1st Armoured Division Signals was a unit of Britain's

Royal Corps of 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 ...

providing communications for the 1st Armoured Division during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. It was present during the

Battle of France The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of French Third Rep ...

, the Western Desert Campaign, including the battles of

Gazala Gazala, or ʿAyn al-Ġazāla ( ), is a small Libyan village near the coast in the northeastern portion of the country. It is located west of Tobruk. History In the late 1930s (during the Italian occupation of Libya), the village was the site of ...

and Alamein, the

Tunisian Campaign The Tunisian campaign (also known as the Battle of Tunisia) was a series of battles that took place in Tunisia during the North African campaign of the Second World War, between Axis and Allied forces from 17 November 1942 to 13 May 1943. The ...

, and the

Battle of Coriano The Gothic Line (german: Gotenstellung; it, Linea Gotica) was a German defensive line of the Italian Campaign of World War II. It formed Field Marshal Albert Kesselring's last major line of defence along the summits of the northern part of t ...

during the Italian Campaign.

Origins

The unit had its origins in a signal

squadron Squadron may refer to: * Squadron (army), a military unit of cavalry, tanks, or equivalent subdivided into troops or tank companies * Squadron (aviation), a military unit that consists of three or four flights with a total of 12 to 24 aircraft, ...

of the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

(RE) formed at

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alders ...

in 1912 for the

Cavalry Division Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating a ...

of the planned British Expeditionary Force (BEF). In the event of

mobilisation Mobilization is the act of assembling and readying military troops and supplies for war. The word ''mobilization'' was first used in a military context in the 1850s to describe the preparation of the Prussian Army. Mobilization theories and t ...

of the BEF, the Cavalry Division would comprise the permanent 1st,

2nd A second is the base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI). Second, Seconds or 2nd may also refer to: Mathematics * 2 (number), as an ordinal (also written as ''2nd'' or ''2d'') * Second of arc, an angular measurement unit ...

3rd Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (d ...

and 4th Cavalry Brigades. These had each been provided with an RE signal

Troop A troop is a military sub-subunit, originally a small formation of cavalry, subordinate to a squadron. In many armies a troop is the equivalent element to the infantry section or platoon. Exceptions are the US Cavalry and the King's Troop Ro ...

since 1907, which were now brought together:Becke, pp. 1–7.Lord & Watson, pp. 26–7.''Monthly Army List'', various dates.1st Cavalry Division at Long, Long Trail.
/ref> * 1st Signal Squadron – Aldershot ** 1st Signal Troop – Aldershot ** 2nd Signal Troop –

Tidworth Camp Tidworth Camp is a military installation at Tidworth in Wiltshire, England. It forms part of the Tidworth, Netheravon and Bulford (TidNBul) Garrison. History The Camp was established when the War Office acquired a 19th-century mansion – Tedw ...

** 3rd Signal Troop –

Curragh Camp The Curragh Camp ( ga, Campa an Churraigh) is an army base and military college in The Curragh, County Kildare, Ireland. It is the main training centre for the Defence Forces (Ireland), Irish Defence Forces and is home to 2,000 military personnel ...

** 4th Signal Troop –

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

The BEF and its Cavalry Division were duly mobilised on the outbreak of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, on 4 August 1914, and proceeded to France, taking part in the

Battle of Mons A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

and the subsequent retreat. As reinforcements arrived, the Cavalry Division was divided, 3rd and 4th Brigades with their signal troops transferring to a new 2nd Cavalry Division in September and October. The original formation, now 1st Cavalry Division, was joined by a newly formed 9th Cavalry Brigade and its 9th Signal Troop on 14 April 1915. The division served on the Western Front throughout the war.

Interwar

In 1920, the RE Signal Service became the

(RCS), and when the Cavalry Division was reformed its communications were provided by Cavalry Divisional Signals, RCS at

Bramshott Bramshott is a village with mediaeval origins in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It lies 0.9 miles (1.4 km) north of Liphook. The nearest railway station, Liphook railway station, Liphook, is south of the village. Histor ...

with 1st Signal Troop at Aldershot and 2nd Signal Troop at Tidworth. (3rd Signal Troop was at the Curragh until Irish Independence.) By 1930, the unit was organised with HQ, B, C and E Trps at Tidworth, C Trp at Aldershot. There were also Tank Signal Sections of the RCS with each of the four battalions of the

Royal Tank Corps The Royal Tank Regiment (RTR) is the oldest tank unit in the world, being formed by the British Army in 1916 during the First World War. Today, it is the armoured regiment of the British Army's 12th Armoured Infantry Brigade. Formerly known as t ...

, and that year these combined with HQ Squadron of the cavalry signals at Tidworth to form Armoured Fighting Vehicle Signals (1st Tank Brigade Signals from 1935).Nalder, p. 585. In 1937 the 1st and 2nd Cavalry Brigades were converted into light armoured brigades and combined with 1st Tank Brigade to form the 'Mobile Division', each brigade with its associated signal unit. An HQ Sqn for Mobile Divisional Signals was formed the following year. The division was renamed as 1st Armoured Division in 1939.

Second World War

France

1st Armoured Division was still incomplete when the German offensive in the west opened on 10 May, but was rushed to France piecemeal as reinforcements. The main body of the division landed at

Cherbourg Harbour Cherbourg Harbour (French: ''rade de Cherbourg''; literally, the "roadstead of Cherbourg"), is a harbour situated at the northern end of the Cotentin Peninsula, on the English Channel coastline, in Normandy, northwestern France. With a surface ...

but never managed to join the British Expeditionary Force. It fought under French command south of the

River Somme The Somme ( , , ) is a river in Picardy, northern France. The river is in length, from its source in the high ground of the former at Fonsomme near Saint-Quentin, to the Bay of the Somme, in the English Channel. It lies in the geological ...

