Part I: 1st Assault Brigade. Here we go again. I've been working on Crabs, Crocodiles, DDs and Kangaroos, but it's not much. Information is pretty thin on the ground to the point where it's really frustrating. I "know" that the information I'm seeking is hidden away somewhere, its just that neither I nor anyone else who's interested has found it yet. Let's start with the best of the stuff and sink into guesswork later. I managed to get at the War Diary of the Westminister Dragoons, which contains a table showing their complete establishment as of December, 1943. We think that there were some changes to this establishment before June 6th, 1944. In particular, the table mentions that each squadron had a "pilot troop," consisting of four "pilot rollers" which we assume to have been Sherman tanks fitted with CIRD (Canadian Indestructible Roller Device), which were presumably used to detect the minefields, before flailing could begin. However these machines were not effective and were almost certainly dropped from the establishment as they are not mentioned in any account of the fighting in Northwest Europe. Here is the CD organization for a Crab Regiment: WESTMINSTER DRAGOONS Troop Quality: VETERAN, Morale 8 REGIMENTAL HEADQUARTERS, with: 1 Command Sherman M4A4 1 ARV 1 Jeep 4 SQUADRONS, each with: 1 Command Sherman M4A4 1 Recon Humber Scout Car 4 Sherman Crabs Notes 1. In reality, there were four troops, each of 5 Crabs. A troop was to be allotted to each of the usual three breaches on a battalion front, with one troop in reserve providing fire support. Of the five Crabs in each troop, three would fail a gap 24' wide through the minefields, while the other two were reserves or provided fire support. As a house rule, a Crab, if given a Full Movement Order, could move 4" per turn clearing a path through a minefield wide enough for other vehicles to follow. 2. Crab gunners were very highly trained expert marksmen who were expected to "post" their 75mm rounds through the slots of bunkers. I suggest that they be given the +1 for Veteran troops, even early in the campaign when they were relatively inexperienced. Duplex Drive Duplex Drive (DDs) are next on the list. Mot much available information here. The 27th Armored Brigade was not part of the 79th Armored Division for the Normandy Landings. From reading various accounts of the fighting it looks like the regiments retained their usual organization, but some of the squadrons were converted to DDs. My guess is that the regiment would look as follows, with the non DD squadrons landing in the follow up waves. ARMORED REGIMENT Troop Quality; EXPERIENCED, Morale 8 HEADQUARTERS SQUADRON, WITH 1 Command Sherman 1 Sherman 105 1 recon M5 Stuart 1 Recon M5 Reece Stuart 2 Recon Humber Scout Cars 1 Crusader AA Tank 1 ARV 2 SQUADRONS, each with: 1 Command Sherman DD 3 Sherman DD 1 SQUADRON, with: 1 Command Shennan 2 Shermans 1 Sherman Firefly Crocodiles Now to the Crocodiles. Fearsome beasties, so much so that I've introduced an extra morale check with a - 1 modifier for troops spotting Crocodiles in their vicinity, or attacked by them. The original Crocodile regiment was the 141st Regiment RAC (The Buffs). At first they were not part of the 79th Armored Division, but were brought under command once command and control, as well as allocation of resources to client states became a problem. Later the 1st Fife and Forfar Yeomanry and the 7th RTR were converted to Crocodiles as well. I have not been able to get any really concrete evidence for the organization of these units, however reading the references, and consulting various people suggests that the organization was very similar to an infantry tankregiment. So what I suggest is the following: CROCODILE TANK REGIMENT: Troop Quality: EXPERIENCED, Morale 8 HEADQUARTERS SQUADRON, with: 1 Command Churchill VII 1 Churchill Crocodile 2 Recon Humber Scout Cars 2 Recon M5 Stuarts 1 ARV 3 SQUADRONS, each with: 1 Command Churchill VIl 3 Churchill Crocodiles Notes 1. The Churchill Crocodile is a normal Churchill VII, except that it tows an armored trailer containing nitrogen gas propellent and 400 gallons of flame fuel. The hull MG is replaced by the flame gun. I fancy that it should be allowed to make more attacks in a game than an Infantry flamethrower stand, though I've decided how many. Once the first attack is made, however, the gas propellent pressure drops fast, so the other attacks must follow quickly, before the pressure is lost. I suggest that the best way to handle it would be to allow it to make as many attacks as possible in the first four turns of its use, and be ruled out of pressure. Resupply is not normally possible on the battlefield. 2. The vehicle was on the Official Secret List. and no Crocodile which is lost in an area that might be subject to an enemy counterattack poses a considerable problem. It must either be recovered, or totally destroyed to prevent it from falling into enemy hands. This should become the priority of the Allied player, to the exclusion of his other victory condition. EDITOR'S NOTE: To ensure total destruction I suggest that you have to bring up an engineer stand to rig demolitions on the vehicle. Ram Kangaroos Now on to the Ram Kangaroos. Things are very difficult here, I have no hard facts at all, save that each Kangaroo can carry a section of infantry, and there are four squadrons within each regiment. After discussions with various people I've come up with the following conjectural organization, which while I must admit is complete fiction, is fairly logical and fits the known facts. RAM KANGAROO REGIMENT: Troop Quality: TRAINED, Morale 8 REGIMENTAL HEADQUARTERS, with: 1 Command Tank (Sherman) 1 Staff Radio Truck 1 ARV 1 Recon Humber Scout Car 4 SQUADRONS, each with: SQUADRON HEADQUARTERS, with: 1 Command Ram Kangaroo 1 Recon Humber Scout Car 4 TROOPS, each with: 1 Command Ram Kangaroo 2 Ram Kangaroos Notes 1. VEHICLE INFORMATION: Vehicle Year Speed Armor Armament Cargo Priest Kangaroo 44 50/25 3/1 T: 1 AAMG 1/L Ram Kangaroo 44 50/25 9/4 H: 1 MB 1/L 2. I have included the Priest Kangeroo just out of interest. They were used by the Canadian Army during Operation Totalise southeast of Caen, and also in Italy. Organization Unknown. 3. It can be seen that a squadron is capable of carrying one infantry battalion, which judging from the references is about right. That's about all then. The latter three organizations are very "provisional" and I may yet get better information on them. If I do I'll redo them and let you know. I've got various "feelers" out-quite a lot of people in what I call the "Tank World" know I'm after this information, and we all tend to help each other, so I haven't given up hope of getting proper information yet. Hope this lot is useful to you. References Flamethrower, Andrew Wilson, William Kimber, 1956/1984 WESTMINSTER DRAGOONS WAR DIARY (Unpublished) Back to Table of Contents -- Command Post Newsletter #5 To Command Post Quarterly List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1991 by Greg Novak. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. 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