As per the practice started elsewhere on the forum, here is a brief explanation of some of the terms used in my posts on RWK between the wars.
A Battalion was commanded by a Lieutenant-Colonel (Lt.Col), with a Major as Adjutant (equivalent to a civilian company secretary); the senior NCO was the Regimental Sergeant-Major (RSM) – or GOD! The battalion was divided into a HQ Company and 4 Rifle Companies, designated A to D. Its peacetime strength was about 35 officers and 650 men.
A Company was commanded by a Major or Captain, depending on seniority, and the senior NCO was the Company Sergeant Major (CSM). The HQ Company had specialist Platoons, such as Admin, Signals, Carrier (equipped with Bren-gun Carriers), Anti-Aircraft (Bren-guns on AA mountings), Mortar (3in mortars). A Rifle Company was divided into 3 Platoons and had a strength of about 5 officers and 120 men.
A Rifle Platoon was commanded a Lieutenant or Second-Lieutenant (‘one pipper’) with a Sergeant as 2nd in command although, especially in the case of a one pipper freshly graduated from Sandhurst and a Sergeant with 20 years of service behind him, it was usually questionable who was actually ‘the boss’. The Platoon had a HQ Section, equipped with a 15cwt truck, a 2in mortar, an anti-tank rifle, and a radio. It had 3 Rifle Sections and a total strength of an officer and about 30 men.
A Rifle Section was commanded by a Corporal, with 4 Privates and a sub-section commanded by a Lance-Corporal and 2 Privates operating a Bren-gun.
The main weapon was the superb Lee-Enfield rifle, although officers and Bren-gunners were armed with revolvers. The Bren-gun was a light machine gun with a 32 round magazine.
An infantry battalion was usually part of a Brigade of 3 Battalions, and in India a Brigade consisted of a British Battalion and 2 Indian Battalions. The smallest “all-arms” unit was the Division - an Infantry Division having 3 Brigades + artillery, engineers, transport, medical services etc.
The Colonel of the Regiment was appointed to oversee the ‘welfare’ of the regiment as a whole, and was usually a retired general. It was the RWK’s Colonel who fought its battle over the change of name in 1921.
When a regiment considered itself sufficiently prestigious it would invite a high dignitary to become its Colonel-in-Chief, which would need the approval of the King. The Colonel-in-Chief was the ceremonial figurehead of the Regiment, and the RWK considered itself special in that it not only had a Colonel-in-Chief, but he was the son of the King!
As an aside, the Colonel-in-Chief of our present ‘local’ regiment – the Princess of Wales’ Royal Regiment (several generations descended from the RWK) – is the Queen of Denmark.