List of commanders of the British 7th Armoured Division

Last updated

Mobile Division, Egypt / Mobile Division (Egypt)
Armoured Division (Egypt)
7th Armoured Division
Percy Hobart.jpg
Percy Hobart, the first commanding officer of the Mobile Division (Egypt)
Active1938–1958
CountryFlag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
BranchFlag of the British Army.svg  British Army
Engagements Second World War

The 7th Armoured Division was an armoured division of the British Army and formed in 1938. The division was commanded by a general officer commanding (GOC), who received orders from a level above him in the chain of command, and then used the forces within the division to undertake the mission assigned. In addition to directing the tactical battle in which the division was involved, the GOC oversaw a staff and the administrative, logistical, medical, training, and discipline concerns of the division. [1] From its founding to when it was redesignated in the 1950s, the division had 18 permanent GOCs; one of whom was killed and another wounded.

Contents

The division was formed in Egypt, from mechanised-cavalry and tank units that were based there, following raising tensions with Italy. In 1939, the Mobile Division was renamed the Armoured Division and then became the 7th Armoured Division a year later. Following the Italian entry into the war, in June 1940, the division skirmished with their opposing forces throughout several engagements. After the Italian invasion of Egypt, a British counterstroke (Operation Compass) was launched in December 1940 and the division was able to help in the destruction of the Italian Tenth Army. Over the following two years, it fought in all the major battles of the back and forth Western Desert campaign. The fighting in the Western Desert saw the death of one commanding officer, Jock Campbell. Following the Second Battle of El Alamein it assisted in the pursuit west and joined in the Tunisian campaign and that fighting resulted in John Harding being wounded. While not selected for the subsequent Allied invasion of Sicily, it did land in mainland Italy for the opening stages of the Italian campaign. Chosen as a veteran formation to bolster the Second Army for Operation Overlord, the division was withdrawn to the UK and then landed in France in June 1944. It then fought in the Battle of Caen, notably at the Battle of Villers-Bocage and during Operation Goodwood. Following the Allied victory in Normandy, the division pushed east across France into the Low Countries, supported Operation Market Garden, and then took part in the Western Allied invasion of Germany.

The division was located in Germany at the end of the war and became part of the British Army of the Rhine. It was temporarily disbanded, when it was turned into a military district although it was soon reactivated. It remained in Germany until it was finally disbanded in 1958. The legacy of the division was maintained by the 7th Armoured Brigade until 2014, when it was reorganised as the 7th Light Mechanised Brigade Combat Team.

General officer commanding

General officer commanding
No.Appointment dateRankGeneral officer commandingNotesSource(s)
127 September 1938 Major-General Percy Hobart The division was formed in the United Kingdom, as the Mobile Division, Egypt / Mobile Division (Egypt). [2] [3]
Acting16 November 1939 Brigadier John Caunter [3]
24 December 1939 Major-General Michael Creagh The formation was redesignated as the 7th Armoured Division on 16 February 1940 [3]
Acting1 April 1940 Brigadier John Caunter [3]
213 April 1940 Major-General Sir Michael Creagh [3]
33 September 1941 Major-General William Gott [3]
46 February 1942 Major-General Jock Campbell Killed in action on 23 February [3]
Acting23 February 1943 Brigadier Alexander Gatehouse [3]
59 March 1942 Major-General Frank Messervy [3]
619 June 1942 Major-General James Renton [3]
714 September 1942 Major-General John Harding Harding was wounded in action on 19 January 1943 [3]
Acting20 January 1943 Brigadier Philip Roberts [3]
824 January 1943 Major-General George Erskine [3]
94 August 1944 Major-General Gerald Verney [3]
1022 November 1944 Major-General Lewis Lyne While retaining command of the division, Lyne was also the Commandant of the British sector of occupied Berlin in 1945. In December 1945, Lyne relinquished command of the division. [3] [4] [5]
11January 1946 Major-General Philip Roberts [6] [7]
12November 1947 Major-General Philip Balfour The division was disbanded in March 1948 [8] [9]
13April 1948 Major-General Euan Miller The division was reformed from "Hannover District", a military district that had been formed in Germany. [10] [11] [12]
1410 May 1949 Major-General Robert Arkwright [13]
151 May 1951 Major-General Charles Jones [14]
161 December 1953 Major-General Kenneth Cooper [15]
1724 March 1956 Major-General John Hackett [16]
183 February 1958 Major-General Geoffrey Musson The division was redesignated as the 5th Division in April 1958. The 7th Armoured Division's history was then transferred to the 7th Armoured Brigade. [17] [18]

Notes

  1. ↑ Haythornthwaite 2016, The Divisional System.
  2. ↑ "No. 34557". The London Gazette . 30 September 1938. p. 6140.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Joslen 2003, p. 19.
  4. ↑ Murray 1961, p. 235.
  5. ↑ "British Commander in Berlin". The Times. No. 50232. 28 August 1945. p. 4.
  6. ↑ Forty 2014, p. 219.
  7. ↑ "Military Appointments". The Times. No. 50813. 15 July 1947. p. 2.
  8. ↑ "Military Appointments". The Times. No. 50813. 15 July 1947. p. 2.
  9. ↑ "The Seventh Armoured Division". The Tank: Journal of the Royal Tank Regiment. 30 (347): 205. March 1948. OCLC   173416953.
  10. ↑ "The Fifth". The Tank: Journal of the Royal Tank Regiment. 30 (348): 236. April 1948. OCLC   173416953.
  11. ↑ "No. 38634". The London Gazette (Supplement). 7 June 1949. p. 2843.
  12. ↑ Kennett 1970, p. 425.
  13. ↑ "Changes in Army Commands". The Times. No. 51378. 11 May 1949. p. 7., "No. 38634". The London Gazette (Supplement). 7 June 1949. p. 2843., and "No. 39249". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 June 1951. p. 3109.
  14. ↑ "No. 39249". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 June 1951. p. 3109.
  15. ↑ "No. 40046". The London Gazette (Supplement). 18 December 1953. p. 6927. and "No. 40739". The London Gazette (Supplement). 23 March 1956. p. 1801.
  16. ↑ "No. 40739". The London Gazette (Supplement). 23 March 1956. p. 1801. and "No. 41306". The London Gazette (Supplement). 7 February 1958. p. 923.
  17. ↑ "No. 41306". The London Gazette (Supplement). 7 February 1958. p. 923.
  18. ↑ Lord & Watson 2003, pp. 34, 84.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">7th Armoured Division (United Kingdom)</span> Division of the British Army, active from 1938 to 1958

