11th Armoured Division (United Kingdom)
11th Armoured Division | |
---|---|
Active | 1941–1946 1952–1956 |
Country | United Kingdom |
Branch | British Army |
Type | Armoured |
Size | Division, 14,964 men[1] 343 tanks[nb 1][nb 2] |
Engagements | |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders | George Roberts |
The 11th Armoured Division was an
Background and formation
The 11th Armoured Division was organized in March 1941, in Yorkshire under Northern Command, under Major-General Percy Hobart. A veteran of the Royal Tank Regiment, he had already strongly influenced the shape of the 7th Armoured Division, but his original and innovative ideas had led to his early retirement from the army. Reinstated after the disasters of the Battle of France in May–June 1940, he further realised his vision with the 11th Armoured Division. Under his leadership the division adopted the "Charging Bull" as its emblem.[3]
Originally composed of the
Training continued throughout the remainder of 1942 and the whole of 1943; Major-General
History
Normandy
Most of the 11th Armoured Division landed on Juno Beach on 13 June 1944 (D+7),[7] seven days after the 3rd Canadian Division had landed on D-Day. It was deployed in all major operations of the British Second Army, including Operations Epsom, Goodwood, and Bluecoat, and the battles around the Falaise Gap.[8] The 11th Armoured Division, as part of the
The 11th Armoured was then moved to the east of Caen to spearhead Operation Goodwood.[10] Planning and execution errors, coupled with strong German defences, led to a tactical British defeat. Goodwood was cancelled on 20 July, with the 11th Armoured being withdrawn from the front line to rest and refit. In only two days of fighting, it had lost 126 tanks.[11]
The subsequent reorganization saw the 23rd Hussars absorb the remainder of the 24th Lancers.[12]
The 11th Armoured was directed again to the west, to take part in
After being replaced by the
Belgium and the Netherlands
After a night move, and an unprecedented advance of 60 miles in one day, the division liberated Amiens on 1 September. The same day, it captured General Heinrich Eberbach, commander of the Wehrmacht's German 7th Army. Advancing to Lens, then Tournai, the division was then committed to the fight for Antwerp, which it liberated on 4 September. Two days later, it tried to establish a bridgehead over the Albert Canal, but the attempt, due to intense enemy fire, was not successful.[17] After this failure, 11th Armoured had to cross much further to the east, at Beringen.[18] The division was not directly committed to
At the beginning of October, the division was employed in clearing pockets of German resistance remaining west of the Maas. The operation developed promisingly with 159th Infantry Brigade, battling its way across the Deurne canal. Unfortunately, the attack was quickly stopped by obstinate German resistance. Further delay was imposed by the growing supply shortage and the launching of an enemy counter-attack in the south. There was also a skillful German defence which postponed clearing of the Maas for several weeks. During this period the division came into contact with troops from the United States and the divisional sign was referred to as "the Swell Bison". On 16 October Sergeant George Harold Eardley of the 4th Battalion, King's Shropshire Light Infantry (from 159th Brigade) was awarded the Victoria Cross for bravery.[20]
Preparations for a new crossing attempt were delayed until the second half of November. On the 22nd, 159th Brigade managed to cross and to seize the village of America. It progressed to Horst, before being relieved by units of the 15th (Scottish) Division. On 30 November, it attacked a fortress defended by German parachutists at the Battle of Broekhuizen.[21] The enemy inflicted heavy losses, before capitulating on 5 December.[22]
Ardennes to the Rhine
At the beginning of December 1944 units of the 11th Armoured Division were placed in reserve around
Lower Rhine
On 17 February 1945 the 159th Brigade was recalled to the front, to add its weight to the reinforce
The infantry of the 11th Armoured later received orders to seize
Germany
The 11th Armoured Division was held in reserve until 28 March 1945
Divisional units continued toward the Osnabrück canal. After crossing via a captured bridge, it moved towards the Weser, reached by leading elements near Stolzenau on 5 April. A week later, the 11th Armoured liberated the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.[35] A local agreement with German commanders designed to prevent the spread of typhus made it possible to declare the neighbourhood of the camp a neutral area, and the fighting moved northeast. The division reached the river Elbe near Lüneburg on 18 April.[36]
