7th Armoured Division (United Kingdom)

Second World War

North Africa

On 10 June 1940, Italy entered the Second World War against the Allies. In response, the 1st KRRC, the 7th, and the 11th Hussars patrolled the border and then crossed into Italian territory the next day and took 70 prisoners. The Italian border forts Capuzzo and Maddalena were quickly taken, and various small unit actions inflicted the loss of 24 armoured cars and several hundred casualties on the Italians. The first tank-on-tank clash for the division occurred on 16 June, when a force of 12 Italian light tanks were engaged and destroyed. However, these actions did not hinder the Italian build-up, and they soon retook Capuzzo and engaged in their own reconnaissance efforts. While more of the division's tank units were initially moved forward, it was decided to avoid mechanical attrition and the majority were pulled back to the Mersa Matruh area. This left one tank regiment along with the 1st KRRC, joined by two additional infantry battalions, and several batteries from the division's artillery to monitor a section of the border. Their instructions were to harass any Italian probes and to attempt to delay, but not become seriously engaged with, any offensive move. The 11th Hussars were allowed to continue their long-range efforts into Italian territory. Between 11 June and 9 September, 3,500 Italian casualties were inflicted for the loss of 150 of the division's personnel. The tank strength of the division had also rose to 85 cruisers by September, although 15 were being repaired and wear and tear issues impacted the rest.

thumb|A map of the Western Desert, detailing they key battles and movements between 13 September 1940–30 May 1941 (Click to enlarge).

On 13 September, the Italians invaded Egypt with a force of five divisions supplemented by a tank group. In accordance with their instructions, the division's forward elements engaged and harassed the Italians while falling back to avoid prolonged engagements. By 16 September, the Italians had reached Sidi Barrani. They halted to improve the infrastructure behind them and constructed a series of fortified camps. The 7th Armoured Division regrouped at Mersa Matruh, then spent the following two months reconnoitering the Italian positions. Towards the end of August, and prior to the Italian invasion, reinforcements and supplies were dispatched to Egypt from the UK. This included artillery, spare parts, and around 100 tanks for the division; a mix of light tanks and cruisers split between two armoured regiments. Their arrival in early October doubled the 7th Armoured Division's strength.

On 9 December, the Western Desert Force launched its counterattack. The division protected the flank of the initial attack, then provided more direct support over the following days and assisted in the capture of a large number of Italian troops. They then pursued the Italians into Libya and took up position between Tobruk and Bardia. In January, as Bardia was captured, the division advanced on then encircled Tobruk. In February, with Italian forces in retreat across Libya, the division crossed the desert south of the Jebel Akhdar and captured Beda Fomm, south of Benghazi. On 7 February, 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, that cut off the Italian retreat and destroyed the Italian Tenth Army. Lieutenant Colonel John Combe led this ad hoc group, which was known as "Combe Force" after him. After this, the tanks of the 7th Armoured Division, after eight months of fighting, needed a complete overhaul and the division was withdrawn to Cairo and temporarily ceased to be available as a fighting formation being replaced in the line by the 2nd Armoured Division. Compass ultimately captured 130,000 Italians.

The Italians had proven so weak that Hitler was forced to send the Afrika Korps, under Erwin Rommel, as reinforcements. In April 1941, the Allied troops in Tobruk were cut off by the Germans and Italians.

thumb|A [[Ordnance QF 2-pounder|2-pounder anti-tank gun being manned by members of the 2nd Battalion, Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own), 24 March 1942.]]

On 7 June, the division was again prepared for battle as part of Operation Battleaxe, having received new tanks and additional personnel. In the attack plan for Battleaxe, the 7th force was divided between the Coast Force and Escarpment Force. However, this Allied push failed, and the 7th Armoured Division was forced to withdraw on the third day of fighting. On 18 November, as part of Operation Crusader the whole of the 7th Armoured Division was concentrated on breaking through. They faced only the weakened 21st Panzer Division. However, the XXX Corps commander, Lieutenant-General Willoughby Norrie, aware that the 7th Armoured Division was down to 200 tanks, decided on caution. During the wait, in the early afternoon of 22 November, Rommel attacked Sidi Rezegh with the 21st Panzer and captured the airfield. Fighting was desperate and gallant: for his actions during these two days of fighting, Brigadier Jock Campbell, commanding the 7th Support Group, was awarded the Victoria Cross. However, the 21st Panzer, despite being considerably weaker in armour, proved superior in its combined arms tactics, pushing the 7th Armoured back with a further 50 tanks lost (mainly from the 22nd Armoured Brigade).

On 27 June 1942, elements of the 7th Armoured Division, along with units of the 3rd The King's Own Hussars, suffered one of the worst friendly fire incidents when they were attacked by a group of Royal Air Force (RAF) Vickers Wellington medium bombers during a two-hour raid near Mersa Matruh, Egypt. Over 359 troops were killed and 560 others were wounded.

