by Chestnut Lodge Wargamers Group
The Second World War is a popular period amongst wargamers, yet in some respects it does not attract the same care and attention that is lavished on, say, the Napoleonic Wars. Napoleonic players know how their troops were organized, what went to make up a regiment, a brigade, or a division. Unfortunately for World War II this same knowledge is not always extended to the more recent past. Wargamers seem content for the most part to use ad hoc units composed of the more unusual weapons of the war, with a preponderance of armor, and with only cursory reference to operational doctrine. We must hasten to add that there are, and always will be, those who insist on historical units, and the above comments are not in any way aimed at them.
We have chosen the 1944-45 armored division mainly because it represents a change from the 1943 division in a number of respects, mainly deriving from the introduction of the 17-pounder gun tanks. It is also a period at which the British Army as a whole was arguably at its most efficient, having assimilated the lessons of the previous five years of war. Sadly, this is an oft-misquoted organization. We have as far as possible derived this information from original sources and regimental histories, to be found in the Old War Office Library, Whitehall, and War Diaries at the Public Records Office.
The organization we have quoted is as definitive as we can make it to date, excluding local variations, which we know occurred often. If anyone with personal experience of the Northwest European theater has any comments or information, we would be delighted to hear from them. In fact, if anyone has any other information, that they think may refine our description, we would be glad to hear that also.
The following organization charts and notes give a breakdown of the fighting arms. It must also be remembered that we have omitted the bulk of the non-combatant supporting services as they remained virtually unchanged right through the war.
Overall Organization Of The Division
Divisional Headquarters
Armoured Brigade
three armored regiments
one motor battalion
Infantry Brigade
three rifle battalions
Divisional Troops
Armoured Reconnaissance Regiment
Anti-tank Regiment, RA
Field Regiment, RA (SP)
Field Regiment, RA (Towed)
Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, RA
Armoured Divisional Engineers
Armoured Divisional Signals
Independent Machine Gun Company
Armoured Regiment 1944-45
Regiment
Headquarters Squadron
Regimental Headquarters
four tanks
Recce Troop [Not every regiment in Northwest Europe had this many light tanks. Some regiments were known to create a temporary D Squadron and group the light tanks and scout cars in it.]
11 light tanks
Anti-Aircraft Troop
four anti-aircraft tanks
Intercommunications Troop
eight scout cars
A Squadron
Headquarters Troop
two CS tanks, one or two Cruisers [The Close Support (CS) tanks were either the Centaur with 95mm howitzer, or in some cases the American Sherman 105mm CS tank (depending on the unit).]
A Troop
B Troop
C Troop
D Troop
each troop had three Cruiser tanks and one gun tank
each squadron had one ARV attached
B Squadron
same as A Squadron
C Squadron
same as A Squadron
All regiments had either the M4 Sherman or the Cromwell as the Cruiser tank. The gun tank was the Sherman Firefly. Some (but not all) Cromwell regiments had Challenger gun tanks instead of Fireflys. The anti-aircraft tank could be either the Crusader anti-aircraft tank or the Centaur anti-aircraft tank, according to circumstances and availability. Armored observation for the artillery was often supplied by permanently attaching AOP tanks to squadrons.
Armoured Reconnaissance Regiment 1944-45
Regiment
Headquarters Squadron
Regimental Headquarters
four tanks
Recce Troop [This was in all armored recce regiments. Light tanks in both the armored regiment and the armored recce regiment were Stuarts (known as Honeys to the crews).]
11 light tanks
Anti-Aircraft Troop
four anti-aircraft tanks
Intercommunications Troop
eight scout cars
A Squadron
Headquarters Troop [The Close Support tank was always the Centaur with the 95-mm.]
two CS tanks, one or two Cromwells
Sabre Troop [These were called Sabre Troops in the cavalry regiments, which formed most of the armored recce regiments.]
