42 Armoured Infantry Brigade • 42 Pantserinfanteriebrigade

Last updated: 15.05.2017

42 Armoured Infantry Brigade
42 Pantserinfanteriebrigade (42 Painfbrig)

Unit	Main Equipment	Location	Peace Strength	War Strength
Staff and Staff Company 42 Armoured Infantry Brigade		Assen	26/32/109 (167)	32/34/148/2 (216)
43 Armoured Infantry Battalion [a]	YP-408	Assen	36/108/490 (634)	41/117/661/2 (821)
45 Armoured Infantry Battalion	YP-408	Steenwijk	36/108/490 (634)	41/117/661/2 (821)
44 Armoured Infantry Battalion [b]	YP-408	Zuidlaren	36/108/490 (634)	41/117/661/2 (821)
42 Armoured Antitank Company	YPR-765 PRAT	Darp	7/21/82 (110)	9/26/135 (170)
57 Tank Battalion [c]	Centurion Mk 5/2, Leopard 2	–	–	36/96/433/2 (567)
43 Armoured Engineer Company [d]		–	–	9/25/183 (217)
42 Field Artillery Battalion	M109A2/A3	Assen	36/90/304 (430)	31/91/438/2 (562)
42 Brigade Supply Company		Vierhouten	6/21/121 (148)	8/29/287 (324)
42 Brigade Repair Company		Assen	8/49/189 (246)	8/47/182 (237)
42 Brigade Medical Company		Appingedam	12/18/118 (148)	19/21/144/2 (186)

42 Armoured Infantry Brigade Peace Strength: 203/555/2393 (3151)

42 Armoured Infantry Brigade War Strength: 234/603/3272/12 (4121)

Notes

a.	Would possibly detach an armoured infantry platoon to 111 Special Assignments Platoon in wartime.¹
b.	Peacetime organisation; under command of 52 Armoured Infantry Brigade in wartime.²
c.	57 Tank Battalion (RIM) was transitioning from Centurion Mk 5/2 to Leopard 2, whilst concurrently adopting a new organisation type which would add a fourth tank squadron to the battalion's strength (the old battalion organisation is described in detail here). B Squadron was re-equipped in November 1985, A and C Squadron were re-equipped in January and March 1986 respectively. D Squadron would be added in May 1986, in which month the Staff and Support Squadron would probably transition as well.³ A, B and C Squadron were filled by mobilisable squadrons that had fulfilled their active-duty period in 43 Tank Battalion (Leopard 2) up to twenty months prior to mobilisation,⁴ and in 101 Tank Battalion (Centurion Mk 5/2) between four and twenty months prior to mobilisation. Once the re-equipment was completed the battalion would be filled by 43 Tank Battalion entirely. D Squadron, not falling under the RIM system, would be filled by the mobilisable personnel of A Squadron for ten months after their twenty-month RIM period in that unit had expired.^{4 5 8}
d.	RIM company, filled by mobilisable platoons that had fulfilled their active-duty period in 42 Armoured Engineer Company between four and twenty months prior to mobilisation.^{6 8} The company was placed on active-duty in September 1986 after the disbandment of 111 Special Assignments Platoon.⁷

Combat Formations

Following the Royal Army's tactical doctrine and established modus operandi the brigade would not fight in the organic order of battle displayed above but form combined-arms battle groups, as illustrated in Unit Organisation and Equipment, Mixed Battalions and Company Teams.

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1.		The battalion had been permanently assigned to provide such detachment in 1977; whether this assignment was still in effect in 1985 is unknown to me. See further 101 Engineer Combat Group, note (g) and footnote 10.
2.		Regarding the peacetime organisation of 44 Armoured Infantry Battalion, the official orders of battle show this unit to have three rather than the usual two armoured infantry companies on active duty between 1985 and 1989 (the third company normally being on Short Leave). NIMH 430, inv. nrs. 54 t/m 64 (Slagordes KL stand 1 juli 1985 t/m stand 1 januari 1990). Further research has shown this to be a (rather persistent) error in the files. A document on the reconstitution of the battalion after its return from Lebanon (Dutchbatt, UNIFIL, 1979-1983) makes no mention of anything out of the ordinary in terms of organisation or readiness. NL-HaNA 2.13.182, inv.nr. 570, agendapunt 1 en fiche "Stand van zaken m.b.t. formeren 44 Painfbat" d.d. 5 december 1983. The error was further confirmed by Colonel G.I. Onderstal (Rtd.), battalion commander from 1986 to 1988 (interview 23.12.2013), and Colonel A. de Munnik, battalion commander from 1990 to 1992 (email 10.06.2013). Consequently I have disregarded the battalion's peacetime strength as given by the official orders of battle, and replaced it by the peacetime strength of identical unit types (e.g. 43 and 45 Armoured Infantry Battalion). Thanks to both colonels and to mr. T.W. Brocades Zaalberg of the Netherlands Institute of Military History (NIMH).
3.		SSA-MvD, CLAS/BLS 7486, Memorandum Realisatie Legerplan 149-6F d.d. 10 Juli 1985.
4.		As 43 Tank Battalion had no squadron on Short Leave, the conscript personnel of its three tank squadrons would skip the usual four to six-month Short Leave period and pass straight into 57 Tank Battalion (RIM) on completion of their active-duty period. The Short Leave period was added to the fourteen to sixteen-month RIM period, thus expanding the latter to up to twenty monhs.
5.		NIMH 205A/10, Aflossing van mobilisabele eenheden en -aanvullingen d.d. 11 november 1983. Ibid., d.d. 17 juni 1985. Ibid., Bijlage B bij aantekenvel Afd Mob nr Mob/Intern/1346/76/Ong dd. 4 feb 1976, bijgewerkt 280881. The ten-month cycle of D Squadron: Selles, Personele vulling, 457.
6.		NIMH 205A/10, Aflossing van mobilisabele eenheden en -aanvullingen d.d. 11 november 1983. Ibid., d.d. 17 juni 1985.
7.		Elands et al., 250 jaar, 270. Hoffenaar en Schoenmaker, Met de blik, 398.
8.		RIM was the Dutch acronym for Direct Influx into Mobilisable Units (Rechtstreekse Instroming in Mobilisabele Eenheden). For a survey of the Royal Army's unit filling and reserve system see Gijsbers, Blik in de smidse, 2222-2231; Selles, Personele vulling; Berghuijs, Opleiding, 14-23. In English: Isby and Kamps, Armies, 341-343; Sorrell, Je Maintiendrai, 94-96; Van Vuren, The Royal Netherlands Army Today, Military Review April 1982, 23-28.