On 30 April 1945 the 11th Armoured Division launched their last attack. It crossed the Elbe at
The 11th Armoured Division was disbanded shortly after the end of the war at the end of January 1946. During the campaign in northwestern Europe, from June 1944 until May 1945, the division had lost almost 2,000 officers and men killed in action and more than 8,000 wounded or missing in action.[38]
Post war
The 11th Armoured Division was reformed in the autumn of 1950, but was then converted into the 4th Infantry Division in April 1956.[39]
Order of battle
11th Armoured Division was constituted as follows during the Second World War:[6]
- 29th Armoured Brigade[40]
- 24th Lancers (left 6 February 1944)
- 23rd Hussars
- 2nd Fife and Forfar Yeomanry(from 7 June 1941)
- 3rd Royal Tank Regiment (from 6 February 1944)
- 8th Battalion, Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own)
- 30th Armoured Brigade (left 20 April 1942)[41]
- 22nd Dragoons
- Westminster Dragoons
- 1st Lothians and Border Horse
- 2nd Battalion, Queen's Westminsters (renamed 25 March 1941)
- 12th (Queen's Westminsters) Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps (from 25 March 1941)
- 11th Support Group (disbanded 1 June 1942)
- 13th Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery (Honourable Artillery Company)(to Divisional Troops on 31 May 1942)
- 75th Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery (to Divisional Troops on 31 May 1942)
- 58th (Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery(from 7 May 1941, to Divisional Troops on 31 May 1942)
- 8th Battalion, Royal Ulster Rifles(left 8 May 1941)
- 12th Battalion, Green Howards (from 9 May 1941, left 8 May 1942)
- 159th Infantry Brigade (from 1 June 1942)[42]
- 4th Battalion, King's Shropshire Light Infantry
- 3rd Battalion, Monmouthshire Regiment (left 3 April 1945)
- 1st Battalion, Herefordshire Regiment
- 1st Battalion, Cheshire Regiment (from 6 April 1945)
- Divisional troops
- 2nd Independent Machine Gun Company (Machine Gun Company, from 16 March 1944)
- 27th Lancers (Reconnaissance Regiment, from 10 March 1941, left 25 March 1943)
- 2nd Northamptonshire Yeomanry(Reconnaissance Regiment, from 25 March 1943, disbanded 17 August 1944)
- 15th/19th The King's Royal Hussars (Reconnaissance Regiment, from 17 August 1944)
- 13th Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery (Honourable Artillery Company)(from 1 June 1942)
- 151st (Ayrshire Yeomanry) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery
- 75th Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery (from 1 June 1942, left 2 June 1945)
- 65th (Norfolk Yeomanry) Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery(from 2 June 1945)
- 58th (Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery (from 1 June 1942)
- 12th Field Squadron, Royal Engineers (from 16 March 1941, left 1 January 1943)
- 13th Field Squadron, Royal Engineers (from 16 March 1941)
- 612th Field Squadron, Royal Engineers (from 1 January 1943)
- 147th Field Park Squadron, Royal Engineers (from 16 March 1941)
- 10th Bridging Platoon, Royal Engineers (from 1 October 1943)
- 11th Armoured Divisional Signals Regiment, Royal Corps of Signals
An Inns of Court Regiment armoured car squadron was attached to most 11th Armoured Division operations.[43]
Commanders
Commanders included:
Appointed | General officer commanding |
9 March 1941 | Major-General Percy Hobart[6] |
22 February 1942 | Brigadier Christopher Peto (acting)[6] |
21 April 1942 | Major-General Charles Keightley[6] |
17 May 1942 | Major-General Percy Hobart[6] |
15 October 1942 | Major-General Brocas Burrows[6] |
6 December 1943 | Major-General Philip Roberts[6]
|
1950 | Major-General Henry Foote[44] |
1953 | Major-General Harold Pyman[44] |
1955 | Major-General John Anderson[44] |
March 1956 | Major-General Reginald Hewetson[44] |
In popular culture
In Episode 4 "Replacements" of the TV miniseries
See also
- List of British divisions in World War II
- British Armoured formations of World War II
References
Footnotes
Citations
- ^ Joslen, p. 129
- ^ Joslen, p. 9
- ^ "Badge, formation, 11th Armoured Division". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
- ^ Palamountain 1946, pp. 5–8
- ^ Doherty 2013, p. 142
- ^ a b c d e f g h Joslen 2003, p. 27
- ^ Joslen 2003, p. 28.
