Quote:
Originally Posted by TonyE
Motorised Cavalry Regiment:
-4 Line Squadrons, each of three platoons, each of four sections with 6 men
-1 Recon Squadron with Bicycle plt, tankette plt and MC platoon
-1 HMG Squadron with four MG platoons, each with 4 MGs, and two mortar platoons each with 2 81mm mortars.
-Engineer platoon (four sections)
-AT-Platoon with four guns
-Signals Platoon
-Technical Platoon
-Administrative Platoon
From:
http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ordre_d...walerii_w_1939 (abit further than halfway down the page)
|
That leaves us with a difference of over 200 men and six tankettes between a wiki article with no references or citations and the published data by a WWII era historian with a PhD in military history (with references and primary source information available).
The article *might* be correct for the Warsaw Brigade at *some* point in early September 1939 as it wasn't fully formed and did take on additional attachments from other units. It cannot be considered accurate where the 10th Motorized Cavalry Brigade is concerned unless Dr. Niehorster's data is erroneous in multiple places.
It is cases like this where I find it hard to take wikipedia articles (regardless of nationality) seriously on the details.
Look at it this way for instance, while a Saber Company TOE makes perfect since for a recon unit since not only was recon one of the tasks of a Calvary Saber Company but it is also very similar to the skirmisher (light infantry) role played by the presumed ancestral organization.
When you are talking about a line company, you are no longer talking about light infantry or a skirmish role. You are looking at front line infantry that can take and hold objectives. A 40 something man platoon fits in this role (if a bit light), a 24 man platoon doesn't.
Brian