"US Platoon organisation" Topic

With the release of the Artizan US in Greatcoats I can not resist any longer. Can anyone tell how a US platoon were organised and what the ratio of different weapons were?

Full strenght platoon would officially be three rifle squads and platoon HQ. Full strenght rifle squads would be 12 men, platoon HQ five men (platoon leader, platoon sergeant, platoon scout and two messengers).

For armament, most carried M1 Garand, with each squad being assigned one Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR). One soldier (platoon marksman) might be armed with M1903 Springfield rifle. With bazooka coming available, one man in platoon could be assigned to carry one. Platoon leader would likely have M1 carbine, and there might be some more around, as well as some SMGs.

Griefbringer

Sounds like I can use all the packs in the Artizan range.

Thanks!

Three to four squads of 12 men each. Each squad had a Squad Leader 3 man scout section (with the assistant squad leader leading that section) BAR team of 3 with one BAR or two in later war and 5 riflemen.

That should be right but there is some variation in weapons mix depending on the branch of service.

Jeff

Clarification: the organisation I gave was for a standard infantry force - paras and rangers have differing organisations.

And remember that the actual organisation on the field is not always the same as on TOE; squads might be understrenght, there might be two (or sometimes none) BARs per squad, the bazooka might have been left to the rear if there was no need for it, extra carbines and SMGs might have been obtained and so on.

Griefbringer

The Gamers Guide to WWII Small Unit Organizations and TO&Es, <Battle Honors/ Quality Castings
oldglory15s.com
might be of assistance to you.

Wha? Not an Able, Baker or Charlie in sight?

Check out this link:

link

Look under 'Officer Info:'

Guy

Try this homepage & follow the appropriate links - have a look at the US Army and Example TOE - maybe they've got what you're after....

link

I second paynetoor for the Small Unit guide. Be aware that there are some typos but you'll be hard pressed to find a more comprehensive and cost effective source. Mine has gone ragged with use.

The Bayonet Strength web site (link below) is also an excellent source.

link

Remember too that US Rifle Companies, Armored Infantry Companies, etc. all had different organizations.

Finally, the rules "Face of Battle" also have detailed orbats down to individual level for skirmish games. The orbats require some translation since the authors made the odd choice of listing a company's squads seperately from the platoon HQs (eg rifle companies in FOB are listed as having x3 platoon HQs and 9x rfile squads...)

Tim

The Bayonet Strength website is excellent and their is a U.S. rifle company organization down to individual soldier on there somewhere.

On the notion of paper strength vs understrength, read "If You Survive" by George Wilson. Wilson commanded platoons and Companies in the ETO. His first action was in the St Lo breakout, and on the first day his platoon dropped from 41 to 24 men! At one point his rifle company was down to 15 or so.

there is the yahoo group for WW2 and modern TO&Es too .

link

thomas ( owner )

Thanks all!

"Finally, the rules "Face of Battle" also have detailed orbats down to individual level for skirmish games."

They have occasional mistakes though, when compared to other sources, but in general they are very good - especially the German ones from the basic set. I would say that they are nice added value for money for those who like the rules (I do), but I wouldn't recommend grabbing those products just for those TOEs - you would be better spending money on some purely TOE book (like the one from Zaloga on Red Army).

Griefbringer

The hardscarbblefarm website recommended by Gecoren is the single best resource for this topic. Not only do you get the TOE's you're looking for but also the WW2 small unit tactical manuals as well.

Cheers
Mark