Tank Platoons, c.1962

Started by Raider4, 12 December 2018, 07:00:19 PM

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Duke Speedy of Leighton

Sounds like Soxmis had tape measures!
You may refer to me as: Your Grace, Duke Speedy of Leighton.
2016 Pendraken Painting Competion Participation Prize  (Lucky Dip Catagory) Winner

holdfast

I am coming late to this, for which sorry.
However, it is worth remembering that there is a difference between the peace establishment and the war establishment, and that folk leaving had a reserve service liability which was occasionally invoked.
That was how it was planned to man the extra crewless tanks. Whether the mobilised reservists would have made it in time is anyone's guess and depends on how prepared the politicians were to signal an escalation in readiness by calling up reserves. The difference between PE and WE was in the order of 15% overall but about 20% of officers (to fill the Liaison posts with flanking formations, posts which were seldom filled in peace).
The challenge for most of the time in question is that selective call-up of reserves wasn't possible. There was in effect one big switch on the call which said 'Mobilise reserves'. After 1st Gulf War we got a bit more clever and were starting to mobilise specific categories of specialities.