The British Motor Battalion, 1940
When 1st Armoured Division was rushed to France in May 1940, it was deployed in a decidedly fragmented fashion. Both of its Motor Battalions, plus an Armoured Regiment and other supporting elements, were rushed to defend the port of Calais, where the composite Brigade they formed was subsequently captured at the end of May 1940.
The Motor Battalion, circa 1940
Battalion Headquarters (5 Officers, 26 men)
Headquarter Company (5 Officers, 116 men), comprised of;
Company HQ (1 Officer, 5 men)
Signals Platoon (1 Officer, 27 men)
Administrative Platoon (3 Officers, 86 men)
Four Motor Companies (4 Officers, 158 men), each comprised of;
Company HQ (2 Officers, 28 men)
Scout Platoon (1 Officer, 41 men)
One Motor Platoon, comprised of;
Platoon HQ (1 Officer, 5 men)
Three Motor Sections, each comprised of 8 men
Two Motor Platoons, each comprised of;
Platoon HQ (6 men)
Three Motor Sections, each comprised of 8 men
Total Strength of 800 all ranks (26 Officers and 774 men)
Points of note
It was intended that one Motor Battalion would be assigned to each Armoured Brigade of an Armoured Division. The Battalion had no organic anti-tank guns or 3-inch mortars, relying on attached armour and artillery units for this type of fire support.
Battalion Headquarters – used the same structure as that of the HQ of the Infantry Battalion. The Motor Battalion version included two scout cars, and added a Technical Officer to help oversee the requirements of vehicle maintenance.
Signals Platoon - as for the Infantry Battalion.
Administrative Platoon - as for the Infantry Battalion, and included the attached Medical Officer and stretcher-bearers.
The Motor Company - the Motor Company was expected to be able to fight independently of its parent Battalion if attached to support an Armoured Regiment. It consisted of a HQ, including a small Administrative element, a Scout Platoon and three Motor Platoons.
The Motor Section was a reduced strength version of the Infantry unit. It was still commanded by a Corporal, assisted by a Lance-corporal, but numbered only six privates. One of these men acted as driver for the 15-cwt truck used to transport the Section, and so was required to stay with the vehicle when his colleagues dismounted. Small arms issue followed the same pattern as elsewhere in the Infantry. Each of the eight men was issued a rifle, including the gunner for the Section's single Bren. Notably, each Section was also authorised a Boys anti-tank rifle, which made for a very high concentration of such weapons. Given the material shortages of early 1940 it seems unlikely that the actual issue matched that of the war establishment.
Platoon HQ was also structured similarly to the Infantry model. The first Platoon in each Company was commanded by an Officer, with a Sergeant, batman, rifleman and driver in charge for the 15-cwt truck, plus an accompanying motorcycle orderly. The Officer and motorcycle orderly each carried a pistol, the remainder all rifles. The Platoon truck also carried a 2-inch mortar, for which there was no dedicated crew at first, though the batman and rifleman could well have acted as such. The second and third Platoons of each Company were each command by Platoon Sergeant Majors, with the batman substituted for a second rifleman.
Company HQ had a large administrative element alongside its command function, and included a scout car.
The Scout Platoon is perhaps the most striking feature of the Battalion and provided each Company with its own Carrier Platoon. Each carrier had a commander, gunner and driver. There were three carriers per Section, plus a motorcycle orderly, and three Sections per platoon. Platoon HQ deployed two more carriers, plus two Scout Cars and two motorcycles. Each carrier and Scout Car had a Bren gun, and each carrier a Boys anti-tank rifle.
Summary
The Motor Battalion in its original form was conceived as a highly mobile unit, but lacked the firepower found in its German Army counterpart, having no integral mortars above 2-inch calibre and no anti-tank guns. Due to the deployment of 1st Armoured Division, the parent formation of the two Motor Battalions deployed, the units were not given the opportunity to engage in the type of mobile warfare they had trained for, finding themselves chained down in what proved to be an ultimately futile defensive action.
Return to...
The British Infantry Battalion