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| 7th Armoured Division | |
|---|---|
 7th Armoured Division Insignia from 1944 onwards |
|
| Active | 1938 - 1958 |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Branch | British Army |
| Type | Armoured Division |
| Nickname | The Desert Rats |
| Mascot | Jerboa |
| Engagements | Western Desert Campaign North African Campaign Italy North West Europe Germany |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
Maj.Gen. Percy Hobart Maj.Gen. William Gott Maj.Gen. J.C.Campbell |
The 7th Armoured Division was a British armoured division which saw service during the Second World War where its exploits made it famous as the Desert Rats.
After the Munich Crisis, the division was formed in Egypt during 1938 as the Mobile Division (Egypt)1 and its first divisional commander was the acclaimed tank theorist Major-General Sir Percy Hobart. During January 1940, the name of the unit was changed to the 7th Armoured Division1. It was during this period that the nickname "Desert Rats" was coined.
The division fought in every major battle during the North African Campaign; later it would land and fight in Sicily and Italy before being withdrawn to the United Kingdom where it prepared to fight in North West Europe. It began landing in Normandy during the afternoon of June 6 and fought its way across Europe ending the war in Kiel and Hamburg, Germany. The 7th Armoured Brigade was detached from the division during early 1942 and fought the Japanese during the fighting in Burma before it returned to the Mediterranean Theatre and fought in Italy.
Although the division was disbanded during the 1950s, the history, name and the famous 'Desert Rat' flash is carried on by the 7th Armoured Brigade.2
Contents |
History
Founding
After the Munich Crisis, elements of what would become the 7th Armoured Division arrived in the Middle East in 1938 to increase British strength in Egypt.
The 'Mobile Force' was established on the coast some 120 miles (190 km) west of Alexandria. It was formed from the Cairo Cavalry Brigade (three armoured regiments, the 7th Hussars, the 8th Hussars, and 11th Hussars) and the 1st Royal Tank Regiment (RTR) supported by 3rd Regiment Royal Horse Artillery (RHA) and a company of Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) and a Field Ambulance unit. It was joined by a battalion of the King's Royal Rifle Corps and then its first commander, Major-General Percy Hobart later "creator" of the Funnies of the Normandy Invasion. Hobart was an armoured warfare expert and saw that his troops were properly prepared to fight in the desert despite their poor equipment. Critics sometimes uncharitably referred to the unit as the "Mobile Farce" because it included some obsolete tanks like the Vickers Medium Mark II.3
North Africa
In December 1939, Major-General Sir Michael O'Moore Creagh succeeded Hobart who had fallen afoul of his superiors.
The unit was meant to be equipped with 220 tanks. However, at the outbreak of war the 'Mobile Force' had only 65. Most of the unit's troops had already been deployed for two years by 1940 and it took as long as three months for mail to arrive.
On 16 February 1940, the Mobile Division became the 7th Armoured Division.1 The Desert Rat divisional flash was adopted about the same time. It originated from a sketch of a jerboa drawn by the divisional commander's wife after a visit to the Cairo Zoo.
After the Italian declaration of war, the Western Desert Force was massively outnumbered. However, the Italians proved to be no match for the British. The Western Desert Force captured 250,000 Italians in the early engagements in 1940.
During the 1941 Italian retreat, Major-General Richard O'Connor, the Western Desert Force commander, ordered the Desert Rats to travel south of the Jebel Akhdar and cut off the Italian forces at Beda Fomm, while Australian forces pushed the Italians west. As the tanks were unable to travel fast enough, the manoeuvre was led by an ad hoc brigade of armoured cars, towed artillery and infantry which completed the trip in 30 hours, cutting off the Italian retreat and destroying the Italian Tenth Army. Lieutenant-Colonel John Combe led this ad hoc group which was known as "Combe Force" after him.
The Italians proved so weak that German dictator Adolf Hitler was forced to send reinforcements (Afrika Korps) to stiffen them under the command of General Erwin Rommel.
The Western Desert Force later became HQ XIII Corps, one of the major parts of Eighth Army. The 7th Armoured Division took part in most of the major battles of the North African Campaign, including both Battles of El Alamein (see First Battle of El Alamein and Second Battle of El Alamein for details). It also participated in the destruction of Axis forces in North Africa in Tunisia in 1943.
