"Indian Army World War 2 Platoon & Squad organisation?" Topic

Circa 1941, how many men comprised a rifle section in the Indian Army based in Malaya and Singapore?

Was it 8, 10, 11 or 13 men? I've seen references to all. Several players in my group are currently puzzling over their boxes of Perry Desert Rats.

Were they typically equipped with a single Bren per rifle section?

How large was the platoon HQ and were 2" mortars and Boys ATR standard? Were the mortars and ATR deployed alongside HQ?

I also understand that SMGs were scant to absent amongst British Forces in the Far East then, with perhaps only the Argylls getting SMGs in late 1941. Was this to change significantly before the fall of Singapore?

TMP link

They used a similar LMG to the Bren, the Vickers-Berthier.

The description in your link is the 1944 TOE, was it the same in 1941? I thought there had been significant changes across the army during those years

I don't think so. No manpower shortages in India. About the biggest change was the adoption of the PIAT to replace the Boys.
Stens certainly used by the Indian army, so you might include them from mid-war onwards.
Of course the biggest thing to realise is that these are paper organisations and real life would be different from that.

Understand about the paper strengths. We're these 8 or 10 in 1941?

I also see more mention of Lewis LMGs in Burma and Singapore than the Vickers-Berthier. Can I assume a mix of these two and a smattering of Brens?

I think the Indian army would have stuck with the 10 man section. The Australians started with 10 (did they have 11 in the desert?) and then reduced it when they got into jungle fighting. Indian troops of course were also trained for jungle fighting I think from 1943 onwards (and SMG good for that).
Brens gradually replaced the Vickers-Berthier but the VB is still held in reserve in todays Indian army. The Vickers-Berthier was designed to replace the Lewis gun in the British Indian army and manufacture started in 1933.