jrcar Posted November 3, 2001 Share Posted November 3, 2001 Can anyone tell me where the WASP flamethrower carrier can be found in the British organisation? I have seen references to them in the support company of Canadian infantry Battalions, but can find nothing with the Brits. Any info on numbers would also be appreciated. Cheers Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonS Posted November 3, 2001 Share Posted November 3, 2001 From what I can tell, each infantry div had 3 platoons of 6 Wasps in the MMG Bn - one platoon in each MMG Coy. Since Armd Divs only had a MMG Coy (rather than a full bn), they only had a single pn of 6. Jean Boucherys' "The British Soldier" has the following tables: +++++++++++ Independant MMG Coy org: Coy HQ . Mortar Pn (4 x 4.2" mortars) . MG Pn (4 x .303 Vickers) . MG Pn (as above) . MG Pn (as above) . Flamethrower Pn (6 x "Wasp" carriers) +++++++++++ MMG Bn Org: Bn HQ (inclHQ Coy, Signals Pn, and LAD REME) . Mortar Coy . . Mortar Pn (4 x 4.2" Mortars) . . Mortar Pn (as above) . . Mortar Pn (as above) . . Mortar Pn (as above) . MMG Coy . . MG Pn (4 x .303 Vickers) . . MG Pn (as above) . . MG Pn (as above) . MMG Coy (as above) . MMG Coy (as above) +++++++++++ So, the wasps aren't explicitly included in the full bn org. Maybe an oversight? Anyway, from the full bn org it is possible to create three coy orgs - one for each Bde. This is why I suspect there are 3 pns of Wasps. George Forty in "British Army Handbook" makes no reference to them. Hope this helps. JonS [ 11-02-2001: Message edited by: JonS because The Anglophile is bound o be lurking ] [ 11-02-2001: Message edited by: JonS ]</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Dorosh Posted November 3, 2001 Share Posted November 3, 2001 I read just recently about a Canadian infantry battalion and a reference to "its" WASPs. I suspect, like the MMG platoons, that they were parcelled out to infantry battalions as needed? From the history of the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps (paraphrase): <blockquote>quote:</font><hr> Powell and the CO of the North Shores decided to mount two infantry platoons on the tanks, with two companies on foot and the battalion's three 'Wasp' flame-throwers following behind while the Shermans rushed the village. <hr></blockquote> Didn't the Canadians have a different version of the WASP than the Brits? I take it then their distribution was also different? [ 11-02-2001: Message edited by: Michael Dorosh ]</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrcar Posted November 3, 2001 Author Share Posted November 3, 2001 Thanks Guys thats a good start... As stated I found a reference to a WASP platoon (the Canadians used these plus some other flame thrower vehicles) in an Inf BN.... I guessed 3-6... I didn't expect them in the MMG Bn (effectively the equivelant of a support battalion to the Div by the looks of it). Any one else with info? Cheers Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrcar Posted November 3, 2001 Author Share Posted November 3, 2001 Thanks Guys thats a good start... As stated I found a reference to a WASP platoon (the Canadians used these plus some other flame thrower vehicles) in an Inf BN.... I guessed 3-6... I didn't expect them in the MMG Bn (effectively the equivelant of a support battalion to the Div by the looks of it). Any one else with info? Cheers Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Dorosh Posted November 3, 2001 Share Posted November 3, 2001 <blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by jrcar: I didn't expect them in the MMG Bn (effectively the equivelant of a support battalion to the Div by the looks of it). Rob<hr></blockquote> Support Battalions and MG Battalions were the same thing; they used both designations during WW II, but referred to the same thing - a battalion in the Infantry Division that supplied fire support for the 9 infantry battalions. I too would be interested in reading more on WASPs - incidentally, which source did you use for the Canadian establishment? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrcar Posted November 3, 2001 Author Share Posted November 3, 2001 I came accross a wargames website that listed a Canadian Bn organisation for Command Decision rules... They had 1 wsap per Bn in the support coy. Command Decision use 1 veh to represent a pl of 3-5 vehicles usually... That was the best I could find after two days of searching on the web. Cheers Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andreas Posted November 3, 2001 Share Posted November 3, 2001 <blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Michael Dorosh: I read just recently about a Canadian infantry battalion and a reference to "its" WASPs. I suspect, like the MMG platoons, that they were parcelled out to infantry battalions as needed? From the history of the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps (paraphrase): Didn't the Canadians have a different version of the WASP than the Brits? I take it then their distribution was also different? [ 11-02-2001: Message edited by: Michael Dorosh ]<hr></blockquote> Don't know about the different version, but from my reading it is pretty clear that the Wasp was parcelled out, sort of like the poor man's Crocodile. There is a scenario called 'Day of the Wasps' somewhere, depicting the Canadian assault across the Leopold Kanaal, by 7th Brigade (IIRC), and apparently the Canadians had 27 Wasps as support to flame across the Kanaal (they still did not make a lot of headway, these things were no silver bullet) I think if you are depicting a set-piece attack in built-up terrain, or against entrenched Germans, or unusual terrain, you can be excused for bringing one or two to the party for a roast, without it being gamey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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