| 8th Armoured Division | |
|---|---|
 8th Armoured Division insignia. | |
| Active | 4 November 1940–1 January 1943 |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Branch | British Army |
| Type | Armoured division |
| Size |
13,235 men[1] 130+ tanks[nb 1][nb 2] |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Sir Richard McCreery |
The 8th Armoured Division was a British Army formation during the Second World War. It was deployed to Egypt in June 1942 but never operated as a complete formation and was disbanded in January the following year.
History[]
The division was sent to North Africa but never saw active service as a complete formation. As the division could not be provided with a lorried infantry brigade, it was broken up and [5] was finally disbanded in Egypt on 1 January 1943.[4]
Following the Second Battle of El Alamein a plan was put forth to use the remains of the division as a self-contained pursuit force to dart forward into the German-Italian rear as far as possibly Tobruk, however the plan to use the division was shelfed and units in the forward area were used instead.[6] Afterwards, the name of the division was used for the purpose of military deception.[7]
General Officer Commanding[]
The division had four officers who held the position of General Officer Commanding, during the Second World War.
| Appointed | General Officer Commanding |
| 4 November 1940 | Brigadier A.G. Kenchington (acting)[4] |
| 14 December 1940 | Major General Richard McCreery[4] |
| 15 October 1941 | Major-General Charles Norman[4] |
| 24 August 1942 | Major-General Charles Gairdner[4] |
Component Units[]
(all brigades stripped away from the division prior to the Second Battle of El Alamein)
- 23rd Armoured Brigade
- 24th Armoured Brigade
- 41st (Oldham) Royal Tank Regiment
- 45th Royal Tank Regiment
- 47th Royal Tank Regiment
- 11th The King's Royal Rifle Corps
- 133rd Infantry Brigade
- 2nd Bn, The Royal Sussex Regiment
- 4th Bn, The Royal Sussex Regiment
- 5th Bn, The Royal Sussex Regiment
Support Units[]
- 8th Support Group
- 14th The Sherwood Foresters
- 2nd The Derbyshire Yeomanry
- 5th Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery
- 11th (HAC) Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery
- 104th (Essex Yeomanry) Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery
- 146th (Pembroke and Cardiganshire) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery
See also[]
Notes[]
- Footnotes
- ↑ The division was initially organised on Basic Organisation No. III (340 tanks) but on arrival in the Middle East was partially reorganised along the lines of Basic Organisation No. IV;[2] depending on the tanks used, resulting in 44 or 48 tanks per regiment at full strength.[3] However, owing to casualties within Middle East Command, the change to Basic Organisation No. IV was never completed.[4]
- ↑ This is the war establishment, the on-paper strength, of the division for 1942; for information on how divisions changed over the war, please see British Army during the Second World War and British Armoured formations of the Second World War.
- Citations
References[]
- Joslen, Lt-Col H.F. (2003) [1st pub. HMSO:1960]. Orders of Battle: Second World War, 1939–1945. Uckfield: Naval and Military Press. ISBN 978-1-84342-474-1.
- Playfair, Major-General I.C.O.; Brigadier C.J.C Molony, Captain F.C. Flynn, R.N. and Group Captain T.P. Gleave, C.B.E. (2004) [1966]. 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.
External links[]
- 8 Armoured Division at Orders of Battle.com
- History
The original article can be found at 8th Armoured Division (United Kingdom) and the edit history here.