INTRODUCTION

For some time I have been investigating the Australian forces as they appear in Europa. This article presents the first results of my research into the land forces, and incidentally uncovers some more questions about railroad construction and railroad engineers.

John Astell published an OB for the Australian Forces in an article entitled "The Aussies" in ETO #6. 1 have used John's OB as the basis for the OB presented in this article.

Unlike the 1st Australian Imperial Force (its World War I forerunner), the 2nd Australian Imperial Force (AIF) was formed as a Corps; that is, it had a full quota of supporting units and did not need to rely on the British Army for those support units. The Corps units are not shown in John's OB, so I have attempted to fill in the gaps.

So what are the missing Corps units? In Europa terms, the only units that matter are the artillery, the engineers, the railroad engineers, and (probably) the pioneer units. I will also discuss the forestry units (but they could only have a small influence in Their Finest Hour), and a significant "what if" unit, 1 Australian Armoured XX. But first a small diversion.

ALLIED COOPERATION

The commander of the 2nd AIF (Blarney) was given clear direction in writing from the Australian Government that it was to be employed as a national force, and not dispersed across a number of British formations. This was the root cause of many disputes between senior British and Australian commanders, and of the high level (Churchill-Menzies etc) wrangling over the evacuation from Tobruk.

Further, although many of the Australian (and other dominion) commanders were obvious choices for higher command, they were passed over for less senior members of what was known as "the British general's club." Nor was staff work in high level British formations well regarded by the Australians.

Much friction, and many disputes, occurred prior to the Australians suffering any real losses. Although the losses in Greece exacerbated the situation, they did not create it. As a result I think the rule on "precarious" Australians should be reviewed.

Even if the Australians have not had any units in the replacement pool and none are isolated, but they are scattered throughout the Middle East, the Allied player should lose VPs (representing the i nter-govern mental conflict that would have been sure to ensue).

Since the Australians were formally organised as a Corps, I suggest that the Australian forces be issued a Corps counter (I Aus) and the section of Rule 32F2 in War in the Desert be modified as follows:

"Whilst there are more than four REs of Australian units in the theatre, the Allied player loses 1/2 victory point per turn for every non-engineer Australian RE that cannot trace a valid supply line (overland and road elements only) to the I Aus Corps marker in each Allied initial phase.

CORPS ARTILLERY

The Corps artillery was originally planned as two Med Rgts, an AA Rgt, a Lt AA Rgt, and two Field Rgts (2f7th and 2/8th). As usual for Australian units, there was much reassignment during the early part of the war.

The field artillery regiments of the 2nd AIF were numbered the 2/1st to 2/15th inclusive. A medium regiment was also formed. The final assignments were (I think):

6 XX Art: 2/1st, 2/2nd, and 2/3rd Fd Rgt
7 XX Art: 2/4th, 2/5th, and 2/6th Fd Rgt
8 XX Art: 2/10th, 2/14th, and 2/15th Fd Rgt
9 XX Art: 2/7th, 2/8th, and 2/12th Fd Rgt
I Corps: 2/9th, 2/11th, and 2/13th Fd Rgt M, 2/1st Med Rgt

The 2/10th and 2/15th were in Malaya with the 8 Aus XX and captured there along with it. The 2/14th was in Darwin during the Malayan campaign and was never sent to the Middle East. The rest were in the Middle East. The Field Rgts were organised on the British pattern, being equipped with twenty-four 25 pdrs. In the early part of the war, they were often equipped with a mixture of 18 pdrs and 4.50 howitzers, and the 2/15th was equipped with 3" mortars on arrival in Singapore.

The 2/1st Med Rgt had been for a time the 2/13th Fd Rgt and I do not think the 2/13th was subsequently reformed. The 2/1st Med Rgt was sent to the Middle East for the Syrian campaign, arriving too late to participate. It was equipped with Schneider 155mm C17S. I have not found any evidence that the second planned medium regiment was formed.

I do not yet know if the Corps AA and Lt AA Rgts were formed.

In any case at least three Rgts (Bn sized units) of artillery represent a Corps level asset, perhaps a 3-8 Art X, I Aus.