Order of Battle June 19404
- 4th Armoured Brigade
- 7th Armoured Brigade
- 8th Hussars
- 1st Royal Tank Regiment
- Support Group
- 4th Royal Horse Artillery
- 1st Kings Royal Rifle Corps
- 2nd Rifle Brigade
- Divisional Troops
Italy
The division was not an assault force in the invasion of Sicily but did participate extensively in the battle for Italy. It came ashore at Salerno on 15 September 1943, to help repel heavy German counterattacks, then as part of U.S. Fifth Army's British X Corps and supported by the 46th (North Midland) Division, drive on and took Naples. The Desert Rats, used to fighting in the desert, had to adjust to the confined Italian roads. The division crossed the river Volturno in southern Italy, constructing a pontoon bridge. This paved the way for many divisions heading north.
Order of Battle Italy (September 1943)4
- 22nd Armoured Brigade
- 1st Royal Tank Regiment
- 5th Royal Tank Regiment
- 4th County of London Yeomanry
- 1st Rifle Brigade
- 131st (Queens) Infantry Brigade
- 1/5th Queen's Royal Regiment
- 1/6th Queens Royal Regiment
- 1/7th Queens Royal Regiment
- 'C' Company, 1st Cheshire Regiment. (Machine Gune)
- Divisional Troops
- Royal Artillery
- 3rd Regiment Royal Horse Artillery . (RHA)
- 5th RHA
- 15th Light AA Regiment RA
- 24th Field Regiment RA
- 65th Anti tank Regt. RA (Norfolk Yeomanry)
- 69th Medium Regiment RA
- 146th Field Regiment RA
Northern Europe
The division formed one of the follow up formations in Normandy. After the invasion the 7th Armoured Division served with distinction in clearing routes to and then attacking Caen. Its performances in Normandy and the rest of France did not match those of its earlier campaigns. Due to these performances, which were deemed poor by higher command, Major-General Erskine was relieved of command in early August along with Brigadier Hinde, Commander, Royal Artillery Mews and over 100 other men and officers.5
Within 21st Army Group it took part in the liberation of Belgium, the Netherlands and northern Germany. In January 1945 it took part in Operation Blackcock to clear the Roer Triangle.
Order of Battle Normandy (June 1944)4
- 22nd Armoured Brigade
- 1st Royal Tank Regiment
- 5th Royal Tank Regiment
- 4th County of London Yeomanry ,to January 1945
- 1st Rifle Brigade
- 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards , From January 1945
- 131st (Queens) Brigade , January 1945 became ,131st Infantry Brigade
- 1/5th Queens Royal Regiment
- 1/6th Queens Royal Regiment , to January 1945
- 1/7th Queens Royal Regiment , to January 1945
- 2nd Devonshire Regiment , from January 1945
- 9th Durham Light Infantry , from January 1945
- No. 3 Support Company, Royal Northumberland Fusiliers , (Machine Gun)
- Divisional Troops
- 8th Hussars
- 11th Hussars, from 30th July 1944
- Royal Artillery
- 3rd Regiment Royal Horse Artillery
- 5th RHA
- 15th Light AA Regiment RA
- 65th Anti tank Regt. RA (Norfolk Yeomanry)
Post war
The Division remained in Germany as part of the occupation forces and then into the 1950s as part of the British Army of the Rhine standing watch against the Warsaw Pact. As the British Army became smaller, its higher numbered divisions were removed from the order of battle. The Division's long and illustrious career finally came to an end in this fashion, in April 1958, when it was converted into 5th Division. However, the traditions of 7th Armoured Division are maintained by 7th Armoured Brigade, which forms part of 1 (UK) Division.
