List of orders of battle for the British 7th Armoured Division
Mobile Division, Egypt / Mobile Division (Egypt) Armoured Division (Egypt) 7th Armoured Division
The first divisional insignia to use a jerboa, used from c.1940 until late 1943. Variants of the design existed in red and pink.[1] Other than the general officer commanding, it is believed that this insignia was not worn on uniforms and was only painted on the division's vehicles.[2]
An order of battle is a list of the various elements of a military formation organised within a hierarchical command structure. It can also provide information on the strength of that formation and the equipment used.[3] An order of battle is not necessarily a set structure, and it can change depending on tactical or strategic developments, or the evolution of military doctrine. For example, a division could be altered radically from one campaign to another through the adding or removing of subunits but retain its identity and prior history. The size of a division can vary dramatically as a result of what forces are assigned and the doctrine employed at that time.
In September 1938, due to European tensions between Britain and the Axis Powers, British forces based in Egypt were redeployed from the Suez Canal and Cairo areas to Mersa Matruh in the Western Desert, in preparation for a possible attack by Italy from Italian Libya. This ad hoc formation was dubbed the Mobile Force. When tensions subsided, due to the Munich Agreement, the force returned east and was located near Cairo. It was then joined by Major-GeneralPercy Hobart who was ordered to form an armoured division in Egypt. The Army List, for December 1938, highlighted the disjointed nature of this effort, with the Mobile Division (Egypt) having no units of its own. The higher command, British Troops in Egypt, held direct responsibility over most of what had been in the Mobile Force and what would become the 7th Armoured Division.[4][5]
In April 1939, several nomenclature changes took place. The Mobile Division (Egypt) was renamed the Armoured Division (Egypt) and the Cairo Cavalry Brigade became the Light Armoured Brigade (Egypt), the later would eventually be renamed the 7th Armoured Brigade. On 4 April 1939, the Royal Armoured Corps was formed to command all mechanised cavalry and the battalions of the Royal Tank Corps. The latter was renamed the Royal Tank Regiment and its nomenclature colloquially changed; each unit dropped the word battalion from their names, although this was not officially adopted until September 1945. The Heavy Armoured Brigade (Egypt), what would become the 4th Armoured Brigade, started to form in 1939 from units previously assigned to British Troops in Egypt.[6][7]
The 7th and 8th Hussars were equipped with various models of light tanks while the 11th Hussars (Prince Albert's Own) were outfitted with Morris Armoured Cars. The two Royal Tank Regiment units used a mixture of A9 Cruisers and Mk VI light tanks.[4][8][a] Prior to the outbreak of the war, a 'pivot group' was formed. British military thinking for armoured formations designated that all supporting arms (infantry, artillery, engineers) would be assigned to these groups, thus leaving the armoured brigades with just tanks. Doctrine dictated that the infantry did not supplement the tanks, but rather protected them at leaguer, defended positions occupied by the administrative and supply vehicles, or secured locations that the tanks had captured.[11][12]
After the start of the Second World War, in September 1939, the division's pivot group was not included on any official order of battle, and the forces that would have been assigned to it appear as divisional assets instead.[16] A new one, the 7th Support Group, was formed in January 1940.[17] At full strength, the group would have sixteen 25-pounder field gun-howitzers, twenty-four 2-pounder anti-tank guns, and twenty-four Bofors 40 mm gun anti-aircraft guns.[18] In October 1940, such groups were supposed to be reorganised with one infantry battalion being removed and sent to join an armoured brigade. However, the division's support group did not follow this change and maintained two battalions through to November 1941.[19] Other changes included the 11th Hussars (Prince Albert's Own) being removed from the 7th Armoured Brigade, as they were an armoured car regiment and not a tank unit, and being placed directly under the command of the division. This allowed the formation to have a dedicated reconnaissance element.[20]
Organization IV (February 1942) reorganized divisions into one armoured brigade group and one motorised brigade group, each with attached artillery and engineers. Organization VI (August 1942) was the essentially same as organization V which was applied in the U.K. only, applied in the Middle East two months later. This returned supporting arms to division control, with an increase in all types of artillery.[32] The 7th Armoured Division initially had two Armoured Brigades, of different organizations.[33]
4th Armoured Brigade (left 3 March 1943 still organized as a Brigade Group)[34]
Organization VII introduced little change, the attachment of a machine gun company to the infantry brigade, and the replacement of armoured cars with tanks in the reconnaissance regiment.[38]
Organization VIII, consolidated the continuing changes in formations, increasing the reconnaissance regiment strength, moving the machine gun company to division troops and adding a bridging troop of engineers.[39]
^The British military defined light tanks as reconnaissance vehicles, which were armed only with machine guns. Cruiser tanks were swiftly moving, more heavily armoured, and equipped with machine guns and an anti-tank weapon. The cruiser tank's role was to engage and destroy enemy armoured forces. Its main weapon, a 2-pounder anti-tank gun, was supplied only with armour-piercing rounds, leaving cruiser tanks ineffective against entrenched infantry or at suppressing hostile artillery.[9][10]
^The 11th Hussars (Prince Albert's Own) had, by this point, temporarily relocated to Mandatory Palestine.[14]
^ abThese photographs demonstrate the Caunter camouflage pattern used by the British in the Western Desert. This was an angular disruptive three-colour scheme, which called for the use of stone, sand, and silver-grey. The latter was often replaced with blue-based colors due to the lack of availability. Some variants included pale cream in the color scheme. The Caunter style was officially maintained until the end of 1941, when replaced by an overall stone colouration although some examples exist showing attempted disruptive patterns with white and black. By the Second Battle of El Alamein, desert pink, greens, and browns were in use. Local variations, outside of official schemes, also occurred due to the lack of material or lack of time to repaint vehicles.[22]
^At the start of the year, the formation was still called the Armoured Division (Egypt) until it was renamed as the 7th Armoured Division on 16 February.[15]
^Started the year as the Heavy Armoured Brigade (Egypt), it was redesignated as the 4th Heavy Armoured Brigade on 16 February, before being renamed the 4th Armoured Brigade on 14 April.[25]
^Started the year as the Light Armoured Brigade (Egypt), it was redesignated as the 7th Light Armoured Brigade on 16 February, before being renamed as the 7th Armoured Brigade on 14 April.[26]
^The division's engineer headquarters was formed in April 1940, but no engineering units were attached. The 4th Field Squadron and the 143rd Field Park Troop were formed in the UK and dispatched to supplement the division by November, but they did not join until 1941 having been assigned to other units after their arrival in Egypt. Engineer units were temporarily attached, in the meantime, as needed.[27]
^One squadron was assigned to the 3rd Hussars, and in turn one squadron from that regiment was assigned to the 2RTR.
^One squadron was assigned to the 2RTR, and in turn one squadron from that regiment was assigned to the 3rd Hussars.
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Zaloga, Steven (2015). Armored Champion: The Top Tanks of World War II. Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania: Stackpole Books. ISBN978-0-81171-437-2.