ENGINEERING UNITS

By March of 41, all the engineering units had arrived in the Middle East. They were:

6 XX Eng: 2/22nd Fd Pk Coy, 2/11st, 2/2nd, and 2/8th Fd Coy
7 XX Eng: 2/25th Fd Pk Coy, 2/4th, 2/5th, and 2/6th Fd Coy
9 XX Eng: 2/24th Fd Pk Coy, 2/3rd, 217th and, 2/13th Fd Coy
I Corps: 2/23rd Fd Pk Coy, 2/9th, 2/14th, 2/15th, and 2/16th Fd Coy, I Aus Corps Petrol Coy

2/1st Fd Park Coy was converted to 2/13th Fd Coy, and 2/2nd through 2/5th were renumbered to 2/22nd through 2/25th to avoid confusion with the Fd Coys.

The 8 XX Eng at this time were: 2/26th Fd Pk Coy (perhaps not renumbered), 2/10th Fd Coy, 2/ 1 1th Fd Coy, 2/12th Fd Coy. These latter 8 XX units were not deployed to the Middle East.

So what are we left with? Four Fd Eng Coy, a Fd Park Coy and a Petrol Coy. Together these are the equivalent of a Bn.

Each company consisted of HQ and four sections (later called platoons). Each section (65 men of all ranks) had four sub-sections, each of 12 men under an NCO, and each with its own 3-ton truck. Every man had a place in a vehicle, with room for his kit and hand tools. In addition the section had tool lorries. Sub-sections specialised to some extent, but all were trained as infantry. Sub- sections were sufficiently self-contained to be detached for days at a time in support of an Inf Bn.

My guess at a rating would be a 1-8 Mot Eng Bn, I Aus.

RAILROAD ENGINEERS

The railroad engineers were also Corps units, but I will treat them separately due to their specialised nature. The Railway Construction and Maintenance Group (RCMG) was authorised 28 Feb 40, the units being raised in April.

The HQ, 2/2nd Railway Construction Coy (RCC) and half of the 2/3rd RCC were diverted to the UK, arriving in mid July. After being used for siding construction and repair of bomb damaged tracks, they sailed for the Middle East in January 41, arriving at the Canal 10 March 41.

The 2/1st Railway Survey Coy, the 2/1st RCC and the other half of 2/3rd RCC were delayed in Fremantle, reaching the Middle East in October 40. Work included reconditioning of the Afula- Nablus-Talkarm railway, an ammo depot at Wadi Sarar, 30 miles of sidings at Rafa, and other sidings at Barbara.

Tasks of the reassembled RCMG included work on the Kantara East-El Shatt railway following mining of the Suez Canal in April 41 (the railway on the western side of the canal was shown to be unable to cope), handed over to SA Engineering Corps later; work on the Western Desert railway, particularly near Amiriya; and construction of a rail line from Ma'an to Naqb Ashtar using material from the 70 miles of the Ma'an to Saudi Arabia line destroyed by Lawrence in WW1 which linked up with the road from Naqb Ashtar to Aqaba built by the Royal Engineers, and the port of Aqaba built by the NZ engineers in case the canal zone was captured.

Also during Aug 1941, the 2/1st and 2/2nd Boring Sections were formed in Syria and Palestine respectively. They assisted with tunneling.

The RCMG built the Beirut-Tripoli section (66 miles) of the Haifa-Tripoli railway, supported by labourers including African Auxiliary Pioneers from Basutoland, Bechuanaland and Swaziland. The decision to build the line was taken in 1940, and the 280 km stretch was completed in less than 1 year, 6 months ahead of schedule. The project required considerable tunneling and bridging. The Haifa-Beirut section was built by the SA Engineering Corps and NZ Engineers. The RCMG moved to Syria between Sep 41 and Mar 42. Two tunnels in the Australian section were driven by 61st Tunnelling Coy SAEC, specially raised from experienced Rand miners. The route was opened 20 Dec 42 and put to use the next day.

The Railway Construction Company organization provided for dilution by unskilled labour of 4:1, in practice generally 10:1 and sometimes 30:1. RCMG (about 1,000 all ranks) supervised 2100 African Auxiliary Pioneers, and up to 8,000 skilled and unskilled civilian labourers during construction of Beirut to Tripoli line.

On 28 Jan 43 2/1st and 2/3rd Rlwy Cons Coys embarked at Suez with RCMG HO for Australia. The rest sailed a few days later.

