CAF Service Battalions

[rob love]

The Service Bn also covered the supply end in the field. There were about 80 gas 5 tons carrying everything that was envisioned for support of the first line units in one service Bn that I knew of in the early 80s. Imagine the poor mechanic section that had to deal with that.....oh the wheel cylinders.

But every first line unit also had a smaller amount of bin trucks. There were bin trucks within the first line maintenance sections, bin trucks with regimental QMs, and each CQ got one as well. A first line demand would get filled from the the appropriate first line bin truck, and once the truck reached it's min from the max min, then the Service Bn could refill it, or the demand could move up to the depots. The stores from the second line unit would normally be collected together and dropped to the first line unit on a DP. The locations of the Distribution Point would vary with the movement of the battle. High priority items could be handled through first line units sending someone over to second line to draw them. Larger issues (fuel or munitions) could be directly delivered to first line units to save on cross loading.

Each first line unit had it's own medics, medical trucks, recovery vehicles, cooks etc and looked after itself up to the levels of maintenance that they were to provide. Vehicle casualties that would be too much for the first line units would be collected at Equipment Casualty points to go to second line Service Bn for repair, and if too far gone for their resources, would be backloaded to third or fourth line. Medical support was not a lot different, although my knowledge of their goings on is not too in-depth.

Don't get too confused with today's military, and the support from the medical trades. There were extreme cost cutting measures and shortages of pers and eqpt that resulted in most of the first line unit's medical pers all being pooled and attached to units as needed in recent years.

Regarding kit, whatever kit was needed for a unit's role (be it infantry, artillery, engineer etc) was normally part of the unit scales. While an artillery unit may not have had engineering equipment, the engineers could be tasked via Brigade to come over to provide the needed support. But the bulk of the kit was within the units themselves. If the jobs were a first line responsibility, then the required kit would be on the scales, or you could raise a MACR and have it added. Mind you, that was often like moving mountains. Tires are an example though of where second line would often be able to help out a first line unit. One or two tires could be done with the limited tire equipment held at a first line unit, but if you had a truck's worth, then they could be backloaded to the second line unit for repair or exchange. larger scale de-contamination was another item that was often done at the service bn level.

Service Bns were the second line unit, but because of it's size, also had it's own first line support built into it, but just to support itself.

For an answer to all your service Bn questions, there are manuals detailing the roles and responsibilities of the Service Bns. That would lead you to reading manuals for many of the other trades and seeing what was envisioned as the roles and responsibilites and SOPs wrt this subject. I have a manual in my bookshelf (LORE officer's handbook pt one Field Section. CFP 314-8) that covers much of it. Overall it is a good book that also features data summaries of the equipment of the time.

While the SOPs will have changed slightly over the years with changes in technology, after action reports, and in some cases succesive staff weenies trying to implement cost saving measures, the overall roles of the service Bn has not changed that much.......provide second line support to the first line units. A lot of the tried and true SOPs of the cold war are still in place today.

[rob love]

I actually must admit that I never worked in a service battalion myself. I managed to stay on either air force base maintenance units or first line field units for my career. On my trips over to the service battalians, it always amazed me to see so many people doing anything but direct labour. In the first line units, the small number of mechanics were generally left alone from things like kitchen duties and gate sentries. If we weren't working, then trucks and tracks weren't rolling. In a service battalion, a mechanic was just another member of the unit...there were a hundred more just like him.

I have been doing my own sewing for years.It is a bit of a PIA to have to look for certain exact thicknesses of leather, dying your own canvas, and the endless search for period buckles and snaps (especially tough when you live in the barren plains of Manitoba) , but the end results are worth it.

I find some of the older machines can be had for free if you watch kijiji. Many people just want them out of their basement, kind of like pianos, shuffle boards and pool tables.

I had an old singer, but moved up to the juki a few years back. I consider Juki one of the top machines...smooth and strong.