"1917/18 British Infantry Platoon Organisation" Topic

Can anyone tell me how a British Infantry Platoon was organised in 1917/18?

I have evidence that there were 4 sections, 2 rifle, 1 Bombers and 1 Lewis each of 1 NCO and 6 men. 7 men sections seems very low in my opinion. Given that i have read also that Platoons were upwards of 60 men I cant seem to get my figures to add up in that the aforementioned Platoon Organisation would give approximately 32 with Platoon Command included.

Bob

I think you are right in saying they organised into 4 sections although I thought a section was eight men. By late 1917 the army had reorganised to from four to three battalion brigades due to manpower shortages and platoon sizes would have shrunk as well so a 32 man platoon is entirely feasable. It would also make command and control easier and a batallion would have a sizable number of men in support or specalist duties not to mention casualties.

Rob

Essentially it was up to the company commander how to organise their platoons, there were some suggested organisations with the overall numerical strength anything between 25 and 50.

The suggested organisation would generally have four sections, one or two of which would be Lewis sections (depending on allocation of guns) or possibly a rifle grenade section ie two fire sections of one type or another. The other two sections were assault sections, either one rifle and one bomber or possibly just two rifle sections (with bombers integrated). A 1918 platoon would most likely have two Lewis sections and two rifle sections.

Some company COs liked to brigade all the Lewis guns together, as did some battalion COs. They would also frequently 'obtain' Vickers guns for dedicated SFMG support.

The reprint of the 1917 Instructions for Platoons manual is quite instructive, I picked mine up from Helion (I think) bundled with the 1916 Divisional operations manual. Basic fire and movement – fire sections pin, assault sections close and destroy.

Failing that 'The War the Infantry Knew' by JC Dunn has a lot about the actual organisation the platoons and companies in his battalion later in the war.

I can recomend "The War the Infantry Knew" as well, its also worth reading "Old Soldiers Never Die" by Frank Richards who was a private in the same battalion.

32 in a platoon by 1918 is pretty generous. I've seen platoon sizes from pictures sometimes at about 12-15. During the German offensives in March 1918 and in the last Hundred Days I'm sure it was a rare thing if a front line platoons was ever near a strength of 50.

Some considerable variation both by unit and indeed over the period you describe.

The training pamphlet SS 143 'Instructions for the Training of Platoon Officers in the Offensive'in 1917 laid down the following 'official' platoon organisation.

The platoon was broken into 4 sections. A rifle section of nine men,nominally including a scout and a sniper; a bombing(grenade) section of five men ( two expert bombers, 3 ammunition carriers; a rifle grenade section of nine (4 rifle grenadiers and 5 riflemen) and a Lewis gun section with a further 9 men.

In July 1918 the specialised bombing and rifle grenade sections were abolished and the platoon organised as standardised sections, containing a mix of weapons. By this period it was common to have two Lewis guns per platoon.

Whilst these represent the oficial 'book' organisations number of factors need to be borne in mind. Firstly casualaties would reduce effective numbers.

Secondly it was a universal practice in the British Army to have 'men left out of battle'. This was a way of preserving a cadre of experienced men in the event of heavy casualties. Whilst this generally involved specialists such as signallers it was not unknown for it to include men with a specialisation who were assigned to the rifle platoons.

Thirdly and quite importantly, the concept of doctrine was not something universally applied throughout the army. Training instructions were frequently promulgated at different levels from army wide down to units and were more commonly seen as advisory rather than the writ of God. In 1917 the platoon structure may indeed have had fewer sections depending on the numbers available and the whim of the division or even battalion commander.

Sir Ivor Maxse, the author of a number of training manuals and a key figure in the development of battle training, was advocating 4 generalist sections with a mix of bombers, rifle grenadiers and riflemen as early as Feb 1917 around the time the official guide came out. Maxse's view on the structure of the sections was:

"The section as a fighting unit will consist of one NCO and 6 men no more no less"

The organisation,of 4 equal sections ultimately prevailed, in no small part due to Maxse becoming Director General of training in 1918.

So if you organise around four sections to the platoon, with 7- 8 man sections, you won't to too far off the mark.

Two tomes worth buying are Paddy Griffith's 'Battle Tactics of the Western Front' and Bidwell and Graham's 'FirePower. The British Army Weapons and Theories of Firepower 1904-1945' both are now available in softback editions.

"I'm sure it was a rare thing if a front line platoons was ever near a strength of 50."

It was fairly common to amalgamate subunits to form full strength ones, so e.g. a battalion with only 200 men left might operate as two weak companies each with four 25 man platoons or conceivably one fat company with four 50 man platoons.

BTW platoons never reached an establishment of 50 at any point 1914-1918, this is a confusion withe the old pre-war 8 company organisation and its half companies. The 1914 organisation called for four X 10 man sections and a small platoon headquarters. The nominal 200 + on the rolls of each company, includes bandsmen/stretcher bearers, signallers, storesmen, CQMs, CSMs etc etc.