The 7th Armoured Division was an armoured division of the British Army. It was formed as the Mobile Division (Egypt) on 27 September 1938, after increased tensions between Britain and the Axis powers. This was part of an effort to reinforce and maintain the British strategic presence in Egypt to defend the Suez Canal, which was seen as vital to the British Empire's interests. In February 1940, the formation was renamed as the 7th Armoured Division. During its early years, the jerboa was adopted as the mascot and divisional insignia giving rise to the nickname Desert Rats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">3rd (United Kingdom) Division</span> Regular army division of the British Army

The 3rd Division, also known as The Iron Division, is a regular army division of the British Army. It was created in 1809 by Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, as part of the Anglo-Portuguese Army, for service in the Peninsular War, and was known as the Fighting 3rd under Sir Thomas Picton during the Napoleonic Wars. The division fought at the Battle of Waterloo, as well as during the Crimean War and the Second Boer War. As a result of bitter fighting in 1916, during the First World War, the division became referred to as the 3rd (Iron) Division, or the Iron Division or Ironsides. During the Second World War, the division fought in the Battle of France including a rearguard action during the Dunkirk Evacuation, and played a prominent role in the D-Day landings of 6 June 1944. The division was to have been part of a proposed Commonwealth Corps, formed for a planned invasion of Japan in 1945–46, and later served in the British Mandate of Palestine. During the Second World War, the insignia became the "pattern of three" — a black triangle trisected by an inverted red triangle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Carver</span> British Field Marshal (1915–2001)

Field Marshal Richard Michael Power Carver, Baron Carver, was a senior British Army officer. Lord Carver served as the Chief of the General Staff (CGS), the professional head of the British Army, and then as the Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS), the professional head of the British Armed Forces. He served with distinction during the Second World War and organised the administration of British forces deployed in response to the Mau Mau Uprising in Kenya and later in his career provided advice to the British government on the response to the early stages of The Troubles in Northern Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Hull</span> British Army general (1907–1989)

Field Marshal Sir Richard Amyatt Hull, was a senior British Army officer. He was the last Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS), holding the post from 1961 to 1964, and the first Chief of the General Staff (CGS), holding that post until 1965, and, as such, was the professional head of the British Army. He later became Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) from 1965 to 1967, the professional head of the entire British Armed Forces. He served with distinction during the Second World War, fighting from 1942 to 1945 in North Africa, Italy and Western Europe, became the youngest divisional commander in the British Army, and, after the war was over, he advised the British government on the response to the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation in the 1960s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Crocker</span> British Army general

General Sir John Tredinnick Crocker, was a senior British Army officer who fought in both world wars. He served as both a private soldier and a junior officer in the First World War. During the Second World War he served as a distinguished brigade, division and corps commander, where his most notable role was as General Officer Commanding (GOC) of I Corps during the D-Day landings on 6 June 1944, leading the corps throughout the subsequent campaign in Western Europe until Victory in Europe Day (VE-Day) just over eleven months later.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2nd Armoured Division (United Kingdom)</span> 1939-1941 combat formation of the British Army

The 2nd Armoured Division was a division of the British Army that was active during the early stages of the Second World War. The division's creation had been discussed since the beginning of 1939, with the intent to form it by splitting the 1st Armoured Division. A lack of tanks delayed this until December 1939. For a short period after its creation, the division had no assigned units until the 1st Light Armoured Brigade was assigned to it from the 1st Armoured Division, and the 22nd Heavy Armoured Brigade from Southern Command.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">6th Armoured Division (United Kingdom)</span> Inactive British Army formation

The 6th Armoured Division was an armoured division of the British Army, created in September 1940 during the Second World War and re-formed in May 1951 in the UK.

Major General Sir Michael O'Moore Creagh, was a British Army officer who served in both the world wars. He commanded the 7th Armoured Division, the Desert Rats, between 1939 and 1941.

During the Second World War the British Army deployed armoured divisions and independent armoured and tank brigades.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1st Armoured Division (United Kingdom)</span> British Army unit in the Second World War

The 1st Armoured Division was an armoured division of the British Army. It was formed as the Mobile Division on 24 November 1937, after several years of debate on the creation of such a formation. It was then renamed, in April 1939, the 1st Armoured Division. Following the start of the Second World War, in September 1939, subordinate units and formations were withdrawn from the division to reinforce others. Then, in May 1940, the division was deployed to France and then fought in the Battle of France. After several engagements and heavy tank losses, it was forced to withdraw to the UK, in June, during Operation Aerial. In late 1941, the division was sent to North Africa where it took part in the Western Desert campaign, notably fighting at the Battle of Gazala, and the First and the Second Battles of El Alamein.

British Troops in Egypt was a command of the British Army.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.