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Cavalry

Cavalry Platoon - (35 men, 1 officer)
3 squads - 10 men
Command - 1 CO, 1 NCO, 4 men

Cavalry Company - (112 men, 6 officers)
3 platoons (35 men, 1 officer)
Command (1 CO, 1 XO, 1 NCO, 6 men)

Cavalry Squadron - (348 men, 22 officers)
3 Cavalry Companies (112 men, 6 officers)
Command (1 CO, 1 XO, 2 Staff, 12 men)

Cavalry Gun Battery (68 men, 2 officers)
3 Sections (16 men, 2 77mm M/15*)
Command (1 CO, 1 XO, 20 men)

Cavalry Mortar Company (102 men, 5 officers)
3 Mortar Platoons (30 men, 1 officer, 4 US M1 81mm Mtr)
Command (1 CO, 1 XO, 12 men)

Cavalry MG Company (99 men, 5 officers)
2 MG Platoons (30 men, 1 officer, 6 ZB 53)
HMG Platoon (27 men, 1 officer, 3 M2HB 0.50" HMGs)
Command (1 CO, 1 XO, 12 men)

Cavalry Lt AA Battery (68 men, 2 officers)
3 Sections (16 men, 4 20mm Madsen)
Command (1 CO, 1 XO, 20 men)


Cavalry Regiment (1909 men, 116 officers)
4 Cavalry Squadron - (348 men, 22 officers)
1 Cavalry Mortar Company (102 men, 5 officers)
1 Cavalry MG Company (99 men, 5 officers)
1 Support Company (180 men, 6 officers)
Command (1 CO, 1 XO, 6 staff, 48 men)

Cavalry Artillery Regiment (504 men, 18 officers)
6 Cavalry Gun Battery (68 men, 2 officers)
1 Cavalry Lt AA Battery (68 men, 2 officers)
Command ( 28 men,4 officers)

Cavalry brigade (4590 men, 305 officers)
2 Cavalry regiments
1 Artillery regiment
1 Support Company (180 men, 6 officers)
1 Signals Company (88 men, 4 officers)
1 Fieldhospital (68 men, 24 officers)
1 Military Police platoon (40 men, 5 officers)
Command (68 men, 24 officers)

Three brigades are forming:
1st Savaran Brigade (Persia)
2nd Azadan Brigade (Bactria)
3rd Grivpanvar Brigade (Bactria)

Service Rifle: FÉG M/15
LMG: Brno Zb30 and Zb-30P


Stored Artillery & small arms:
12 x 100mm Skoda M30 Howitzer
18 x Schneider 76mm M1909 mountain
46 x 75mm M1929 AA Bofors
200,000 M91 Caracano
50,000 M95 Mannlicher (being converted to 7,92x57)
100 OQF 18 Pounders (being rebuilt by Skoda on a new carriage)

Equipment on order:


Open ended orders placed on:
Garner-Straussler G3
Tatra T84
Nimbus Model C

Pushtighaban


The Pushtighaban are Household troops only answerable to the Shah.

Zhayedan Company

4 officers
39 NCOs
266 Troopers

1 Chariot (C)
2 Mercedes-Benz G4
30 Chariot (S)
10 Tatra T84
12 Nimbus Model C
2 MMG
22 LMG
6 Sandspringer TD

Zhayedan Battalion (19 Officers, 164 NCO, 1073 Troopers)

Staff
3 Officers
8 NCOs
9 Troopers
2 Mercedes-Benz G4
3 Garner-Straussler G3
1 Chariot (C)
4 Nimbus Model C
4 x Pushtighaban Coy

Pushtighaban Artillery Battery

5 Officers
23 NCOs
112 Troopers

6 ~100mm FG/Hwz
2 Type 93 (2) 25 mm AT/AA Gun
20 Garner-Straussler G3
8 Tatra T84
5 Nimbus Model C


The Pushtighaban has:
6 Zhayedan Battalions
2 Gyan-avspar Battalions (ea w 50 Bille tanks)
1 Aswaran Battalion (w 50 Legionaries tanks)
6 Artillery Batteries (4 w 100mm M30 Howitzers, 2 w 130mm M-57 Fieldguns)