>A 1918 platoon would most likely have
>two Lewis sections and two rifle sections.

Interesting.
How was the crew breakdown between Lewis
gunners and ammo carriers ?
BTW, how many rounds were the latter
approximatively supplied with ?

>The platoon was broken into 4 sections.
>A rifle section of nine men,nominally
>including a scout and a sniper; a bombing(grenade)
>section of five men ( two expert bombers, 3
>ammunition carriers; a rifle grenade section
>of nine (4 rifle grenadiers and 5 riflemen)
>and a Lewis gun section with a further 9 men.

Very similar to the French 1916/1917 platoon TOE.

>this is a confusion withe the old pre-war
>8 company organisation and its half companies

This reform seemingly met with some
strong resistance.
I've read lately a much telling comment from a
British high ranking officer in the April 1914
issue of 'Journal des Sciences Militaires'

>In July 1918 the specialised bombing and
>rifle grenade sections were abolished and
>the platoon organised as standardised sections,
>containing a mix of weapons. By this period
>it was common to have two Lewis guns per platoon.

When was the 2nd Lewis issuing completed ?
BTW, with two Lewis guns and four sections,
half of these remained somehow 'specialized'
as fire support sections, didn't they ?

"This reform seemingly met with some
strong resistance.
I've read lately a much telling comment from a
British high ranking officer in the April 1914
issue of 'Journal des Sciences Militaires'"

That may well be so, many reforms are but is most certainly what the BEF went to war with.

Lewis guns scale of issue was progessively increased throughout the war. The original July 1915 scale of issue was 4 per battalion, a direct swap for the Vickers and something that accounted for the initial lack of popularity of the weapon.

By June 1916 the number had risen to 16 per battalion but they were still officially held as company weapons. SS 143, circulated at the start of 1917 made the assumption that all platoons should have been operating on a scale of one gun per platoon. Maxse whilst still commander of 18 Div was seeking a scale of issue of two per platoon. I can't tell you precisely when two platoon became the book strength but given the rate of proliferation it would be fair to assume that by early to mid 1918 two guns per platoon should have been arrived at. No doubt Maxse would have pushed it as Director- general of training.

Specialisation. My understanding is that the official (this is a somewhat nebulous term in the context of my earlier post) was to have 4 near identical sections with a mix of riflemen, bombers and rifle grenadiers in all. Two were to be armed with Lewis guns and I suppose the actual ratios changed, as additional ammunition numbers would have been required in those sections holding a Lewis. You are right would have meant they were effectively the fire support teams of the platoon and this reflected actual practice.

The intention was for the platoon to be a much more flexible organisation and by the middle of 1918 there was a growing awareness that too much reliance was being placed on the grenade and that the move to more open warfare would require a reversion to empahsis on more traditional means of musketry.

> That may well be so, many reforms are
> but is most certainly what the BEF
> went to war with.

AFAIC, I don't remember having expressed
any doubt about this.
Bruce's 'Machine guns of the first World War'
gives pretty detailed information on both
Lewis and Vickers dotation issues.
Thanks for bringing further data.

"How was the crew breakdown between Lewis
gunners and ammo carriers ?"

The 1917 manual suggests the Lewis section had two gunners to man the gun and 6 others and an NCO in command.

The Lewis gunners carry 50 rounds SAA each, the others 120 rounds. In addition the section has a total of 30 drum magazines to distribute between themselves, but using two haversacks one man could carry up to five drums. Lewis gun drums are heavy, which is why you need so many carriers – so you've got 1 NCO commanding the section, two gunners and six carriers. Can't remember the capacity of Lewis mags – 100 rounds ea??

It was pretty common to have two guns per platoon by 1918. In Dunns book they recount that they had so many Lewis guns and so few men in one attack in late 1918 that they stashed all the spare guns in a knocked out tank as you needed a minimum number of men to operate the guns and carry the ammo.

Martin,

Thanks a lot for the update on the Lewis
section breakdown.

>Can't remember the capacity of Lewis
>mags – 100 rounds ea??

Wasn't 48 rounds ?

Marc

I think it was nearer 48 rather than 100.

To all of you, thanks for all the info, just been mixing and matching and matching and mixing my own platoon and based on whats been said i can almost field 2 platoons with supporting Vickers, Stokes and Toffee apple mortars!

Watch out Bosche here we come ;-))

Bob

"I think it was nearer 48 rather than 100. "

As I said, I couldn't remember. I guess the drums would be pre-loaded which means the carriers are lugging 360 rounds each including their rifle ammo. No wonder the Lewis guns often lagged behind….

It was also sometimes the case that a long piece of rope was tied to the Lewis gun so that if the gunner was hit the valuable weapon could be retrieved (although it would need a good clean!). I think this was more a 1916 thing when guns were in shorter supply.

>Watch out Bosche here we come ;-))

They shall not pass ;-)