I like the idea of extra Gurkha battalions, because that would definately be what would be happening. in fact it was one of the things I was thinking of since the begining.
I had thought of other units like the rebirth of the African Rifles that would be a unit similar to the Gurkha's... just drawn from the African Commonwealth states.
As well as units drawn from the other various commonwealth states... due to the extension and expansion of the Cold War, the British Commonwealth of Nations became alot more than a social club. The British Defense Industry got a major boost in the arm by selling hardware to those memberstates to counter the growth of the Med Alliance, Congo Pact, Havana Pact, Beijing Pact, and Baghdad Pact. Each of those alliances grew because the Soviets became the cut-rate weapons suppliers of the world, while no longer providing economic support for revolutions (they left that to the PRC.. the Sino-Soviet War was a completely unexpected war that shouldn't have happened, but when it did... it took EVERYONE by surprise).
One of the things that the British Armed Forces to remember, is that they still have Hong Kong as a Garrison... and have to put forces there after things turn sour with the Beijing Pact when North Korea launches an attack on South Korea and Japan... lot's of things that happen without people understanding why until much later.
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Originally Posted by Rainbow Six
OK...
I have to say that in my opinion without conscription any expansion of the British Army at the end of the 80's / start of the 90's is going to be relatively modest...the military were struggling to keep the units that they had at full strength without raising any new ones. There are various proposed orders of battle for a T2K British military (including one of mine! ) most of which add in a couple of Infantry Battalions - extra Gurkha Battalions are also a popular option on the basis that 1) the Gurkhas always have more applicants than they have places for and 2) it would be a less expensive option for the British Government. Likely candidiates for "resurrection" (again I'm going from memory) were the 4th Battalion, Royal Anglian Regiment (which existed until around 1975), 4th Battalion, Queen's Regiment, and 4th Battalion, Royal Regiment of Fusiliers (as others have already stated I think it's much more likely for existing Regiments to get additional Battalions rather than new formations being raised - tradition and all that...)
Another option would be to add one (or more) TA Armoured Regiments with MBT's, probably Chieftains that would otherwise have been placed in storage (IRL there were five TA Armoured Regiments at the end of the Cold War, none of which were equipped with heavy armour - two were earmarked for the BAOR (2nd Infantry Division) and were equipped primarily with the Fox armoured car and three of which were earmarked for Home Defence and (iirc) equipped primarily with Land Rovers.
During the Cold War the BAOR's strength was four Divisions - 1st, 3rd, and 4th Armoured, all of which were Regular Army Divisions consisting of approximately six - seven armoured Regiments (one Recce and the others MBT) and six infantry Battalions equipped with the Warrior. Additional TA Battalions would be added in time of War (most TA Bns would go to the 4th Dvn, which (I think) was the reserve Division. The other Division was the 2nd Infantry which consisted of one regular Infantry Brigade (24th) in an Airmobile role and two TA Infantry Brigades.
Now, that said, taking on board the fact that this is an alternate setting you could possibly look at adding another Division to the regular order of battle, possibly to serve as some sort of strategic reserve with a mix of armour, airborne, and light / mech Infantry...kind of likethe old Field Forces that existed before the BAOR was restructured at the start of the 80's. You could then form another Division (in addition to the Strategic Reserve Division) after the fighting has started (much the way GDW did with their 5th Division) to give you six Divisions in Europe. |