- ^ Copp 2007, p. 234
- ^ Hinsley 1994, p. 495.
- ^ Buckley 2006, p. 35.
- ^ Trew & Badsey 2004, p. 86.
- ^ Joslen 2003, p. 180.
- ^ Delaforce 2010, p. 93.
- ^ Pays de Flers office de tourisme (French)
- ^ "The Liberation of Flers". 17 August 1944. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
- ^ "11th Armoured Division advance over the Seine". Imperial War Museum. 30 August 1944. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
- ^ Forczyk 2011, p. 48.
- ^ "Belgium, September 1944": an Anglo-Belgian symposium to commemorate the fortieth anniversary of the Liberation of Belgium. Imperial War Museum. 21 August 1984. p. 171.
- ISBN 978-0750928212.
- ^ "No. 36870". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 1944. p. 139.
- ^ Gaunt, John (2000), "The Battle of Broekhuizen", After The Battle, 107: 24–27
- ^ "3rd Battalion The Monmouthshire Regiment TA. World War 2. Fact Sheet 7-B09-08" (PDF). Regimental Museum of the Royal Welsh (Brecon). Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 July 2015. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
- ISBN 978-1472839220.
- ^ Joslen 2003, p. 349
- ^ Delaforce 2010, p. 195
- ^ Joslen 2003, p. 154
- ^ Joslen 2003, p. 196
- ^ Delaforce 2008, p. 94.
- ^ Delaforce 2010, p. 203
- ^ Joslen 2003, p. 106
- ^ Delaforce 2010, p. 211
- ^ Delaforce 2010, p. 215
- ^ "3rd Battalion, The Monmouthshire Regiment" (PDF). Royal Welsh. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 July 2015. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
- ^ Delaforce 2010, p. 214
- ISBN 9781442615700.
- ^ Graves, Philip (1940), A Record of the War: the Thirteenth Quarter, October 1, 1942 – December 31, 1942, Hutchinson, p. 14
- ISBN 978-0141011929.
- ^ Delaforce 2010, p. 1
- ^ "4th Division". Regiments.org. Archived from the original on 29 December 2006. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
- ^ Joslen 2003, p. 180
- ^ Joslen 2003, p. 181
- ^ Joslen 2003, p. 347
- ^ "BBC – WW2 People's War – From the Rhine to the Teutoburger Wald". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
- ^ a b c d Army Commands Archived 5 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine
- IMDb
Bibliography
- Buckley, John (2006) [2004]. British Armour in the Normandy Campaign 1944. London: Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-0-415-40773-1.
- Copp, T. (2007) [2003]. Fields of Fire: The Canadians in Normandy. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 978-0-8020-3780-0.
- Delaforce, Patrick (2010). The Black Bull: From Normandy to the Baltic with the 11th Armoured Division. Pen and Sword. ISBN 978-1848842281.
- Delaforce, Patrick (2008). Monty's Marauders: The 4th and 8th Armoured Brigades in the Second World War. Pen and Sword. ISBN 978-1844156306.
- Doherty, Richard (2013). British Armoured Divisions and Their Commanders, 1939–1945. Pen and Sword. ISBN 978-1848848382.
- Hinsley, F. H. (1994) [1993]. British Intelligence in the Second World War. Its influence on Strategy and Operations (abridged). History of the Second World War (2nd rev. pbk. ed.). London: ISBN 978-0-11-630961-7.
- 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.
- Forczyk, Robert (2011). Walther Model (command). Osprey. ISBN 978-1849083577.
- Palamountain, Edgar W I (1946). Taurus Pursuant: A History of 11th Armoured Division. British Army of the Rhine.
- Trew, Simon; Badsey, Stephen (2004). Battle for Caen. Battle Zone Normandy. Faber and Faber. ISBN 978-0-7509-3010-9.
- This article incorporates text from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and has been released under the GFDL.
External links
- The 11th Armoured Division website for families and friends of the veterans
- History of the Taurus Pursuant on memorial-montormel.org
- "11 Armoured Division". Orders of Battle.com.
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum – The 11th Armoured Division (Great Britain)