Standard Small Arms
Service Rifle: Brno ZH29
SMG: Neuhausen MKMS
LMG: Brno Zb30P
MMG: ZB53
Officers purchase their own side arms

Weapons Developed For Persia

Persian 130mm M-13 (Developed by Skoda)

Weight 8.7 t
Length 11.08 m
Width 2.45 m
Crew 8
Caliber 130 mm
Breech Horizontal sliding wedge
Carriage M-13
Elevation -2.5° to 55°
Traverse 50°
Rate of fire 5 (normal)
6 (burst)
4(sustained)
Muzzle velocity 840 m/s
Maximum range 21 km

Persian 155mm M/17 (Developed by Skoda)

Crew: 10
Caliber: 155mm
Combat weight: 15000kg
Length on firing position: 12,04m
Width: 2,74m
Length of the barrel: 7,9m
Elevation: 0-45 degrees
Maximum range: 27600m
Rate of fire: 3 shots/min
Muzzle velocity: 900m/s
Weight of shell/load: 50kg/18,5kg

Persian Divisions and Brigades December 1941:

1st Mountain Brigade (HQ Tabriz)
2nd Mountain Brigade (HQ Golgan)
3rd Mountain Brigade (HQ Ardebil)
1st Cavalry Division (Mot) (HQ Shiraz)
2nd Cavalry Brigade (HQ Mashhed)
Pushtigaban Armored Division (HQ Tehran) *
1st Infantry Division (HQ Tabriz)
3rd Infantry Division (HQ Liam)
4th Infantry Division (HQ Birjand)
1st Intervention Division (HQ Tehran)
2nd Intervention (HQ Abadan)
Naval Brigade (HQ Bandar Abbas)


* Attached to Bharati Relief Assemblage in case of emergency

Armored Vehicles of the Persian Army 1939-1941:

Verdaja Tanks:
Of the original 96 Verdeja tanks that were operational during the Persian Civil War only 24 survived the War to escape to Afghanistan. No operational tanks were captured by the Government.

Ft-17 Tanks:
Of an order of 111 Ft-17 tanks purchased from Poland by the rebels only 11 survived the War and were captured by the Government. They were scrapped as obsolete by the Persian Government in 1940.

TKS tankettes:
Of an order of 50 TKS tankettes purchased from Poland by the rebels only 12 survived the War to escape to Afghanistan. All were modified with 25mm AT guns. Two tankettes were captured by the Government and utilized for training.

CI-32L Tanks:
Of an order of 50 CI-32L tanks purchased from China by the rebels only 8 survived the War to escape to Afghanistan. Six were captured by the Government and scrapped in 1940.

Agjar I and II armored cars:
The original number of ex-Bharati armored cars owned by the rebels during the Civil War was never known but a total of 22 survived the war to escape to Afghanistan. The remainder twelve captured by the Government were used to replace older units in the Gendarmerie.

FAI armored cars:
Of an order of 30 FAI armored cars purchased from China by the rebels only five survived the War and were captured by the Government. They were scrapped by the Persian Government in 1940.

Sandspringer Tank Destroyers:
Of the original 38 TD purchased by the Government only 21 survived the Civil War and were amalgam in the 1st Cavalry Division. An order for a hundred to replace battle losses and create independent companies was placed by the Government to Denmark late in 1940.

Legionare Tanks:
Of the original 50 tanks assigned to the Pushtigabans at the beginning of the War only 28 survived. They were replaced in 1941 by 60 Argun C’s purchased from Bharat. They were utilized to form an independent small independent tank battalion composed of 24 tanks and the remaining four for training.

Bille Tanks:
Of the original 100 Bille tanks assigned to the Pushtigabans at the beginning of the War only 59 survived. They were replaced by Skoda-Davao Lt-33 (P) purchased from Philippines in 1941. They were utilized to form four independent scout companies of 12 tanks each with the remainder for training and spares.

Lt-33 (P) Tanks:
Of the 100 Lt-33 (P) purchased by the Government during the War 69 of them survived. Well liked, an order of 400 tanks to replace battle losses and replace older British tanks in service was placed with Skoda-Davao late in 1940 but was not completed until 1942 due to the Sino-Filipino War.

