The 8th Armoured Division was an

armoured Armour (British English) or armor (American English; see spelling differences) is a covering used to protect an object, individual, or vehicle from physical injury or damage, especially direct contact weapons or projectiles during combat, or f ...

division Division or divider may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication *Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...

of the

British Army during the Second World War At the start of 1939, the British Army was, as it traditionally always had been, a small volunteer professional army. At the beginning of the Second World War on 1 September 1939, the British Army was small in comparison with those of its enem ...

. 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 British Army in the United Kingdom 1939-45 H16292

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 was finally disbanded in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

on 1 January 1943.Joslen, p. 22 Following the

Second Battle of El Alamein The Second Battle of El Alamein (23 October – 11 November 1942) was a battle of the Second World War that took place near the Egyptian railway halt of El Alamein. The First Battle of El Alamein and the Battle of Alam el Halfa had prevented th ...

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 shelved and units in the forward area were used instead. Afterwards, the name of the division was used for the purpose of military deception.Thaddeus Holt. ''The Deceivers: Allied Military Deception in the Second World War''. Phoenix. 2005.

Order of Battle

The units which formed part of the division included (day/month/year). Worth to note, in the six months the division was in

, it never operated as a complete formation. Order of battle was:Joslen, pp. 22. * 8th Armoured Division Headquarters * 8th Armoured Division Signals, Royal Corps of Signals 4/11/40–16/12/42 *

2nd Derbyshire Yeomanry The Derbyshire Yeomanry was a yeomanry regiment of the British Army, first raised in 1794, which served as a cavalry regiment and dismounted infantry regiment in the First World War and provided two reconnaissance regiments in the Second World Wa ...

27/11/40–20/8/42 * 23rd Armoured Brigade 22/11/40–11/7/42 ** 23rd Armoured Brigade Headquarters ** 23rd Armoured Brigade Signal Troop,

Royal Signals The Royal Corps of Signals (often simply known as the Royal Signals – abbreviated to R SIGNALS or R SIGS) is one of the combat support arms of the British Army. Signals units are among the first into action, providing the battlefield communi ...

40th (The King's) Royal Tank Regiment The 40th (The King's) Royal Tank Regiment (40 RTR) was an armoured regiment of the British Army from 1938 until 1956. It was part of the Royal Tank Regiment, itself part of the Royal Armoured Corps. It was originally formed by converting the 7th ...

** 46th (Liverpool Welsh) Royal Tank Regiment ** 50th Royal Tank Regiment ** 1st Battalion, The London Rifle Brigade later 7th Battalion, The Prince Consort's Own (Rifle Brigade) (London Rifle Brigade) * 24th Armoured Brigade 22/11/40–10/10/42 then 31/10/42–6/11/42 ** 23rd Armoured Brigade Headquarters ** 23rd Armoured Brigade Signal Troop,

** 41st (Oldham) Royal Tank Regiment ** 45th (Leeds Rifles) Royal Tank Regiment ** 47th (Oldham) Royal Tank Regiment ** 1st Battalion, The Queen's Westminsters later 11th (Queen's Westminsters) Battalion, The King's Royal Rifle Corps * 8th Support Group 7/11/40–23/7/42 ** 8th Support Group Headquarters Detachment ** 14th Battalion, The Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Regiment (Sherwood Foresters) ** 5th Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery (Field) 19/9/42–11/11/42 ** 73rd Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery 25/9/42–26/10/42 (part of Hammerforce, see above) ** 56th (East Lancashire) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery 23/7/42–6/11/42 (part of Hammerforce, see above) * CRA, 8th Armoured as HQ Hammerforce from 18/10/42–3/11/42 (see below for units) * Commander Royal Artillery, 8th Armoured Division (HQ Hammerforce, see above) ** HQ Commander Royal Artillery ** CRA Signal Troop,

** 5th Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery (Field) 19/9/42–11/11/42 ** 11th (Honourable Artillery Company) Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery (Field) 12/8/42–20/8/42 ** 104th (Essex Yeomanry) Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery (Field) 13/9/42–26/9/42 (part of Hammerforce, see above) ** 146th (Pembrokeshire and Cardiganshire) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery 19/9/42–6/11/42 (part of Hammerforce, see above) ** 73rd Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery 25/9/42–26/10/42 (part of Hammerforce, see above) ** 56th (East Lancashire) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery 23/7/42–6/11/42 (part of Hammerforce, see above) ** CRA Medical Section, Royal Army Medical Corps * Commander Royal Engineers, 8th Armoured Division ** HQ Divisional Engineers ** Divisional Engineers Signal Troop,

** 6 Field Squadron, Royal Engineers 27/11/40–9/11/42 ** 9 Field Squadron, Royal Engineers 15/1/41–11/7/42 then 15/9/42–9/11/42 ** 145 Field Park Squadron, Royal Engineers 27/11/40–9/11/42 ** Divisional Engineers 'B' Light Aid Detachment,

Royal Army Ordnance Corps The Royal Army Ordnance Corps (RAOC) was a corps of the British Army. At its renaming as a Royal Corps in 1918 it was both a supply and repair corps. In the supply area it had responsibility for weapons, armoured vehicles and other military equip ...

(from 43 Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers) * 8th Armoured Division Service Battalion, Royal Army Service Corps * 8th Armoured Division Maintenance Battalion,

(later Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers from 1943) * 8th Armoured Division Field Ambulance, Royal Army Medical Corps * 8th Armoured Division Military Police Company, Corps of Royal Military Police

Commanders

Commanders of the brigade included: * (Acting)

Brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. I ...

Arthur George Kenchington 4/11/40–14/12/40 *

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...

Richard Loudon McCreery 14/11/40–15/10/41 *

Charles Wake Norman 15/10/41–24/8/42 *

Charles Henry Gairdner 24/8/42–1/1/43

Notes

; Footnotes ; Citations

References

* *

External links