The Western Desert Force later became HQ XIII Corps, one of the major parts of the British Eighth Army which, from August 1942 was commanded by Lieutenant-General Sir Bernard Montgomery. The 7th Armoured Division took part in most of the major battles of the North African Campaign, including both battles of El Alamein (the First Battle of El Alamein in July 1942, which stopped the Axis advance, and the Second Battle of El Alamein in October/November 1942, which turned the tide of the war in North Africa).

thumb|right|[[Infantrymen of the 1/6th Battalion, Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) marching into Tobruk, Libya, 18 November 1942.]]

The 7th Armoured Division, now consisting of the 22nd Armoured and 131st Infantry Brigades and commanded by Major General John Harding, fought in many major battles of the Tunisian Campaign, taking part in the Battle of El Agheila in December. By January 1943 the Eighth Army had reached Tripoli where a victory parade was held, with the 7th Armoured Division taking part. Among the witnesses was Winston Churchill, the British Prime Minister, and General Sir Alan Brooke, the Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS).

The division, now commanded by Major General George Erskine after Harding was severely injured in January, next took part in the Battle of Medenine, followed by the Battle of the Mareth Line in March. In late April, towards the end of the campaign, the 7th Armoured Division was transferred to IX Corps of the British First Army for the assault on Medjez El Bab. The attack was successful, with the 7th Armoured Division competing with the 6th Armoured Division of the First Army in a race to the city of Tunis, with 'B' Squadron of the 11th Hussars being first into the city on the afternoon of 7 May, followed closely by the 22nd Armoured Brigade and the 131st Brigade. The fighting in North Africa came to an end just days later, with almost 250,000 Axis soldiers surrendering to the Allies and becoming POWs.

Italy

The division was not an assault force in the invasion of Sicily, instead remaining in Homs, Syria for training in amphibious warfare, but did participate in the early stages of the Italian campaign.

The 7th Armoured Division came ashore at Salerno, on 15 September 1943, to help repel heavy German counterattacks during the Battle for the Salerno beachhead (Operation Avalanche). Shortly after landing on the 18th the 131st (Queen's) Infantry Brigade (which consisted of the 1/5th, 1/6th and 1/7th Territorial battalions of the Queen's Royal Regiment) relieved its 'sister' duplicate, the 169th (Queen's) Infantry Brigade, (consisting of 2/5th, 2/6th and 2/7th Queen's, all formed in 1939), which was part of the 56th (London) Infantry Division, and had been in continuous combat since 9 September. The assembly of six battalions of a single regiment has since been considered a unique moment in the regiment's history. The 169th Brigade was commanded at the time by Brigadier Lewis Lyne, who would later command the 7th Armoured Division from November 1944 onwards.

Then, it drove on and took Naples. Used to fighting in the desert, the division had to adjust to the confined Italian roads.

The division crossed the river Volturno in southern Italy, constructing a pontoon bridge.

thumb|A [[M4 Sherman|Sherman tank of the 4th County of London Yeomanry fording the Volturno river at Grazzanise, Italy, 17 October 1943.]]

On the wishes of the British Eighth Army commander, General Montgomery, the 7th Armoured Division was recalled to the United Kingdom, along with the 4th and 8th Armoured Brigades, and the 50th (Northumbrian) and 51st (Highland) Infantry Divisions, all of which had seen extensive service alongside the 7th Armoured Division in the Mediterranean and Middle East, to participate in the invasion of North Western Europe with the British Second Army. The 7th Armoured, handing over its battered vehicles and equipment to the recently arrived 5th Canadian (Armoured) Division, left Italy in late December 1943, arriving in Glasgow, Scotland in early January 1944.

North West Europe

280px|thumb|Order of battle 1944-1945.

In November 1943, the division left Italy for the United Kingdom, with the last units arriving on 7 January 1944. The division was re-equipped with the new Cromwell cruiser tanks and in April and May received 36 Sherman Vc Fireflies. Each troop now had three 75 mm gun Cromwells and a 17-pounder gun Firefly.

thumb|right|Major-General [[Gerald Lloyd-Verney, GOC 7th Armoured Division, enters Ghent in his Staghound armoured car, 8 September 1944.]]

The 22nd Armoured Brigade embarked on 4 June, and most of the division landed on Gold Beach by the end of 7 June, a day after the initial landings. 7th Armoured initially took part in Operation Perch and Operation Goodwood, two operations that formed part of the Battle for Caen. During Perch, the division was to spearhead one arm of a pincer attack to capture the city. Due to a change in plan, elements of the division engaged tanks of the Panzer-Lehr-Division and the Heavy SS-Panzer Battalion 101 in the Battle of Villers-Bocage and were repulsed. Following the capture of Caen, the division took part in Operation Spring, which was intended to keep the German forces pinned to the British front away from the Americans who were launching Operation Cobra, and then Operation Bluecoat, an attack to support the American break-out and intercept German reinforcements moving to stop it. After the Battle of the Falaise Gap, which saw most of the German Army in Normandy destroyed, the 7th Armoured Division then took part in the Allied advance from Paris to the Rhine.

