrarch got into range). The Tetrarchs weren't used in combat for very long or all that often, so crews would have a hard time gaining the experience necessary to become veterans. That's how I would look at it anyway.
Besides, light tanks really don't gain a lot of benefit from being veteran. Heavy tanks can maybe ignore some of the lighter AT weapons, but light tanks are pinned by everything anyway so all you get is the extra point of leadership.

[kojibear]

That makes a good lot of sense. Indeed, I doubt there were any tetrarchs of fearsome renown