Commanders of the 7th Armoured Division
| Appointed6 | |
| 27 September 1938 | Major-General Percy Hobart (Mobile Division (Egypt) up to 3 September 1939) |
| 4 December 1939 | Major-General Michael O'Moore Creagh |
| 3 September 1941 | Major-General William Gott |
| 6 February 1942 | Major-General John Campbell |
| 9 March 1942 | Major-General Frank Messervy |
| 19 June 1942 | Major-General James Malcolm Leslie Renton |
| 14 September 1942 | Major-General John Harding |
| 24 January 1943 | Major-General George W. E. J. Erskine |
| 4 August 1944 | Major-General Gerald Lloyd Verney |
| 22 November 1944 | Major-General Lewis Owen Lyne |
| 1947 | Major-General George "Pip" Roberts |
Notable Members of the 7th Armoured Division
- Field Marshal Lord Carver
- Major-General John Combe
- The Rt Hon Enoch Powell MBE
- Second Lieutenant Dan Ranfurly
Monument
There is a monument to the 7th Armoured at Brandon in Thetford Forest where the 7th trained prior to D-day.
References
- Delaforce, Patrick. Churchill's Desert Rats: From Normandy to Berlin with the 7th Armoured Division, Sutton Publishing, 2003
- Forty, George. Battle Zone Normandy: Villers Bocage. Sutton Publishing, London, 2004. ISBN 0-7509-3012-8
- Fortin, Ludovic. British Tanks In Normandy, Histoire & Collections (30 Nov 2004). ISBN 2-91523-933-9
- Foster, R.C.G. History of The Queens Royal Regiment: Volume VIII 1924-1948, Gale and Polden, 1953
- Graham, Andrew Sharpshooters at War, The Sharpshooters Regimental Association, 1964
- Jentz, Thomas L. (1998). Tank Combat In North Africa: The Opening Rounds, Opertions Sonnenblume, Brevity, Skorpion and Battleaxe, February 1941 - June 1941, Schiffer Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0-76430-226-4.
- Kelly, Saul. The Lost Oasis: The Desert War and the Hunt for Zerzura. Westview Press, 2002. ISBN 0-7195-61620 (HC)
- Lindsay, Martin and Johnston, M.E. History of the 7th Armoured Division June 1943 - July 1945 first published by BAOR in 1945, reprinted in 2001 by DP & G for the Tank Museum
- Mollo, Boris. The Sharpshooters 1900-2000, Kent and Sharpshooters Yeomanry Trust, 2000
- Neillands, Robin. The Desert Rats : 7th Armoured Division, 1940-1945, Aurum Press Ltd (29 Aug 2005), ISBN 2-91390-313-4
- Playfair, Major General I.S.O.; Brigadier C.J.C Molony, Captain F.C. Flynn, R.N. and Group Captain T.P. Gleave, C.B.E. (2006). Mediterranean and Middle East Volume I: The Early Successes Against Italy (to May 1941). History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Military Series, Naval & Military Press. ISBN 1-84734-426-7.
- Playfair, Major General I.S.O. (2004). The Mediterranean and Middle East Volume 2: The Germans Come to the Help of Their Ally, 1941. Official History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Military Series. East Sussex, UK: Naval & Military Press. pp.406 pages. ISBN 1845740661.
- Playfair, Major General I.S.O. (2004). History Of The Second World War: The Mediterranean and Middle East, Volume 3: British Fortunes Reach Their Lowest Ebb. United Kingdom Military Series. Uckfield, UK: Naval & Military Press. ISBN 1-84574-067-X.
- Playfair, Major General I.S.O. (2004). 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.
- Rommel, Erwin; with Basil Liddell-Hart (1982). The Rommel Papers. New York: Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-0306801570.
- Verney, G.L. The Desert Rats: the History of the 7th Armoured Division 1938 to 1945, Hutchinson, 1954, Reprinted 2002 by Greenhill Books
External links
- British Unit Histories
- "The Sharpshooters", the County of London Yeomanry Association website
- Paterson, Ian A.. "History of the British 7th Armoured Division". Retrieved on 2008-01-02.
- Journeyman Autobiography of former Desert Rat Ted Rogers
Footnotes
- ^ a b c Welcome to the new British Army Website - British Army Website
- ^ Welcome to the new British Army Website - British Army Website
- ^ Kelly, Saul, The Lost Oasis, p. 121
- ^ a b c Paterson, Ian A.. "Divisional Organisation". The History of the British 7th Armoured Division. Retrieved on 2008-08-17.
- ^ Fortin, Pg 10
- ^ Orders of Battle.com
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 12 October 2008, at 23:20.
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