The division's performance in Normandy and the rest of France has been called into question and it has been claimed they did not match those of its earlier campaigns. In early August 1944, Major General George Erskine, who had commanded the division since January 1943, Brigadier William Hinde, commanding the 22nd Armoured Brigade, and up to 100 other officers of the division were removed from their positions and reassigned. Erskine was replaced as GOC by Major General Gerald Lloyd-Verney. Historians largely agree that this was a consequence of the "failure" at Villers-Bocage and had been planned since that battle. Historian Daniel Taylor is of the opinion that the battle's result provided an excuse and that the sackings took place to "demonstrate that the army command was doing something to counteract the poor public opinion of the conduct of the campaign".

thumb|left|[[Kangaroo (armoured personnel carrier)|Ram Kangaroo personnel carriers carrying troops of the 9th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry near Weske, 31 March 1945.]]

The replacement of Erskine in August did not change the performance of the division. In November 1944, Lloyd-Verney was relieved by Major General Lyne, after he "was unable to cure the division's bad habits well enough to satisfy Montgomery and Dempsey". There is almost no doubt that the division was suffering from collective and cumulative battle fatigue. As Lloyd-Verney put it, with some prescience: "There is no doubt that familiarity with war does not make one more courageous. One becomes cunning and from cunning to cowardice is but a short step." This was not an isolated incident: the 51st (Highland) Infantry Division and several other veteran formations Montgomery had brought back from the Mediterranean experienced similar difficulties, although not the 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division, which performed well throughout the Normandy Campaign.

Following the advance across France, the division took part in the Allied advance through Belgium and the Netherlands, liberating Ghent on 6 September. The division then took part in the advance to and securing of the River Maas, where the division, now commanded by Major-General Lewis Lyne, a highly experienced commander, was slightly reorganized, with many experienced men who had been overseas with the division for five years returning home. In January 1945 the division, with the 8th Armoured Brigade and 155th Infantry Brigade (from the 52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division) under command, took part in Operation Blackcock to clear the Roer Triangle. The division had a short rest for training in late February. This was followed by Operation Plunder: the 7th Armoured Division crossed the River Rhine near Xanten and Wesel and advanced northeast. On 16 April 1945, the 7th Armoured Division liberated Stalag 11B in Fallingbostel, which was the first prisoner-of-war camp to be liberated. The 7th Armoured Division's last action of the war was the battle for the German city of Hamburg.

thumb|right|[[Cromwell tank with Challenger tank behind of 8th Hussars, 7th Armoured Division, outside Hamburg Dammtor station, 5 May 1945.]]

In July 1945 the 7th Armoured Division took part in the 1945 British victory parade in Berlin. Among the many witnesses of the parade were British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who was particularly fond of the division, Field Marshal Alan Brooke, the Chief of the Imperial General Staff and Field Marshal Montgomery.

Post war

During the summer of 1945, the BAOR reorganised and disbanded its corps headquarters. These were replaced by new formations based around a divisional headquarters. This resulted in the creation of the 7th Armoured Division District, which was headquartered at Bad Rothenfelde. The division was reformed when Hannover District became the 7th Armoured Division. The division remained part of the BAOR until April 1958, when it was redesignated as the 5th Division. While the division ceased to exist, its traditions and iconic nickname were maintained by 7th Armoured Brigade.

A monument to commemorate the 7th Armoured was erected at Brandon in Thetford Forest where the division trained prior to D-day.

Notable personnel

Field Marshal Michael Carver, Baron Carver – GS01
Major-General John Combe- initially 11th Hussars, later staff officer
Second Lieutenant Dan Ranfurly – chronicled by his wife Hermione Ranfurly's book To War With Whitaker: The Wartime Diaries of the Countess of Ranfurly, 1939–1945

Notes

Footnotes

Citations

References

Delaforce, Patrick. Churchill's Desert Rats: From Normandy to Berlin with the 7th Armoured Division, Sutton Publishing, 2003
Fortin, Ludovic. British Tanks in Normandy, Histoire & Collections (2004).
Forty, George. Battle Zone Normandy: Villers Bocage. Sutton Publishing, London, 2004.
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

External links

Battle of the Roer Triangle January 1945
British Unit Histories
"The Sharpshooters", the County of London Yeomanry Association website
The History of the British 7th Armoured Division, plus the 4th and 7th Armoured Brigades
Journeyman Autobiography of former Desert Rat Ted Rogers
7th Armoured Division Desert War.net