Vickers MkIII, Mk IV and Mk V:
Of the 120 Vickers used tanks donated by the British during the Civil War 67 survived. They were replaced by Lt-33 (P) tanks in 1941-1942 timeframe. While the Mk IIIs were scrapped the Mk IV and V’s were issued to the Gendarmerie.

Daimler Scout Cars:
Of the original 40 Daimler cars purchased during the Civil War twelve survived. British Government allowed the sale of unarmored vehicles by the factory to replace battle losses in late 1940.

Bren Carriers:
600 Bren carriers were acquired during the Civil War by the Government. Well liked, an order to replace battle losses was approved by the British Government in late 1940.

Argun C Tanks:
60 Bharati Argun C tanks were purchased in 1941 with an additional ten in 1942 for the training school.

Kachhuaa Tanks:
Of the original 48 Kachhuaa tanks in service at the beginning of the War only half survived. While not well liked their amphibious capability makes them useful for the Marine Brigade and battle losses were replaced by a purchases of 48 tanks each in 1939 and 1940. Another 48 were donated by the Bharati Government in 1941. The tanks assigned to the Marine Brigade were brought up to strength while the remainder were issued to the Gendarmerie.

Agjar III Armored Cars:
96 vehicles were donated to the Persian Government by Bharat in 1941. They were issued t0 the Gendarmerie.

2nd Cavalry Brigade

The 2nd Cavalry Brigade maintained the same organization of the Civil War expects for minor changes to their AA and AT complements and their equipment. The unit is composed of two cavalry regiments, an artillery regiment composed of six batteries, one AA company, one AT company and supporting branches.

• 4895 x men
• 12 x 77mm Skoda field guns
• 12 x 25mm Jabalpur 25J AA guns
• 12 x 50mm Bhandara 1937G AT guns
• 8 x 81mm mortars
• 48 x 60mm mortars
• 160 x machine guns
• 50 x motor vehicles
• 5,397 x horses

1st Cavalry Division

The 1st Cavalry Division was formed during the spring of 1938 by the Majlis War Council. The division was only cavalry in name, the soldiers actually mounting motorcycles or trucks; in practice was another motorized division. The Division is currently located in Shiraz and operating in anti-partisan operations. While their mobility is considered an asset at the same time their reliance in vehicles makes very difficult for them to pursue the partisans to their hideouts.

• 14,689 x Men
• 30 x Sandspringer tank destroyers (1)
• 12 x 50mm Bhandara 1937G towed antitank guns
• 12 25mm Jabalpur 25J truck porteed antiaircraft guns
• 36 x 25mm motorcycle Jabalpur 25J porteed antitank/antiaircraft guns
• 8 x 81mm Mortars
• 24 x 77mm Skoda towed artillery
• 24 x 60mm Mortars
• 361 x Machineguns
• 216 x Nimbus motorcycles (2)
• 800 x trucks (3)

The three Motorcycle Regiments include motorcycle porteed 25mm AT/AA guns and 50mm armed Sandspringer TD. The division have a 25mm truck-mounted AA company, a 50mm truck mounted AT company and an additional independent Sandspringer TD company. Extra support battalions include an engineer battalion, a large communication detachment and a very large supply train. The main weakness is the size of the Artillery Regiment; it have only 2 battalions, instead of 3 normally found in other divisions.

(1) Purchases from Denmark.
(2) Purchases from Denmark.
(3) Sources of vehicles vary. Some were donated by the British during the war, other purchased from Dane, Czech and Bharati sources.

1st Mountain Brigade: (Three in service)

The 1st Mountain Brigade is composed mainly of Kurdish recruits in the autonomous Kurdish region near the Turkish border. Two additional Mountain Brigades with a very similar organization are currently in the Persian Army order of battle. The unit is composed of two infantry regiments composed of three battalions each; an artillery regiment, a cavalry company, an engineer company, an AA company, an AT company and other supporting elements. The Brigades are in reality not true mountain infantry Brigades and are actually organized as light infantry divisions. However, they are trained for fighting under harsh terrain and weather conditions.

