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32nd Army Tank Brigade
The 32nd Army Tank Brigade was an armoured brigade of the British Army created during the Second World War. It was formed, under the command of Brigadier Arthur Cecil Willison, in Egypt on 15 September 1941. The brigade HQ was sent to Tobruk to take command of all Royal Armoured Corps units stationed there and was attached to the 70th Infantry Division for Operation Crusader, where Captain Philip Gardner of the 4th Royal Tank Regiment was awarded the Victoria Cross. In June 1942, during the Battle of Gazala, a composite brigade was formed in Tobruk with surviving elements of the 1st Army Tank Brigade, which surrendered on 22 June after the fall of Tobruk. The brigade was not reformed. Order of battle The 32nd Army Tank Brigade was composed of * 1st Royal Tank Regiment (from 18 September 1941, left 21 January 1942) * 4th Royal Tank Regiment (from 19 September 1941) * 7th Royal Tank Regiment (from 18 September 1941, left 22 January 1942, rejoined 10 April 1942) See also * Briti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Armoured Warfare
Armoured warfare or armored warfare (mechanized forces, armoured forces or armored forces) (American English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences), is the use of armoured fighting vehicle, armored fighting vehicles in modern warfare. It is a major component of modern Military science, methods of war. The premise of armoured warfare rests on the ability of troops to penetrate conventional Defense (military), defensive lines through use of Maneuver warfare, manoeuvre by armoured units. Much of the application of armoured warfare depends on the use of tanks and related vehicles used by other supporting arms such as infantry fighting vehicles, self-propelled artillery, and other combat vehicles, as well as mounted combat engineers and other support units. The doctrine of armoured warfare was developed to break the static nature of World War I trench warfare on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front, and return to the 19th ce ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Philip John Gardner
Captain Philip John ("Pip") Gardner (25 December 1914 − 16 February 2003) was a British Army officer and an English recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. He was educated at Dulwich College between 1928 and 1932. Gardner was 26 years old, and an acting captain in the 4th Royal Tank Regiment, attached to the 70th Infantry Division during the Second World War's Siege of Tobruk. During Operation Crusader, an attempt by the Eighth Army to lift the siege, the following deed took place for which Gardner was awarded the Victoria Cross. On 23 November 1941 at Tobruk, Libya, Captain Gardner was ordered to take two tanks to the rescue of two armoured cars of the King's Dragoon Guards, which were out of action and under heavy attack. While one of his tanks gave covering fire the captain dismounted from the other in the face of heavy fire, hitched a tow ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Armoured Brigades Of The British Army In World War II
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 from a potentially dangerous environment or activity (e.g. cycling, construction sites, etc.). Personal armour is used to protect soldiers and war animals. Vehicle armour is used on warships, armoured fighting vehicles, and some mostly ground attack combat aircraft. A second use of the term ''armour'' describes armoured forces, armoured weapons, and their role in combat. After the development of armoured warfare, tanks and mechanised infantry and their combat formations came to be referred to collectively as "armour". Etymology The word "armour" began to appear in the Middle Ages as a derivative of Old French. It is dated from 1297 as a "mail, defensive covering worn in combat". The word originates from the Old French , itself derive ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of British Brigades Of The Second World War
This is a list of British Brigades in the Second World War. It is intended as a central place to access resources about formations of brigade size that served in the British Army during the Second World War. * List of British airborne brigades of the Second World War (includes airlanding and parachute brigades) * List of British anti-aircraft brigades of the Second World War * List of British infantry brigades of the Second World War (1–100) * List of British infantry brigades of the Second World War (101–308 and named) * List of British mobile brigades during the Second World War (includes armoured, cavalry, armoured reconnaissance, motor machine gun, support groups, and tank brigades) * List of British special service brigades of the Second World War See also * 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 Sep ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Armoured Formations Of World War II
During the Second World War the British Army deployed armoured divisions and independent armoured and tank brigades. Background During the interwar period, the British Army examined the lessons learnt from the First World War; and a need was seen for experimentation with and development of theories of manoeuvre and armoured warfare, as well as the creation of the short-lived Experimental Mechanized Force. The long-term impact was for the army to start to move towards mechanisation, to enhance battlefield mobility. By the 1930s, the army had established three types of divisions: the infantry division, the mobile division (later called an armoured division), and the motor division (a motorised infantry division). The primary role of the infantry division was to penetrate the enemy's defensive line, with the support of infantry tanks. Any gap created would then be exploited by mobile divisions, and the territory thus captured would be secured by the fast-moving motor divisions. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
7th Royal Tank Regiment
The 7th Royal Tank Regiment (7th RTR) was an armoured regiment of the British Army from 1917 until disbandment in 1959. History The 7th Royal Tank Regiment was part of the Royal Tank Regiment, itself part of the Royal Armoured Corps. The regiment originally saw action as G Battalion, Tank Corps in 1917. Part of the 1st Army Tank Brigade, 7th RTR saw service in France in May 1940, alongside the 4th Royal Tank Regiment and the 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division during the Battle of Dunkirk and was soon evacuated at Dunkirk, and abandoning most of their vehicles. The 7th RTR returned to England and was sent overseas later in the year. In December 1940, as part of the British Western Desert Force in Egypt, the 7th RTR contained Matilda infantry tanks and supported the 11th Indian Infantry Brigade of the 4th Indian Infantry Division. The regiment attacked and destroyed the Italian "Maletti Group" at the Nibeiwa Camp. The 7th RTR also supported the attack of the 11th Brigade ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1st Royal Tank Regiment
