10th Armoured Division (United Kingdom)

WW2 British Army formation April 2014 May 2020 10th Armoured Division File:10th armoured div.svg Formation sign of the 10th Armoured Division.Cole p. 34 1 August 1941 – 15 June 1944Joslen, p. 251956–1957 United Kingdom United Kingdom Armoured Second World War13,225–14,964 menJoslen, p. 129186 tanks164 M4 Shermans, 8 cruisers, and 14 anti-aircraft tanks.Joslen, p. 7 nbThese figures are the war establishment, the on-paper strength, of the division for 1942–1944; for information on how divisional sizes changed over the war please see British Army during the Second World War and British Armoured formations of Second World War. nb Western DesertTripoli North African Campaign 30 August–7 September 1942 Alam el HalfaJoslen, p. 2623 October–4 November 1942 El Alamein Alexander Gatehouse The 10th Armoured Division was an armoured formation of the British Army, raised during the Second World War and was active from 1941–1944 and after the war from 1956–1957. It was formed from the 1st Cavalry Division, a 1st Line Yeomanry unit of the Territorial Army (TA) which had been serving in Palestine. The division was converted from cavalry to armour and renamed from 1 August 1941. History The divisional sign was a fox's mask, representing the hunting tradition of the formation's cavalry and Yeomanry units. The division was originally under command of HQ British Troops Palestine and Transjordan, but transferred to Ninth Army when the headquarters was redesignated on 1 November 1941. 1475 10th Armoured Division , accessed October 2011 It was later transferred into Egypt, serving under HQ Middle East, XXX Corps, British Eighth Army, and X Corps. The division fought at the Battles of Alam Halfa and El Alamein. It was disbanded on 15 June 1944 in Egypt.https://books.google.com/books?id=l5n9AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA233 British Armoured Divisions and their Commanders, 1939-1945 Richard Doherty 233 Pen and Sword 2013 978-1848848382 The 10th Armoured Division was also briefly active after the war ended in Libya in the 1950s, incorporating 25th Armoured Brigade,http://www.austinchamp.com/-theregister/FV1801Ai/10000-11000/10000-10100/10053.htm austinchamp.com WN1-10053 British War Office https://web.archive.org/web/20080314000310/http://www.austinchamp.com/-theregister/FV1801Ai/10000-11000/10000-10100/10053.htm 14 March 2008 but was disbanded in July 1957.Hansard, March 1958 The 25th Armoured Brigade was formed in 1952 to provide an operational headquarters for the troops in Libya. Also 1st RTR & 3rd RHA in Canal Zone, Egypt 1954/56 (Not listed on Orbat site). The Royal Scots Greys arrived in Libya in 1952, and stayed until 1955. Other units of the brigade from 1952 were the 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards, 1st Battalion, Grenadier Guards, 1st Battalion, East Surrey Regiment, 3rd Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery and the 14th/20th King's Hussars. Also the Queens Bays at Sabratha Orbat.com, Order of Battle, British Army, 1952 https://web.archive.org/web/20101128053925/http://www.orbat.com/site/history/library-new/1946-1990/britishempire/army1952.html 28 November 2010 5th Royal Tank Regiment became part of 25th Armd Bde Gp in Cyrenaica from December 1954 to March 1957 . In May and June 1956 the brigade was hastily expanded to division status as 10th Armoured Division, with the intention of invading Egypt from the west during the Suez Canal Crisis."Britain, Libya and the Suez Crisis", Journal of Strategic Studies, April 2007. Planning was halted when it was found that such an invasion was banned under the terms of Britain's treaty with Libya. The Armoured Brigade Signals Squadron was expanded to 10th Armd Div Signals in May–June 1956, based in Tripoli. It began to wind up in April 1957, and disbanded completely in September 1957.Cliff Lord, Graham Watson, The Royal Corps of Signals, 2004, p. 47 From 1948 to 1957 22 Engineer Regiment was in Libya, with a short stint in Egypt in October 1951 . It was under the command of 1st Infantry Division and 10th Armoured Division. 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards was at Wavell Barracks, Benghazi from December 1965, operating armoured cars, with "A" Squadron at Ziyyi Camp in Cyprus, until the end of 1967. General Officer Commanding AppointedGeneral Officer Commanding1 August 1941Major-General John ClarkJoslen states a Major-General C.G.W. Clark was the division's first General Officer Commanding whereas Mead informs the reader that John Clark retained control of the division after it was reformed as an armoured division.Mead, p. 101 nb26 June 1942Major-General Alexander Gatehouse18 December 1942Major-General Charles Norman12 January 1943Major-General Horace Birks1955Major-General Rodney MooreArmy Commands https://web.archive.org/web/20150705211343/http://www.gulabin.com/armynavy/pdf/Army%20Commands%201900-2011.pdf 5 July 2015 Order of battle The 10th Armoured Division was constituted as follows during the war: 8th Armoured Brigade (left 16 February 1942, rejoined 27 March 1942, left 30 June 1942, rejoined 17 July 