Gran Chaco War- Bolivian And Paraguayan Military Forces

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Helen Bachaus
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Re: Gran Chaco War- Bolivian And Paraguayan Military Forces

#61

Post by Helen Bachaus » 06 Dec 2011, 21:10

Thank you Alcantur for your information, that's very useful.

Cheers,

Helen

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pikeshot1600
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Re: Gran Chaco War- Bolivian And Paraguayan Military Forces

#62

Post by pikeshot1600 » 30 Dec 2011, 21:00

Obscure as it is, I too am interested in the Chaco War and in the armies that fought it. There is on page 1 an Ord-bat of the Bolivian army at the beginning of the war. As I have not seen one for the Paraguayan army, I will add it here. this is also for the beginning of the war, so it applies only for summer, 1932.

I can only identify five infantry regiments, two cavalry regiments and rudimentary formations of artillery and "sappers."

In 1931, in anticipation of open conflict over the Chaco, an infantry division was formed by the Paraguayan army. In 1932, a second division was formed. By June, 1932, a third was partially forming, and a cavalry division was projected.

The divisions were organized as follows:

- Primera Division (HQ at Isla Po'i, north of Boqueron):

Regto. Infanteria 2
Regto. Infanteria 4
Regto. Caballeria 2
Grupo Artilleria 2
Batln. Zapadores 1

- Segunda Division (HQ at Concepcion):

Regto. Infanteria 1
Regto. Infanteria 3
Grupo Artilleria 1

- Tercera Division (HQ at Puerto Pacheco, in the Chaco Borreal on the Rio Paraguay):

Regto. Infanteria 5
Naval detachment Fuerte Olimpo - naval infantry and artillery

- Strategic reserve as of June, 1932 (at Villa Hayes, north of Asuncion):

Regto. Caballeria 1

R.C. 1 was to combine with an as yet unformed R.C. 3 to comprise the Primera Division de Caballeria.

The infantry regiments were each to comprise three batallions, numbered I, II, III. The batallions had three or four companies, but these must have been small as the entire strength of R.I. 2 and 4 were each only 631 at the beginning of the war. The authorized strength of an R.I. was 1605, but that seems never to have been attained. There were AFAIK 22 R.I. formed during the war, numbered 1 - 21 and 26, but with no No. 22 - 25.

The cavalry regiments were small, AFAIK not more than 250 to 275 men in two squadrons. The authorized strength was 770, it seems not attained until later. The bulk of the cavalry as the war proceeded fought dismounted as infantry, but retaining their unit designations.

I have not found a reliable army list, but there was a R.C. 7 formed from Argentine volunteers. (It seems there were as many as 15 R.C. formed during the war.)

The artillery seems to have comprised one regiment divided into grupos. The strength of Grupo de Artilleria 2 with the 1st Division was a mere 170 men; the strength of G.A. 1 was 300 at the beginning of the war. Each grupo had an authorized establishment of 415 men, which seems to have been reached later in 1932.

The small Paraguayan navy provided about 250 infantry and artillery troops for the 3rd Division in June, 1932. There was no artillery grupo for that division as yet, but some naval personnel had experience in handling artillery.

The equipment of the artillery comprised 24 modern French Schneider Mle1927 75mm mountain guns, eight Schneider Mle1927 105mm mountain howitzers and 24 modern Stokes-Brandt 81mm mortars. There were also 17 older 75mm mountain guns - Krupps, and Vickers and Armstrongs.

Mountain artillery was effective in the terrain of the Chaco as it did not require extensive fields of fire to be effective, and the guns could be disassembled for mule transport in areas where there were no real roads. Mortars provided more economical high-angle fire support than expensive artillery pieces, as only eight howitzers had been purchased from France.

I have found no specific information on battery organization as far as numbers or composition, so any information would be helpful there. I do not know what artillery support was envisioned for the cavalry division.

The engineers initially were nearly non existent, with one sapper batallion of only 100 men with the 1st Division. The Chaco War became a war of engineers however, and four regiments were eventually formed. Each engineer regiment was officially the same size and configuration as an infantry regiment.

Field fortifications consisting of earthworks reinforced by timbers and connected by trench systems typified both armies, with useful support for the Paraguayans being provided by a number of former Russian White Army officers who were experienced engineers in WW I. Additionally, much effort was directed into drilling wells and providing water for the troops in an extremely dry terrain where ground water was limited.

As far as I can tell, at least initially, signals was the responsibility of the engineers, but I do not have any source for that. Again, any help will be appreciated.

The army's medical service was provided by surgeons on regimental establishments, with nursing and orderly services, as well as much of the supplies and field hospital facilities, being provided by the Red Cross.

*****

The infantry weapons have been well covered, and there have been posts specific to the air war in the Chaco, so I will not mention the air assets which were a part of the Paraguay army, and the navy, at this time.

The Paraguayan army had no armored vehicles at the beginning of the war. I am not sure if that was due at the time to tactical thinking or due to cost. In any event, the Paraguay army was less than impressed by the usefulness of armor in the Chaco. The thick, tough underbrush and difficulty in tranporting fuel into the interior offset what advantage the Bolivians had by having a handfull of tanks and tankettes. Paraguay retained mounted cavalry units well into the post WW II years, not having tanks until the 1950s.

Interesting stuff. I am continually amazed at how fascinating these more obscure wars are.


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