wanted to strengthen the two-battalion field artillery regiment by creating batteries of six rather than four 75-mm. howitzers and adding a truck-drawn 105-mm. howitzer battalion. To improve mobility, the division needed enough trucks to move horses and equipment to the battlefield. He suggested the elimination of only one organization—headquarters, special troops—which facilitated administration in garrison, but not in the field.[1]
Joyce decided that horse and mechanized units were compatible within a cavalry corps since the 1st Cavalry Division and the 7th Cavalry Brigade (Mechanized) had successfully conducted joint operations during the maneuvers. He urged the Army to maintain a corps that included both types of units. The proportion of horse and mechanized units could vary to meet various tactical situations, but he thought the corps should be strong in artillery and engineers and contain sufficient support troops to enable it to operate with maximum speed, flexibility, and striking power.[2]
The revised cavalry division remained square and was to have 11,676 officers and enlisted men (Chart 13). Divisional cavalry regiments conformed to Joyce's recommendations, but instead of increasing the size of the field artillery regiment, one truck-drawn 105-mm. howitzer battalion and two 75-mm. pack howitzer battalions replaced it. As in the infantry division, the cavalry division received antitank weapons. The new wartime division tables authorized a divisional antitank troop fielding twelve 37-mm. antitank guns and a weapons troop having antitank guns and 81-mm. mortars within each brigade. The engineer, quartermaster (formerly the division train), and medical squadrons were enlarged to meet the needs of the bigger division. Draft, pack, and riding horses were limited to the cavalry brigades and the division artillery, while other elements of the division were motorized. Headquarters, special troops, was eliminated.[3]
As the 1940 Louisiana maneuvers drew to a close and the fall of France appeared imminent, the War Department authorized an increase in the number of active Regular Army infantry divisions and the adoption of the new tables. Between June and August 1940 the Army activated the 4th, 7th, 8th, and 9th Divisions.
Neither those divisions nor the other active divisions had sufficient personnel to meet the new manning levels. The 1st Cavalry Division did not adopt the revised configuration until early in 1941 when it concentrated at Fort Bliss for training.[4]
Organizing Armored Divisions
During the 1940 maneuvers the Army also had tested a provisional mechanized division. After the German invasion of Poland in 1939, Brig. Gen. Adna R. Chaffee had called for "armored" divisions separate from both infantry and cavalry. Chaffee's 7th Cavalry Brigade (Mechanized), Brig. Gen. Bruce Magruder's Provisional Tank Brigade (organized in 1940 with infantry tank units), and the 6th Infantry made up the new unit. At the conclusion of the exercises, Chaffee; Magruder; Col. Alvan C. Gillem, Magruder's executive officer; Col. George S.
- ↑ Ltr, CG, 1st Cavalry Division to TAG, 9 Jul 40, sub: Report on Corps and Army Maneuvers, AGO 320.2 (4–15–40), RG 407, NARA.
- ↑ T/O 70, Infantry Division (Triangular), 1 Nov 1940; T/O 6–80, Division Artillery, Truck Drawn, Infantry Division, 1 Oct 1940; T/O 7–11, Infantry Regiment, 1 Oct 1940; T/O 8–65, Medical Battalion, 1 Oct 1940; Field Manual (FM) 7–5, Infantry, 1940.
- ↑ T/O 2, Cavalry Division, 1 Nov 1940; T/O 2–11, Cavalry Regiment, Horse, 1 Nov 1940; T/O 6-110, Division Artillery, Cavalry Division, Horse, 1 Nov 1940; Ltr, TAG to Chief of all arms and services and other addresses, 13 Sep 40, sub: Cavalry Division, Horse, AG 320.2 Cav (9–11–40)P, AGO 320.2 Cavalry 8–1–40 to 4–30–41 file, RG 407, NARA; "Notes from the Chief of Cavalry," Cavalry Journal 49 (Sep–Oct 1940): 408–11.
- ↑ Ltr, TAG to CG of all Corps Areas and other addresses, 22 Jun 40, sub: Organization and Movement of Units and Cadres in connection with Augmentation to the Army to 280,000, AG 320.2 (6–18–40) M (Ret) M-C, Ltr, TAG to CG of all Corps Areas and other addresses, 20 Jul 40, sub: Organization and Movement of Units and Cadres in Connection with Augmentation of the Army to 375,000, AG 320.2 (7–10–40) M (Ret) M-C, Ltr, TAG to CG of all Corps and Corps Areas, 10 Sep 40, sub: Reorganization of Triangular Divisions, AG 320.2 (8–31–40) M (Ret) M-C, Ltr, and TAG to CG of all Armies, Corps Areas, and other addresses, 13 Jan 41, sub: Constitution and Activation of Units, AG 320.2 (1–7–41) M (Ret) M-C, all AG Reference files, DAMH-HSO; Memo, G-3 for TAG, 8 Jan 41, sub: Concentration of 1 st Cavalry Division at Fort Bliss, Texas and method of filling lower border posts vacated thereby with elements of the 56th Cavalry Brigade, 8 Jan 41, G–4/43327, AG 320.2 (8–26–40), RG 407, NARA; Bertram C. Wright, comp., The 1st Cavalry Division in World War II (Tokyo: Toppan Printing Co., 1947), p. 3; Charles E. Kirkpatrick, An Unknown Future and a Doubtful Present: Writing the Victory Plan of 1941 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1989), pp. 44–47; See Historical Data Cards for 4th, 7th, 8th, and 9th Divisions, DAMH-HSO.
