Ye Olde Cavalry Platoons

[Harry Yeide]

Bob, a question about the WW2 AD you referenced. If they basically doubled up each tank PLT by adding an IN PLT, what did they do with the IN COs? It seems like they would only have 1/2 the maneuver elements if they organized the way you described? Maybe I'm missing something.

 

What I seem to recall about the 5th AD was that it "married" tank and armored-infantry companies (A to A, for example), so they would always work together and come to know and trust one another. I'm not sure there was any real combining of arms within a single unit.

[Richard Lindquist]

What I seem to recall about the 5th AD was that it "married" tank and armored-infantry companies (A to A, for example), so they would always work together and come to know and trust one another. I'm not sure there was any real combining of arms within a single unit.

 

Working with cross-attaching in WWII was still in the process of getting thought out. Some divisions kept more or less permanent groupings of units and some divisions reorganized their task groupings for each action or even for each phase of an action. Some kept one CC tank heavy and the other infantry heavy and some went for exact balance.

[Lyle, Bob]

What I seem to recall about the 5th AD was that it "married" tank and armored-infantry companies (A to A, for example), so they would always work together and come to know and trust one another. I'm not sure there was any real combining of arms within a single unit.

The article c 1947 was quite explict. Permanent ''armored squads''