The 8th Armoured Division was an armoured division of the British Army during the Second World War. It was deployed to Egypt in June 1942 but never operated as a complete formation and was disbanded in January the following year.
| 8th Armoured Division | |
|---|---|
 8th Armoured Division insignia | |
| Active | 4 November 1940 – 1 January 1943 |
| Country |  United Kingdom |
| Branch |  British Army |
| Type | Armoured |
| Size | Division, 13,235 men[1] 130+ tanks[nb 1][nb 2] |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Sir Richard McCreery |
History
edit
The division was sent to North Africa but never saw active service as a complete formation. As the division could not be provided with a lorried infantry brigade, it was broken up and[5] was finally disbanded in Egypt on 1 January 1943.[4]
Following the Second Battle of El Alamein a plan was put forth to use the remains of the division as a self-contained pursuit force to dart forward into the German-Italian rear as far as possibly Tobruk, however the plan to use the division was shelved and units in the forward area were used instead.[6] Afterwards, the name of the division was used for the purpose of military deception.[7]
Order of battle
editThe units which formed part of the division included (day/month/year). Worth to note, in the six months the division was in Egypt, it never operated as a complete formation. Order of battle was:[8][9]
- 8th Armoured Division Headquarters
- 8th Armoured Division Signals, Royal Corps of Signals 4/11/40–16/12/42
- 2nd Derbyshire Yeomanry 27/11/40–20/8/42
- 23rd Armoured Brigade 22/11/40–11/7/42
- 23rd Armoured Brigade Headquarters
- 23rd Armoured Brigade Signal Troop, Royal Signals
- 40th (The King's) Royal Tank Regiment
- 46th (Liverpool Welsh) Royal Tank Regiment
- 50th Royal Tank Regiment
- 1st Battalion, The London Rifle Brigade later 7th Battalion, The Prince Consort's Own (Rifle Brigade) (London Rifle Brigade)
- 24th Armoured Brigade 22/11/40–10/10/42 then 31/10/42–6/11/42
- 23rd Armoured Brigade Headquarters
- 23rd Armoured Brigade Signal Troop, Royal Signals
- 41st (Oldham) Royal Tank Regiment
- 45th (Leeds Rifles) Royal Tank Regiment
- 47th (Oldham) Royal Tank Regiment
- 1st Battalion, The Queen's Westminsters later 11th (Queen's Westminsters) Battalion, The King's Royal Rifle Corps
- 8th Support Group 7/11/40–23/7/42
- 8th Support Group Headquarters Detachment
- 14th Battalion, The Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Regiment (Sherwood Foresters)
- 5th Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery (Field) 19/9/42–11/11/42
- 73rd Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery 25/9/42–26/10/42 (part of Hammerforce, see above)
- 56th (East Lancashire) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery 23/7/42–6/11/42 (part of Hammerforce, see above)
- CRA, 8th Armoured as HQ Hammerforce from 18/10/42–3/11/42 (see below for units)
- Commander Royal Artillery, 8th Armoured Division (HQ Hammerforce, see above)
- HQ Commander Royal Artillery
- CRA Signal Troop, Royal Signals
- 5th Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery (Field) 19/9/42–11/11/42
- 11th (Honourable Artillery Company) Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery (Field) 12/8/42–20/8/42
- 104th (Essex Yeomanry) Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery (Field) 13/9/42–26/9/42 (part of Hammerforce, see above)
- 146th (Pembrokeshire and Cardiganshire) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery 19/9/42–6/11/42 (part of Hammerforce, see above)
- 73rd Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery 25/9/42–26/10/42 (part of Hammerforce, see above)
- 56th (East Lancashire) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery 23/7/42–6/11/42 (part of Hammerforce, see above)
- CRA Medical Section, Royal Army Medical Corps
- Commander Royal Engineers, 8th Armoured Division
- HQ Divisional Engineers
- Divisional Engineers Signal Troop, Royal Signals
- 6 Field Squadron, Royal Engineers 27/11/40–9/11/42
- 9 Field Squadron, Royal Engineers 15/1/41–11/7/42 then 15/9/42–9/11/42
- 145 Field Park Squadron, Royal Engineers 27/11/40–9/11/42
- Divisional Engineers 'B' Light Aid Detachment, Royal Army Ordnance Corps (from 43 Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers)
- 8th Armoured Division Service Battalion, Royal Army Service Corps
- 8th Armoured Division Maintenance Battalion, Royal Army Ordnance Corps (later Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers from 1943)
- 8th Armoured Division Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps
- 8th Armoured Division Military Police Company, Corps of Royal Military Police
Commanders
editCommanders of the brigade included:[8]
- (Acting) Brigadier Arthur George Kenchington 4/11/40–14/12/40
- Major General Richard Loudon McCreery 14/11/40–15/10/41
- Major General Charles Wake Norman 15/10/41–24/8/42
- Major General Charles Henry Gairdner 24/8/42–1/1/43
See also
edit
Notes
edit- Footnotes
- ^ The division was initially organised on Basic Organisation No. III (340 tanks) but on arrival in the Middle East was partially reorganised along the lines of Basic Organisation No. IV;[2] depending on the tanks used, resulting in 44 or 48 tanks per regiment at full strength.[3] However, owing to casualties within Middle East Command, the change to Basic Organisation No. IV was never completed.[4]
- ^ This is the war establishment, the on-paper strength, of the division for 1942; for information on how divisions changed over the war, please see British Army during the Second World War and British Armoured formations of World War II.
- Citations
- ^ Joslen, p. 129
- ^ Joslen, p. 5, 22
- ^ Joslen, p. 140
- ^ a b Joslen, p. 22
- ^ Playfair, P. 7
- ^ Playfair, pp. 81–82
- ^ Thaddeus Holt. The Deceivers: Allied Military Deception in the Second World War. Phoenix. 2005. ISBN 0-7538-1917-1
- ^ a b Joslen, pp. 22.
- ^ "8th Armoured Division, 10th Corps, 23.10.42". niehorster.org. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
References
edit- Joslen, H. F. (2003) [1960]. Orders of Battle: Second World War, 1939–1945. Uckfield, East Sussex: Naval and Military Press. ISBN 978-1-84342-474-1.
- Playfair, Major-General I.C.O.; Molony, Brigadier C.J.C.; Flynn R.N., Captain F.C. & Gleave C.B.E., Group Captain T.P. (2004) [1966]. History of the Second World War: The Mediterranean and Middle East, volume 4: The Destruction of the Axis Forces in Africa. United Kingdom Military Series. Uckfield, UK: Naval & Military Press. ISBN 1-84574-068-8.
External links
edit- "8 Armoured Division". Orders of Battle.com.
- History