DBS
Posts: 513
Joined: 4/29/2004 Status: offline
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Regarding debate over CW divisions' equipment and organisation for Op Coronet... For what it is worth, I have quickly trawled through the relevant volumes of the British, Australian, New Zealand and Canadian Official Histories. The British OH is very poor on the the planned UK involvement in Coronet, other than noting a July 45 directive to Mountbatten warning him that the contribution was likely to be 3-5 divisions (plus a small tac air force if practicable), with assault lift for two of them coming from his area. The Australian OH has almost nothing. The New Zealand OH mentions briefly preparedness to contribute and HQ and two brigade groups (ie effectively a Div- ) plus ten squadrons but then states that early planning was quickly overtaken by events and switched to planning the contribution to the Occupation Force. The Canadian OH specifically agrees with Blackhorse, with agreement as early as November 1944 that 6th Canadian Division be equipped and organised (or perhaps more correctly have its units renamed) along US lines. So the Div Recce Regt became a Squadron, etc. But of course, that was perhaps the one Division which was very clearly going to come via CONUS to reach the operational area. I sympathise entirely with mariandavid with regards to pragmatism vs MacArthurism. The CW were only supposed to come into play in 1946, for Coronet - no land force involvement in Olympic. Agreements might have been made in principle, but the logistic realities were perhaps not as yet fully realised in July/August 45. The CW forces in SEAC were undergoing sufficient trauma already with the implementation of the Python repatriation commitment - too many experienced British troops were being emptied out prematurely to meet political promises, such that Zipper was endangered, let alone any further reorganisation to keep Doug happy... So I would incline to the view that forces coming into theatre via the USA or Canada (ie 3rd UK and 6th Canadian) might well have been Americanised, up to a point, but reinforcements such as 6th Airborne which arrived in SEAC via the Med would not have been so readily messed with. David
< Message edited by DBS -- 8/18/2009 4:38:12 PM >
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