• 11,479 x men
• 12 × 130mm Skoda M13 towed cannons
• 30 × 100mm Skoda M30 towed howitzers
• 24 × 81mm mortars
• 144 × 60mm mortars
• 20 × Jabalpur 25J 25mm towed antitank/antiaircraft guns
• 20 × Bhandara 1937G 50mm towed antitank guns
• 369 x machineguns
• 120 x motorized vehicles
• 625 x horse drawn wagons

1st Infantry Division (Three in Service)

While other units in the Persian Army only received cosmetic changes in their organization and equipment the Infantry Divisions were truly reformed during the early part of the 1940’s. The five Divisions raised during the Civil War were a mix bag, with some of them performing decently while others performed in an abysmal fashion during the conflict. After the War the need to reduce the size of the land forces to increase the number of naval and air force personnel (1) together with the idea of providing support forces for the mobile Bharati forces of the BRA in case of conflict were the guiding force of the reorganization of the infantry divisions. Two of the Divisions, the 2nd and the 5th were disbanded outright while the remaining three were reduced in size.

The three remaining Infantry Divisions reorganization followed a similar organization; 2 infantry regiments of 3 battalions with heavy mortar and AT guns attached, one artillery regiment of three battalions, an independent AT company, an independent heavy weapons battalion (2), a combat engineer battalion and additional support personnel. In addition in case of war the independent tank battalion (3) and the four independent light tank companies would be distributed between the Divisions for support(4).

The end result was very similar to the Bharati Motorized Divisions been formed at the time and some later attached to the BRA. The Divisions were a mixture of motorized and truck transported units. The motorized units were the artillery regiment, the services and specialist troops, whereas the infantry regiments were truck borne. The Divisions did not have all their trucks directly allocated to them, rather, some of them where to be provided by their Higher Headquarters.

10,978 x men
12 × Skoda M-13 130mm towed cannons
24 × Skoda M-30 100mm towed howitzers
16 × Jabalpur 25J 25mm antiaircraft guns
20 x Bhandara 1937G 50mm antitank guns
24 x 81mm Mortars
111 x 60mm Mortars
249 motorcycles
494 x Machineguns
434 x Trucks (5)
24 x tanks (6)

(1) Released soldiers moved into the civilian population. But the recruit quotas formerly allocated to the Army to fill the old infantry units were now utilized to increase the number of sailor and airmen in the other services.
(2) Mortars and HMGs.
(3) 24 Legionnaire I tanks.
(4) 12 Bille light tanks each.
(5) This number only includes motorized vehicles actually attached to Division. Around 1,400 vehicles are needed from Higher Headquarters to fully motorize the infantry units.
(6) Tanks will only will be allocated to Divisions in case of War.

Pushtigaban Armored Division:

The Pushtigaban Armored Division is a well respected unit in the Persian military. Is also unusual in being directly under the direct orders of the Shah and technically only “borrowed” to the Persian Army. The unit is composed of three motorized infantry regiments, a large heavy tank battalion and four cruiser tank battalions, a motorized artillery regiment, a Sandspringer tank destroyer battalion, two antitank weapons company, two antiaircraft companies and support personnel.

• 14,694 x men
• 200 × Improved Lt-33(50mm guns) cruiser tanks (1)
• 60 × Argun C (90mm guns) heavy tanks
• 50 × Sandspringer (50mm guns) tank destroyers
• 18 × 130mm towed cannons
• 36 × 100mm towed howitzers
• 30 × 81mm mortars
• 180 × 60mm mortars
• 30 × 50mm towed antitank guns
• 12 × 90mm towed antitank guns
• 36 × 25mm towed antiaircraft guns
• 583 x machineguns
• 1,784 x trucks and other vehicles (2)

The unit is kept at full strength but the full complement of cruisers tank was not available until 1942 due to the Sino-Filipino conflict. The unit is fully motorized and has first dibs in new equipment and personnel. Is considered the elite of the Persian Army and their war record during the Civil war shows that, participating in majority of all major campaigns.

(1) Order was not completed until 1942.
(2) The number includes Tatra, Garner-Straussler and Mercedes-Benz vehicles plus assorted others. Only the first two Zhadeyan regiments were mounted on unarmored halftracks; the third was mounted in trucks.