British Armoured Divisions

[yantaylor]

Well I have hit a brick wall with the British armoured division, the 7th armoured is too large and with too many brigades and regiments to assemble, plus each brigade will have a commander which without to Jolsen book [too expensive for me at this present time] is virtually impossible.

[Gary Kennedy]

I must admit I was going to warn of the prospect of going mad if you tried to unpick all the associations and changes of command and units in 7th Armd Div. Someone mentioned further back that Joslen is available via Fold3, might it be worth you signing up with them for a month, downloading the relevant pages and gathering the information that way?

Gary

[yantaylor]

The only thing I can think of Gary is to miss the 7th for now, and concentrate on the the others;
8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 42nd, 79th & guards, but I expect that the 79th will also be difficult.

Regarding the 7th AD, the best way I can see is to take each brigade one as a time starting in this order;
The Light Armoured Brigade
The Heavy Armoured Brigade
The Pivot Group
4th Armoured Brigade
7th Armoured Brigade
Support Group
Divisional Troops

Taking each on in turn would be slow and painful work, but if I keep it to brigade commanders and the main regiments with dates, it may make it easier.

Yan.

[yantaylor]

Gary, do you know the dates for these two units, when they were in service with the 21 Indian brigade?
1st/5th Mahratta Light Infantry [battalion?]
3rd/15th Punjab Regiment

I am digging my way through the 6th AD, was the 6th divisional armoured signals with this division from 1940 to 1945?

Thanks
Yan.

[Gary Kennedy]

Not in Joslen but this from Malcolm Bellis' Commonwealth Divisions 1939-45.

1/5 with the Bde Nov42 to Aug45 and 3/15 Jan43 to Apr43 and again Sep43 to Aug45.

6th Armd Div Sigs didn't go walkabout, with the Div throughout.

Gary

[yantaylor]

Thank you Gary.
Yan.

[yantaylor]

Gary, found some dates on those Indian units, don't know how accurate this is but;

1st/5th Mahratta Light Infantry (15th November 1942 to 31st August 1945)
3rd/15th Punjab Regiment (15th January 1943 to ???? April 1945)

Yan.

[Andy H]

Hi Yan

There is some information regarding the various British Armoured Divisions within the thread index here:-
viewtopic.php?f=114&t=188850
Just click on the links under each Division to read those threads.

Regards

Andy H

[yantaylor]

Andy your a life saver mate, I have been struggling with the 7th armoured divisions for some weeks now, so I will shift through you info on that division.

How are you with brigade commanders?
I am stuck on some of these officers.

Thanks again
Yan.

[yantaylor]

Andy, do you know the commanders of these British units please;
The Light Armoured Brigade
The Heavy Armoured Brigade
The Pivot Group
All three served with the 7th armoured division circa March 1939.
Thanks
Yan.

[Gary Kennedy]

From Joslen, so only from Sep 1939;

4th Armd Bde (titled as Heavy Armd Bde, Egypt till 16Feb40) - Lt-Col HRB Watkins (acting) 03Sep39 then Brig JAL Caunter from 01Nov39

7th Armd Bde (titled as Light Armd Bde, Egypt till 16Feb40) - Brig HF Russell 03Sep39 to 26Jul41

No entry for the Pivot Group, which was superseded by 7th Sup Gp from 22Jan40, with Lt-Col ESB Williams (acting) from 22 to 31 Jan 1940.

Sure we can't sell you a copy of Joslen? There's a PDF available from MLRS for a very reasonable £20.25 -

https://www.mlrsbooks.co.uk/bookstore/p ... em603.html

They only do downloads these days so it will need a bit of bandwidth, otherwise wait till Fold3 have another free access period and download their pages.

Gary

[yantaylor]

Gary, I have penciled that book in for a Xmas present off either misuses or the kids, the youngest lad just got married so cash is at a premium just now.
Thanks for the info too, as there is is little about from the early days of the British armoured corps

I must have got the dates wrong for those formations.
I have them down for joining the 7th armoured division on the 3rd March 1939, and the pivot group commanded by a Lt-Col Watkins (3rd September 1939)

Cheers
Yan.

[yantaylor]

Forgot to add about the 79th Armoured Divisional Signals , the dates I have is from 7th January 1943 to ? April 1943, which date in April did they leave?

[Gary Kennedy]

They didn't, 79th Armd Div Sigs stayed with the formation when it was re-organised onto a specialised armour basis so were in place from Jan43 to Aug45.

Gary

[yantaylor]

Thank you Gary.
So what dates would you use for those early brigades, obviously my 3rd March 1939 is wrong, so would you go for;
heavy Armd Bde (3 Sep 1939)
light Armd Bde (3 Sep 1939)
Pivot Group (3 Sep 1939)
Thanks
Yan.