Sabre Troop
Sabre Troop
Sabre Troop
Sabre Troop
each Sabre Troop consisted of three Cromwell tanks
B Squadron
same as A Squadron
C Squadron
same as A Squadron
one ARV was attached to each squadron
By August 1944 most of the armored recce regiments were converted to armored regiments in their organization by the addition of Challenger gun tanks. They continued to be called armored reconnaissance regiments, but for most purposes they became an extra armored regiment in the armored division.
Motor Battalion 1944-45
Headquarters Platoon
A Motor Company
1 Platoon
2 Platoon
3 Platoon
these platoons were usually in half-tracks [When the Motor Battalions were first formed they were to be mounted in 15-cwt. trucks, but by early in the Normandy campaign they had American M3 half-tracks. The platoons were otherwise organized as standard rifle companies.]
4 Platoon
recce platoon, in carriers
B Motor Company
same as for A Motor Company
C Motor Company
same as for A Motor Company
Support Company
Anti-tank Platoon
Anti-tank Platoon
Anti-tank Platoon
four 6-pounders, carriers
Medium Machine Gun Platoon
Medium Machine Gun Platoon
four medium machine guns, 8-9 carriers
Rifle Battalions 1944-45
Headquarters Platoon
A Rifle Company
Company Headquarters
14 men, three PIATs
1 Platoon
Headquarters Section
seven men, 2-inch mortar
Section
ten men, one Bren
Section
as above
Section
as above
2 Platoon
same as for 1 Platoon
3 Platoon
same as for 1 Platoon
B Rifle Company
same as for A Rifle Company
C Rifle Company
same as for A Rifle Company
D Rifle Company
same as for A Rifle Company
Support Company
Mortar Platoon
six 3-inch mortars, carriers
Anti-tank Platoon
six 6-pounders, carriers
Carrier Platoon
13 carriers, 64 men
Assault Pioneer Platoon
By the time the Normandy campaign got underway, the rifle battalion had 15-cwt. trucks for non-tactical movement. By the end of 1944 many rifle battalions had M3 half-tracks for battalion transport (notably the Guards battalions).
Independent Machine Gun Company
This was often divided up between the rifle battalions in the divisions. It consisted of three platoons of four medium machine guns each, with possibly a platoon of 4.2-inch mortars. In late 1944 the independent company attached to the Guards Armoured Division raised a platoon of six Wasp flamethrower-armed Universal carriers.
Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery
Regimental Headquarters
A Battery
1 Troop
2 Troop
3 Troop
each Troop had four 17-pounder anti-tank guns
B Battery
same as for A Battery
C Battery
same as for A Battery
D Battery
same as for A Battery
The organization of anti-tank regiments varied with the type of division, and it should be remembered that the organization would be different in, say, an infantry division.
There was a total of forty-eight 17-pounder anti-tank guns in the regiment. Two of the batteries could have been towed. Specialized armored towing vehicles were provided for some regiments just before D-Day, converted from the old Crusader III tank and some special Sherman tank chassis. Two of the batteries would have been self-propelled anti-tank guns. These would be either the Archer or Achilles tank destroyers after D-Day. At D-Day, however, a large proportion of the self-propelled anti-tank vehicles were American M10 tank destroyers, and these were not converted to Achilles/Archer until August 1944 and after. The batteries and troops would often operate independently, in support of the various units of the division.
Field Regiment, Royal Artillery
Regimental Headquarters
A Battery
1 Troop
2 Troop
each Troop had four 25-pounder gun/howitzers
B Battery
same as for A Battery
C Battery
same as for A Battery
Each battery would have three AOP mounted in either Universal carriers or scout cars. There would also be one regimental observer in a carrier or scout car. There were a total of twenty-four guns in the regiment. Of the two regiments in a division, one would be self-propelled. The self-propelled regiment was organized in the same way as the towed regiment. There were also a large number of soft-skinned vehicles attached to a regiment, such as 15-cwt. trucks and jeeps, as well as ammunition lorries.
Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery
Regimental Headquarters
A Battery
1 Troop
2 Troop
3 Troop
each Troop had six 40-mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns
B Battery
same as for A Battery
C Battery
same as for A Battery
The total number of anti-aircraft guns was fifty-four. Two of the troops were towed, and the third was self-propelled. By the end of 1944 these were almost exclusively used in support of the ground troops in a direct fire role. A lot of anti-aircraft gunners were put to other tasks, such as CDL, radar ranging, and other special artillery tasks (such as rockets, etc.), as their services became less important as the war progressed.
Employment of the Division
Although the division was organized into two fighting brigades, one of infantry and one of armor, it did not use this in combat. The division was still divided into brigade groups, but these would consist of two armored regiments and two infantry battalions each.
The brigade groups were further divided into battle groups of one armored regiment and one infantry battalion each. It was also common to battle group the armored reconnaissance regiment and the motor battalion together. This pairing off would also apply to companies and squadrons, providing a flexible formation for most situations. These battle group formations were one of the lessons learned from the German kampfgruppe system of organization.
Each battle group would have its own artillery, both field and anti-tank, who could provide readily available close support. One thing of note is a lack of both heavy and medium artillery at divisional level. Allocation of heavier artillery at divisional level was normal for the Germans and Americans. The British Army preferred to keep its heavier artillery in one package, thus giving the divisions access to stronger corps artillery; called Army Group, Royal Artillery, or AGRA.
An AGRA would consist of one heavy regiment of 7.2-inch and 155-mm howitzers, two or three medium regiments of 5.5-inch gun/howitzers, and sometimes a field regiment. Sometimes a heavy anti-aircraft regiment would be attached to an AGRA for support against ground targets. There were usually about one AGRA per corps, and it was rare for a major attack to start without some preparation from it.
By early 1945 the armored regiments and the armored reconnaissance regiment in the divisions were re-equipped with the Comet tank. Unfortunately, opportunities for tank-against-tank action at this stage in the war were very limited, and while the Comet was very probably the finest British tank of World War II, it arrived too late to make any real difference.
The infantry organization changed little throughout the war, and a great deal of accurate information is readily available. An excellent book on the British Army organization is the British Army Handbook 1943, which also provides excellent information on all the services that we have left out here, as well as the infantry organization in greater detail.
Cromwell tanks of 7th Armoured Division in Hamburg, 3 May 1945. |
British troops, armed with Lee-Enfield rifles and the light Bren machine gun, moving forward on the back of a Sherman tank in September 1944. |
Stuart tanks of 3rd Royal Tank Regiment, 11th Armoured Division, drive along an autobahn towards Lubeck, 2 May 1945. |
Winston Churchill in a jeep with Field Marshal Montgomery is driven past troops in carriers during the Prime Minister's tour of the Rhine assault, 26 March 1945. |
Comet tank of 3rd Royal Tank Regiment, 11th Armoured Division, during the advance towards Lubeck, 2 May 1945. |
Comet tank of 3rd Royal Tank Regiment carrying infantry of 1st Herefordshire Regiment, 2 May 1945. |
Churchill tanks of 6th Guards Tank Brigade pass a burning Daimler scout car during the advance towards Coesfeld, 30 March 1945. |
A Sherman Firefly leads a column of Sherman tanks of Guards Armoured Division near Beauvais, 31 August 1944. |
Churchill tanks carrying infantry through Mellendorf, 11 April 1945. |
Churchill tanks of 6th Guards Tank Brigade in Dulmen, Germany, 30 March 1945. |
Ram Kangaroo armored personnel carriers carrying infantry of 8th Royal Scots during the assault by 15th (Scottish) Division on Blerick, 3 December 1944. |
A camouflaged Sherman Firefly of the Irish Guards and infantry guard a section of the Bremen-Hamburg autobahn, 20 April 1945. |
Scenes of jubilation as British troops liberate Brussels, 4 September 1944. Civilians ride on a Sexton self-propelled gun. |
A Sherman tank and infantry advance into a heavily-bombed area of Bremen, 26 April 1945. |
A Churchill tank of 6th Guards Tank Brigade carrying paratroopers from the American 17th Airborne Division through Dorsten, 29 March 1945. |
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