"Early NATO Cold War Units - WWII in the Modern Era" Topic

Not sure how many of you are aware, or are interested in the 1950s and early 1960s, but in looking over a lot of the organizations for various Cold War armies in NATO, I was struck by how many still fielded a lot of major WWII kit in their units.

So, if you want a new era to pit your WWII Americans in, you can look to Cold War Europe, since there is a surprising number of nations still fielding tons of jeeps, M3 halftracks, M-24 tanks, and other kit. Add in a "newish" Cold War main battle tank, or not, as desired, and you're good to go.

Some of the troops are still issued with M-1 Garand rifles, and/or Enfields, and MG42s (makes a suitable proxy for the West German MG3) during this time too.

Similarly, those T-34/85s and JS-IIIs get a new lease on life too. Use trucks for moving your troops, or give them the "latest" in modern transport, like wheeled BTR-152s, and other early tracked or wheeled APCs.

Remember, the USA was the only industrialized nation that ended the war with their economy and industrial base intact. A modern army is expensive.

Most of the WarPac used the T-34/85, BTR-40, and BTR-152 well into the 80s. Quite a large number of each of those were inherited by the Bundeswehr when the East German Army was dissolved.

In Wiener's "Die Armeen der NATO-Staaten" the following WW2 tanks are show as being still in service (does not include training units):

M24 – NATO countries (French used an M24 w/AMX-13 turret)
M26 – Italy and Turkey
Comet – Indicates that tank is used in Reserve (TA) units. Would like to see some confirmation of this.

NATO training units are shown to be using M5 Stuarts and M4 Shermans (including the Easy 8). I assume in addition to some more current vehicles.

When I was cadre at Fort Knox in the Mid-1960's some New York National Guard trainees said they still had an M4 at their armory being used to familiarize new troops with the workings of a tank.

The book also shows various versions of the M2 and M3 half-tracks being used.

IIRC the French ran at least one regiment of Panthers into the era.

Eire used the Comet into the 1970s.

The 1950s cold war is often overlooked by the Korean War which again is another use for your late WW2 US forces and Brits with the added Brucie bonus of it actually happened. North Koreans of course using many SU76s and T34/85s.

I was always very interested in WWIII taking place in the 1950's.
I would always go for late '40's/early '50's, due to all the WWII kit available and being used. (Hetzers etc)
As the decade went on, all the stuff available to be used in Korean, but wasn't, was being reserved for Europe. So even in Europe you would have the M41 and M47 fairly early. Against the T-44 as the Ultra Modern options.

But Stalin had the Red Army very well honed in '45. Don't want to loose that edge.

rgd1125

Yes Comet in reserve units in UK early 1950's.

Father server with one post his national service.
1950 also have Cromwell, Universal carrier and M10 in BOAR with all the Centurions going to Korea initially.

My collection [20mm] is for late 1944 through to 1960 and it is an interesting period to game.

Excellent info. Thanks for sharing.

Denmark had the M10 Achilles, IIRC, fairly late, plus M24s and M41s.

West Germany used the M41s and M47s, along with the M48s in the late 1950s, when their army was first established.

The M47 continued on with them until the Leopards and Jagdpanzer Kanones replaced them, starting in 1965.

I took a gander at the Suez Crisis, but Britain and France fielded post-war tanks. Still plenty of WWII-era equipment for the Israelis and the Egyptians.

And we've got the UNEF peacekeeping forces, that include the Canadians still with WWII uniforms (except for the American M-1 helmets painted light blue)

is there a list oob of what equipment each nato country had at this stage

I'm sure there was a book by Bruce Rea Taylor on this period. He did a lot of rules for 1/300th scale in the 80's and I think he covered this period including army detailed lists. I've got a copy somewhere but 99% of my books are boxed up in preparation for a move.

For background there's Operation Unthinkable
link

link

Interesting links there Sir Sidney. Any idea what Walker's final conclusion was on the chance for success?

In the wiki article notes the response of the British Chiefs of Staff as 'hazardous' and 'unfeasible'.

Yea, there's an Org booklet by B.R. Taylor that lists TO&Es for 1958, and 1968.

For much of NATO, as listed above, many, many jeeps (some with 106mm recoilless rifles; others with machine guns, or other light weapons), and M3 halftracks, plus the appropriate, or your favorite tank (WWII or Modern). Frequently the modern models for the 1968 orgs.

Soviets/W.P. – trucks, or BTR-152s, plus a few other APCs (BTR-50s, OT-62s – Polish variant of the BTR-50, and some early BTR-60s), and again, you can choose from various tanks (T-34/85, JS-III, IS-10 or IS-10M, T-54/T-55, or Su-100s).