Chemical Mortar Company puzzle

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Adrian B
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Joined: 26 Jun 2015, 01:41
Location: United Kingdom

Chemical Mortar Company puzzle

#1

Post by Adrian B » 29 Jun 2015, 02:27

While reading the official history of the Chemical Warfare Service, I've come across a bit of a puzzle. In the volume "The Chemical Warfare Service: Chemicals In Combat" (Kleber & Birdsell, 1966, CMH Pub 10-3), page 426 gives the initial (July 1943?) organisation of a Chemical Mortar Company as follows:

"Each Company had 2 platoons, each platoon 2 sections, and each section 3 squads. On the basis of 1 mortar per squad, the battalion compliment of mortars was 48."

So, according to that, each Company had 2 Platoons of 6 mortars. However, just a few pages later on, page 435 makes a reference to a fire mission in October 1943 using "one platoon of 4 mortars". The problem is, in the pages between p426 and p435, there's no mention of any change of organisation! (The only organisational change that does get a mention, and only after that, is the reduction from 4 companies per battalion to 3.)

While I can't find any info on the Chemical Mortar Company T/O for 1943, the 29 September 1944 T/O 3-27 (http://usacac.army.mil/cac2/CGSC/CARL/n ... 44UQMC.pdf) does confirm the organisation then as 3 Platoons of 4 mortars.

So, the question is, does anyone have any accurate info on the early T/O for the Chemical Mortar Companies around the time of formation and their early use in Sicily? Did they indeed start out with 2 Platoons of 6 mortars, and then change to 3 Platoons of 4, as Kleber & Birdsell seem to indicate, or did they always have 3 Platoons of 4 mortars?

Le Page
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Re: Chemical Mortar Company puzzle

#2

Post by Le Page » 29 Jun 2015, 10:09

The following is from an 82d Chemical Mortar Battalion narrative; the time in question is approximately November 1943 or shortly thereafter:
At that time, there were four firing companies in a 4.2-inch mortar battalion, but each company had only two platoons of six mortars each. This would be changed after the action on Bougainville to three platoons, each with four guns. The platoon was the smallest unit feasible of employment in support of an infantry battalion and, once the infantry experienced the very flexible fire support available, the "4-deuces" were in great demand.
http://www.4point2.org/hist-82-p1.htm


Gary Kennedy
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Re: Chemical Mortar Company puzzle

#3

Post by Gary Kennedy » 29 Jun 2015, 19:45

If you have a look around the site linked to above, you should be able to find an outline of the changes in the Mortar Bn org. As below;

http://www.4point2.org/hist-93.htm#chapter-3

"Upon entry in combat each of the mortar battalions was composed of 1,010 men: 36 officers, 1 warrant officer, and 973 enlisted men, 32 distributed among a headquarters, a headquarters company, a medical detachment, and four weapons companies. Each company had 2 platoons, each platoon had two sections, and each section had 3 squads. On the basis of one mortar per squad, the battalion complement of mortars was 48. Transportation of the battalion consisted of 88 2½-ton trucks and 36 vehicles of varying smaller sizes. Chemical mortar carts were present in case of rough terrain. Side arms for the battalion included 820 .45-caliber automatics."

"A change in the table of organization and equipment (TO&E) for the mortar battalion promised an unexpected source of men. Under the existing table, the authorized strength was 1,010; a revised table of September 1943 reduced this number to 622."

"A personnel problem of a different sort had existed even before the battalions entered combat. The revised TO&E of September 1943, it will be recalled, reduced the battalion strength from 1,010 to 622. Battalion commanders were of the opinion that this number was below that required to man, supply, and provide communications for the forty-eight mortars within the unit. Although there was disagreement as to the composition of an appropriate TO&E, all of the commanders considered the 6-man squad too small to keep a mortar in action. A popular remedy was to withdraw several mortars and reinforce the remaining squads with the men thus freed. Lt. Col. Ronald LeV. Martin took more drastic action with the 92nd Battalion. He received permission to eliminate one of the four companies of his unit, thus anticipating the revised TO&E which was to become effective in the fall of 1944."

"During December (1944) the mortar battalions began to reorganize under new tables of organization and equipment Dated 29 September, the revised TO&E converted the battalion to a triangular organization by eliminating Company D. This change had long been advocated by CWS officers, although there had been a recent move to retain the fourth company as a replacement and training unit. The designation of the three companies was changed from “weapons” to “mortar.” Each had three platoons of 4 mortars, or a total of 36 for a battalion; the previous organization provided for 4 companies, each with 2 platoons of 6 mortars, or a total of 48.

"Battalion commanders had long complained of insufficient men; now, despite the reduction in the number of weapons, battalion strength rose from 622 to 672. What formerly had been the headquarters detachment with 63 men was changed to a headquarters company with 155. The inclusion of nine 2½-ton trucks in the new TO&E provided a slight increase in the amount of organic transportation."

So a Coy of 12 weapons was initially divided into two subunits, each then divided into two again, rather than three subunits of four pieces each, as might sound more usual. I'm pretty sure another unit account mentions keeping only two Squads per Section firing, with the third becoming an ammn squad. Also not all units seemed to go onto the Sep44 T/O very quickly, a fair few D Coys being mentioned into early 1945 in the ETO. I nearly tried to get hold of the T/Os a few years back, but didn't, so don't know if the 1943 version is around (most US Army T/Os do seem to be in the archives, though not all).

Gary

Adrian B
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Location: United Kingdom

Re: Chemical Mortar Company puzzle

#4

Post by Adrian B » 29 Jun 2015, 21:02

Thanks. I'd actually spend the afternoon digging around that site and pretty much come up with the same info from other pages there.

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