The 1st Royal Tank Regiment (1 RTR) was an Armoured warfare, armoured regiment of the British Army. It is part of the Royal Tank Regiment, itself part of the Royal Armoured Corps and operationally under 12th Armoured Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom), 12th Armoured Infantry Brigade. History Formation The regiment was originally formed as A Company, Heavy Section, Machine Gun Corps in May 1916 during the World War I, First World War (1914–1918). It took part in the first ever tank offensive in 1916 and saw action on the Western Front (World War I), Western Front again in the Battle of Cambrai (1917), Battle of Cambrai in November 1917 and later in the Hundred Days Offensive. Remaining active in the army during the interwar period, in 1939 it was renamed the 1st Royal Tank Regiment. Second World War During the World War II, Second World War (1939–1945) the regiment took part in the Siege of Tobruk in the summer of 1941 and the Second Battle of El Alamein, Battle of El A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1st Army Tank Brigade (United Kingdom)
The 1st Army Tank Brigade was a formation of the British Army during the Second World War. A ''Tank'' Brigade was intended to support the Infantry and was mostly equipped with slow moving Infantry tanks, unlike an Armoured Brigade, which was equipped with faster cruiser tanks and later its own motorised infantry. Initially using infantry nomenclature for its smaller units, ''company '' and ''section'' and having 175 light and infantry tanks, it later adopted cavalry nomenclature of ''squadron'' and ''troop'' and later in the War grew to 240 tanks. History The 1st Army Tank Brigade took part in the Battle of France, serving as part of the British Expeditionary Force. It fought against the Germans in Belgium and Northern France, providing the armour for the counter-attack at the Battle of Arras and covered the Allied retreat to Dunkirk. It lost all of its equipment on the beaches following the evacuation. The reformed 1st Army Tank Brigade was transferred to North Africa, equip ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Gazala
The Battle of Gazala (near the village of ) was fought during the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War, west of the port of Tobruk in Libya, from 26 May to 21 June 1942. Axis troops of the ( Erwin Rommel) consisting of German and Italian units fought the British Eighth Army (General Sir Claude Auchinleck, also Commander-in-Chief Middle East) composed mainly of British Commonwealth, Indian and Free French troops. The Axis troops made a decoy attack in the north as the main attack moved round the southern flank of the Gazala position. Unexpected resistance at the south end of the line around the Bir Hakeim box by the Free French garrison, left with a long and vulnerable supply route around the Gazala Line. Rommel retired to a defensive position backing onto Allied minefields (the Cauldron), forming a base in the midst of the British defences. Italian engineers lifted mines from the west side of the minefields to create a supply route through to the Axis side. Ope ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously awarded by countries of the Commonwealth of Nations, most of which have established their own honours systems and no longer recommend British honours. It may be awarded to a person of any military rank in any service and to civilians under military command. No civilian has received the award since 1879. Since the first awards were presented by Queen Victoria in 1857, two-thirds of all awards have been personally presented by the British monarch. The investitures are usually held at Buckingham Palace. The VC was introduced on 29 January 1856 by Queen Victoria to honour acts of valour during the Crimean War. Since then, the medal has been awarded 1,358 times to 1,355 individual recipients. Only 15 medals, of which 11 to members of the Britis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
4th Royal Tank Regiment
The 4th Royal Tank Regiment (4 RTR) was an armoured regiment of the British Army from its creation in 1917, during World War I, until 1993. It was part of the Royal Tank Regiment, itself part of the Royal Armoured Corps. History The regiment originally saw action as D Battalion, Tank Corps in 1917. In 1940, it was briefly amalgamated with the 7th Royal Tank Regiment, as the 4th/7th Royal Tank Regiment, returning to its previous title four months later. 4 RTR was captured at Tobruk on 21 June 1942. On 1 March 1945, 144th Regiment Royal Armoured Corps was redesignated 4th Royal Tank Regiment to replace the original. The newly retitled regiment equipped with Buffalo LVTs took part in Operation Plunder, ferrying troops of 51st Highland Division across the Rhine on the night of 23/24 March 1945. The Commanding Officer (Lt-Col Alan Jolly) carried the same standard that was originally carried across by 17th Armoured Car Battalion of the Royal Tank Corps in the First World War. Once a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Captain (British Army And Royal Marines)
Captain (Capt) is a junior officer rank of the British Army and Royal Marines and in both services it ranks above lieutenant and below major with a NATO ranking code of OF-2. The rank is equivalent to a lieutenant in the Royal Navy and to a flight lieutenant in the Royal Air Force. The rank of captain in the Royal Navy is considerably more senior (equivalent to the Army/RM rank of colonel) and the two ranks should not be confused. In the 21st-century British Army, captains are often appointed to be second-in-command (2IC) of a company or equivalent sized unit of up to 120 soldiers. History A rank of second captain existed in the Ordnance at the time of the Battle of Waterloo. From 1 April 1918 to 31 July 1919, the Royal Air Force maintained the junior officer rank of captain. RAF captains had a rank insignia based on the two bands of a naval lieutenant with the addition of an eagle and crown above the bands. It was superseded by the rank of flight lieutenant on the fol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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