So, ignoring the impact of a half Bn of RR engineers in the UK in 1940, we can say that by 10 Mar 41 there was an Australian RR engineer Bn in the Middle East. My guess at a rating would be 0-6 RR Eng Bn, RCMG.

THOUGHTS ON RAILROAD CONSTRUCTION

The RCMG does raise a few interesting questions, particularly in light of John Astell's 'Rails through the Russiasm in TEN 7. Clearly in the Levant construction units did get Ninto the railroad business" even if this was "a major distortion of their function". Indeed the Australian formation was designed to be diluted with unskilled labour, and was so used. How does this stack up against the latest prohibition on using construction units together with RR engineers for quick construction?

I suggest that for the Australian units at least we solve the problem by adding an "available for assembly" option to the OB, that allows the Commonwealth player to assemble the Australian RR eng unit and any British construction brigade into a RR Engineer brigade. The brigade could breakdown into four RR Engineer battalions as for the Germans. Then we wouldn't need a special rule allowing a construction unit to assist the Australian RR Engineer.

The four Bns thus formed could be designated I/RCMG through IV/RCMG, and rated as 0-6 RR Eng II's.

How do we account for construction of roads, railroads, and ports such as completed by the Allies to give them an alternative supply route through Aqaba in the event the Canal zone was lost? Where are the NZ and SA Eng units?

A Word on Terrain

Under SE rules, the Levant RR could not be built, as one hex is a mountain hex. In fact it was. Conversely, the existing narrow gauge line to Damas could be regauged easily under SE rules, yet the Allies discarded this route as too difficult for the standard gauge link and chose the coast route (really only a road) instead. We can fix the first of these issues by prohibiting upgrades in hexes containing ONLY the mountain terrain symbol, or across mountain hexsides. The second is probably not fixable unless we begin to distinguish between roads, minor railroads and major railroads.

AUSTRALIAN PIONEERS AND MG BNS

The pioneers and MG Bns in the Australian army were Corps units, but there was normally one of each attached to each Infantry Division. The pioneers were not just engineers but full fledged infantry battalions, serving in the line at Tobruk and in the assault on the fortress of Merdjayoun in Syria, for example. I am surprised the Pnr Bns are not specifically represented as the divisions are only rated as 7-8. For example, to compare the components of 9 Aus XX, 51 Brit XX and 44 Brit XX at Alamein shows apart from the basic nine battalions of infantry in the three brigades and the three regiments of artillery:

9 Aus XX: 9 Aus Div Cav Rgt, 2/2nd (MG) Bn, 2/3rd Aus Pnr Bn.
44 Brit XX: 6 Cheshire (MG) Bn
51 Brit XX: 1/7 Mx (MG) Bn, 51 Recce Rgt

44 XX is rated 7-8, 51st is rated 8-8. Even without the 2/3rd Pnr it looks as though 9 Aus XX should rate as 8-8. (By the way 44 XX, a first line territorial division, was disbanded in the Middle East 31 Jan 43. Also 51 XX appearing in *WitD* is a second line territorial division redesignated from 9 XX to 51 XX to replace the 51 regular XX lost in France which appears in FoF). In the early part of the game 2 NZ division rates as 8-8 on the basis of the extra 28 (Maori) Infantry Bn.

I would also complain on behalf of 1 SA division, which had an Armd Car Rgt and two MG Bns.

So if the pioneers are not in the divisions where are they? Re-rating the divisions would deny the use of these as engineers, particularly now that divisional engineers have been scrapped. It may be better to represent them as a 2-8 Eng X, I Aus Pnr or even to bracket them with the Corps engineers as a 3-8 Eng X, I Aus Pnr. Since they were not as mobile as the Corps engineers, I incline to the former.

FORESTRY UNITS

Two companies of the forestry group were raised in April 1940, and were in the UK by mid July, forming a part of the anti- invasion forces. In Sep 40 they were sent north to their proper task. The third did not arrive until 1941, when the group was formed. These units were trained as infantry, with emergency stations on the East Coast, and should be considered when valuing other units in the area. I do not know if the large numbers of Canadian forestry troops should be similarly regarded.

"What If" Units: 1 AUS ARMD XX and 8 XX