IIRC the UK had commando trained artillery (105mm) and engineers. ...
From WWII. I was refering to interwar with that remark.
IIRC the UK had commando trained artillery (105mm) and engineers. ...
The Royal Navy did do some work on Amphibious ops in the 20s and 30s.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_landing_craft
At the risk of derailing the thread these are the sizes of the UK's and USMC's in 1980 taken from Dunnigan's 'How to Make War'
UK 7,200
US 185,000
How would a RM Expeditionary Force look like?
Would you be able to equip one with the limited manpower available especially aircraft and helicopters?
How would this effect the RN in relation to LPD's & LSL's commissioned?
How would the operation to retake the Falklands pan out with a full RMEF in service? . . . possibly no need for the Para's?
Regards filers
None of this was on the radar for the UK during the 20s and 30s. The experience of Gallipoli had right and truly poisoned the idea of amphibious assault (as opposed to raids) and the UK forces did not want to touch this with a 10 foot pole.
The plans for the exercise were meticulous and included a 15-foot model of the Slapton shoreline. The men were brought ashore in cutters and whalers and in lifeboats. Guns, tanks and lorries were landed from flat-bottomed craft. Tracks of heavy canvass with a heavy wire mesh were laid on the shingle to the water’s edge and these proved sufficient to get machinery across the beach. (Source for this paragraph – clicking on this brings up a pdf of an Information Display from Slapton Village.)