When first formed the Mobile Division had six light tank regiments in two cavalry brigades and a tank brigade of three medium regiments. In most instances the changes were made before or after their authorisation. Divisional structure īetween May 1939 and May 1945 there was nine changes in the organisation of the divisions. The final armoured division raised during the war was the 79th Armoured Division, established on 14 August 1942 the following April the division was assigned to the development and use of specialised armour and never acted as a division. The final division formed that year was the 42nd Armoured Division, activated on 1 November, after the 42nd (East Lancashire) Infantry Division was similarly converted to armour. The 10th Armoured Division was formed on 1 August following the reorganisation and renaming of the 1st Cavalry Division. Four more divisions were activated during 1941 the 11th Armoured Divisions on 9 March, and the Guards Armoured Division on 17 June. During 1940 a further three armoured divisions were formed the 6th Armoured Division on 12 September, the 8th on 4 November and followed by the 9th on 1 December. The first troops however were only attached to the division the following month and then in part from forces released from the 1st Armoured Division following a divisional reorganisation. įollowing the outbreak of war, the headquarters of the 2nd Armoured Division was activated on 15 December 1939. In April 1939 the Mobile Division was renamed the 1st Armoured Division and the Mobile Division (Egypt) was named The Armoured Division (Egypt) on the outbreak of war before being renamed the 7th Armoured Division on 16 February 1940. The first formation formed had been the Mobile Division in October 1937 followed a year later, in the wake of the Munich Crisis, by the Mobile Division (Egypt). 3 Independent armoured and tank brigadesĬruiser Mk IVA tanks of the 1st Armoured Division on exercise during 1941.Īt the start of the Second World War, the United Kingdom already possessed two armoured divisions a further nine would be raised by the British Army during the war, of which only two would not see service.
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