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Thursday, August 22, 2024

Part Three - Whisky on the Rocks - Swedish order of Battle

Invasion of Gotland 1981

Part Three


Admiral Ivan Kapitanets was relieved the briefing was over, finally his command will launch its offensive against the west, the but first the Swedish island of Gotland needed to be taken, he would leave the political animal Major General Vladimir Platov’s 11th Guards army to take the mainland, but his Naval Infantry would take the key to the eastern Baltic, the island of Gotland. Then the placing of  surface to Air missile batteries to control the skies over the baltic and Northern Europe.” 

Well I have been giving thoughts towards my Cold War game next year and a linked Cold War weekend war game. The weekends gaming will be a what if invasion of Gotland circa October 1981. For those with long memories a Soviet Nuclear Submarine S363 grounded itself  off the coast of Sweden in October 1981. 




The Gotland Regiment 

Major General COL Lars-Eric Wahlgren

PB 18 - Gotland Brigade in Visby:Headquarters and Staff Company

1st Armored Battalion 

with a staff company, 12x Stridsvagn 102R centurion tanks in one company, 28x KP-car m/42 wheeled armoured personnel carriers and 24x Rifle Squads with 8x Pvpj 1110 90mm recoilless rifles in two companies, 4x M/40 105mm howitzers in an artillery battery and a logistic company

2nd Armored Battalion with a staff company, 


12x Stridsvagn 102R centurion tanks in one company, 28x KP-car m/42 wheeled armoured personnel carriers and 24x Rifle Squads with 8x Pvpj 1110 90mm recoilless rifles in two companies, 4x M/40 105mm howitzers in an artillery battery and a logistic company

3rd Armored Battalion 

with a staff company, 12x Stridsvagn 102R centurion tanks in one company, 28x KP-car m/42 wheeled armoured personnel carriers and 24x Rifle Squads with 8x Pvpj 1110 90mm recoilless rifles in two companies, 4x M/40 105mm howitzers in an artillery battery and a logistic company

Artillery Battalion

with 12x 155mm Haubits m/F towed howitzers in three batteries

18th Armored Reconnaissance Company 

6x KP-car m/42 wheeled armoured personnel carriers, 12x Jeeps, 12x Recon Teams, 2x Rifle Squads and 4x Pvpj 1110 90mm recoilless rifles

18th Anti-tank Company 

with m/48 recoilless rifles and Bantam anti-tank missiles
18th Engineer Company
Logistic Battalion


KA 3 - Gotland Coastal Artillery Regiment

In Fårösund trained and fielded a wide variety of units, which in case of war would have come under direct command of the Gotland Military Command: three mobile Coastal Guard Platoons (Sjöbevakningspluton) armed with light Robot 17 anti-ship missiles. One heavy anti-ship missile battery armed with Robot 08 missiles. 

The 7th Coastal Artillery Battery 

In Bunge with 3x mobile 152mm M/37 cannons. Besides these mobile units the regiment also controlled the following fixed artillery positions: 4x batteries of three 75mm Tornpjäs m/57 automatic guns each at Kappelshamn, Ljugarn and St Olofsholm on Gotland and at Ryssnäs on Fårö, 1x battery of three 120mm Tornautomatpjäs m/70 automatic guns at Slite and 1x battery of three twin-barreled 152mm Kustartilleripjäs m/51 heavy coastal artillery guns at Bungenäs. Furthermore, the regiment trained a few smaller units, which maintained minefields with controlled mines along the coast of Gotland and Fårö. Additionally the regiment fielded a limited number of 75mm m/65 automatic cannons, which were a mobile version of the 75mm Tornpjäs m/57 automatic guns and the small minelayer HSwMS Fårösund (16).

Lv 2 - Gotland Anti-Aircraft Battalion 

In Visby with Robot 69 and Robot 70 man-portable surface-to-air missiles, as well as 20mm lvakan m/40-70 and 40mm lvakan m/48 anti-aircraft autocannons.

4th Independent Armored Battalion 

In  Visby with a staff company, 12x Stridsvagn 102R centurion tanks in one company, 28x KP-car m/42 wheeled armoured personnel carriers and 24x Rifle Squads with 8x Pvpj 1110 90mm recoilless rifles in two companies, 4x M/40 105mm howitzers in an artillery battery and a logistic company

5th Independent Armored Battalion 

In Fårösund with a staff company, 12x Stridsvagn 102R centurion tanks in one company, 28x KP-car m/42 wheeled armoured personnel carriers and 24x Rifle Squads with 8x Pvpj 1110 90mm recoilless rifles in two companies, 4x M/40 105mm howitzers in an artillery battery and a logistic company


32:a Gotlandsbataljonen (the 32nd Gotland battalion)


Thee armored brigade thus became reorganized into five large battalions with KP-bil(instead of bicycles) with each two companies of either tank destroyers Stridsvagn 74. During the 1970s, the brigade was re-armored with Stridsvagn 102, which, like the KP-bil, underwent a renovation in the 1980s.


Gotland Regiment (P 18), Gotland Artillery Regiment (A 7) and Gotland Anti-Aircraft Battalion (Lv 2)

Visby
Faro island anti shipping defenses 
Local defence company 



Hopefully that makes sense in someway, I will break these into Rapid Fire Able Archer Organisation next 

Cheers
Matt



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