1942, left 21 November 1942)Joslen, p. 160 Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry Staffordshire Yeomanry Royal Scots Greys (left 30 June 1942) 3rd Royal Tank Regiment (from 12 July 1942) 1st Battalion, Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment) (from 14 March 1942) 9th Armoured Brigade (from 9 October 1941, left 25 March 1942, rejoined 14 November 1942, left 27 May 1943)Joslen, p. 162 Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry (left 27 May 1943) Warwickshire Yeomanry (left 27 May 1943) 1st Household Cavalry Regiment (from 3 August, left 9 October 1941) Yorkshire Hussars (from 10 October 1941, left 13 March 1942) 3rd The King's Own Hussars (from 16 March 1942, left 27 May 1943) 14th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters (from 10 August, left 9 December 1942) 11th (Queen's Westminsters) Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps (from 9 December 1942, left 27 May 1943) 7th Armoured Brigade (from 3 June 1943, left 11 April 1944)Joslen, p. 158 7th Queen's Own Hussars (from 15 December 1943) 2nd Royal Tank Regiment 6th Royal Tank Regiment (from 8 June 1944) 8th Royal Tank Regiment (from 29 January 1944) 2nd Battalion, Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) (from 26 September 1943 until 13 November 1943, rejoined 19 December 1943) 23rd Armoured Brigade (from 1 June 1944, left 14 June 1944)Joslen, p. 179 40th (The King's) Royal Tank Regiment 46th (Liverpool Welsh) Royal Tank Regiment 50th Royal Tank Regiment 11th (Queen's Westminsters) Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps 7th Motor Brigade (from 12 September 1942, left 23 September 1942)Joslen, p. 244 2nd Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps 2nd Battalion, Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) 7th Battalion, Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) 133rd Lorried Infantry Brigade (from 29 September 1942, left 25 November 1942)Joslen, p. 319 2nd Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment 4th Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment 5th (Cinque Ports) Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment 201st Guards Motor Brigade (from 9 January 1943, left 1 February 1943)Joslen, p. 265 6th Battalion, Grenadier Guards 3rd Battalion, Coldstream Guards 2nd Battalion, Scots Guards Divisional Troops Royal Armoured Corps 1st Household Cavalry Regiment (from 9 October 1941, left 13 March 1942, rejoined 14 January 1943, left 5 November 1943) 2nd Derbyshire Yeomanry (from 21 August 1942, left 10 September 1942) 1st The Royal Dragoons (from 22 September 1942, left 31 October 1942) 7th Queen's Own Hussars (from 5 November 1943, left 25 April 1944) Royal Engineers 2nd Field Squadron, Royal Engineers (from 21 November 1941, left 10 June 1943) 3rd Field Squadron, Royal Engineers (from 22 September 1942, left 15 May 1944) 622nd Field Squadron, Royal Engineers (from 11 June 1943, left 31 May 1944) 141st Field Park Squadron, Royal Engineers (from 20 November 1941, left 1 April 1944) 6th Bridging Troop, Royal Engineers (from 20 November 1943, left 1 April 1944) Royal Corps of Signals 10th Armoured Divisional Signals, Royal Corps of Signals Royal Artillery 1st Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery (from 13 September 1942, left 27 May 1943, rejoined 13 November 1943, left 25 April 1944) 14th Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery (from 3 June 1943, left 8 November 1943) 104th (Essex Yeomanry) Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery (from 27 September 1942, left 3 May 1944) 98th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery (from 19 September 1942, left 29 December 1942) 84th Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery (from 13 September 1942, left 20 May 1944) 53rd (King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery (from 2 September 1942, left 2 November 1942) 101st Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery (from 11 November 1943, left 30 April 1944) See also United Kingdom List of British divisions in World War II British Armoured formations of World War II Notes Footnotes nb Citations References Cole Howard Formation Badges of World War 2. Britain, Commonwealth and Empire 1973 Arms and Armour Press London Lieutenant-Colonel H.F. Joslen Orders of Battle Second World War 1939–1945 Naval & Military Press Ltd 2006 1960 978-1-84342-474-1 Richard Mead Churchill's Lions: A biographical guide to the key British generals of World War II 2007 Spellmount Stroud (UK) 978-1-86227-431-0 External links http://www.regiments.org/formations/lists/ukdivxref.htm 10th Armoured Division (United Kingdom) regiments.org https://web.archive.org/web/20080125044152/http://www.regiments.org/formations/lists/ukdivxref.htm 25 January 2008 Category:Armoured divisions of the British Army in World War II Category:Armoured divisions of the United Kingdom Category:Military units and formations established in 1941 Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1957 Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1944 Category:Military units and formations established in 1956