, suffering heavy casualties, and the remnants were evacuated through Cherbourg on 16 June in

Operation Aerial Operation Aerial was the evacuation of Allied forces and civilians from ports in western France from 15 to 25 June 1940 during the Second World War. The evacuation followed the Allied military collapse in the Battle of France against Nazi Germ ...

.Joslen, pp. 13–5.

North Africa

The division reformed in the UK and served on anti-invasion defence duties, regularly having to give up its tanks and tank brigades to be sent to the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

. This continued until August 1941 when the bulk of the division embarked for

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 Mediter ...

. Having sailed round South Africa It began to disembark at

Suez Suez ( ar, السويس '; ) is a seaport city (population of about 750,000 ) in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez (a branch of the Red Sea), near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal, having the same boun ...

in late November and began desert training. It went into the line under Eighth Army in late December during

Operation Crusader Operation Crusader (18 November – 30 December 1941) was a military operation of the Western Desert Campaign during the Second World War by the British Eighth Army (United Kingdom), Eighth Army (with Commonwealth, Indian and Allied contingents) ...

, but once again was employed piecemeal, and suffered badly during the fighting and retreat of January 1942 and the

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 I ...

in May. It fought in the defence of the

El Alamein El Alamein ( ar, العلمين, translit=al-ʿAlamayn, lit=the two flags, ) is a town in the northern Matrouh Governorate of Egypt. Located on the Arab's Gulf, Mediterranean Sea, it lies west of Alexandria and northwest of Cairo. , it had ...

position in July. Re-equipped, 1st Armoured Division played a major role in the successful attack at 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 station, railway halt of El Alamein. The First Battle of El Alamein and the Battle of Alam el Halfa ...

and the subsequent pursuit to

El Agheila El Agheila ( ar, العقيلة, translit=al-ʿUqayla ) is a coastal city at the southern end of the Gulf of Sidra in far western Cyrenaica, Libya. In 1988 it was placed in Ajdabiya District; it was in that district until 1995. It was removed from ...

and

Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to: Cities and other geographic units Greece *Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in ...

. In February 1943 the division participated in the Battle of Mareth and subsequent fighting in the

culminating in the capture of

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

in May.

Italy

1st Armoured Division was non-operational for a year, until it was shipped to the Italian Front at the end of May 1944 (Divisional HQ was transported by air). It concentrated at

Altamura Altamura (, ; nap, label= Barese, Ialtamùre) is a town and ''comune'' of Apulia, in southern Italy. It is located on one of the hills of the Murge plateau in the Metropolitan City of Bari, southwest of Bari, close to the border with Basilic ...

near

Bari Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy a ...

and was brought up to take part in the battle for the

Gothic Line The Gothic Line (german: Gotenstellung; it, Linea Gotica) was a German Defense line, defensive line of the Italian Campaign (World War II), Italian Campaign of World War II. It formed Generalfeldmarschall, Field Marshal Albert Kesselring's la ...

in August. The division was recognised as a weak element in the plan: Divisional HQ had not commanded in action for over a year, and its subordinate brigades had been assembled piecemeal. Nevertheless, it was selected for an important role in

Operation Olive The Gothic Line (german: Gotenstellung; it, Linea Gotica) was a German defensive line of the Italian Campaign of World War II. It formed Field Marshal Albert Kesselring's last major line of defence along the summits of the northern part of t ...

, making an attack on

Coriano Coriano ( rgn, Curién) is a ''comune'' in the province of Rimini. This town is known for being the city of the Motorcycle World Champion, in 250cc class, Marco Simoncelli. History Coriano's origins are ancient: it was an Umbrian, Etruscan civi ...

. The division's axis of advance was up bad mountain tracks and the German defence was strong: the attack on 4 September was a failure, and progress the following day was slow. A second attack (the Second Battle of Coriano) began on the afternoon of 13 September and the division forced its way through to Ceriano Ridge, which was captured on 18/19 September. Further progress was halted by heavy rain. Casualties among the division's infantry had been heavy and reinforcements were scarce at this stage of the war, so the decision was made to break up 1st Armoured Division. Divisional HQ was used to command an ''ad hoc'' group of units to screen the assembly of

II Polish Corps The Polish II Corps ( pl, Drugi Korpus Wojska Polskiego), 1943–1947, was a major tactical and operational unit of the Polish Armed Forces in the West during World War II. It was commanded by Lieutenant General Władysław Anders and fought wit ...

at the front by 28 October. After that, Divisional HQ had no formations under its command and its last remaining unit, 1st Armoured Divisional Signals, was disbanded on 7 December 1944. No 1 Squadron was converted into a

Line of Communication A line of communication (or communications) is the route that connects an operating military unit with its supply base. Supplies and reinforcements are transported along the line of communication. Therefore, a secure and open line of communicati ...

company, some of the personnel remained attached to their brigades and units, many of the rest were transferred to 6th Armoured Division.

Organisation

The organisation of an armoured divisional signal unit in late World War II was as follows: IWM-H-13261-AEC-ACV-19410830

* HQ Squadron ** M and Q Troops * 1 Squadron – ''attached to divisional HQ'' ** ''Advanced Group'' ** A Troop – ''attached to divisional HQ'' ** C Troop – ''radio troop'' ** D Troop – ''messenger troop'' ** ''Rear Group'' ** U Troop – ''attached to rear divisional HQ'' ** B Troop – ''line troop'' ** O Troop – ''operating troop'' * 2 Squadron – ''attached to divisional artillery'' ** H Troop – ''attached to divisional artillery HQ'' ** E and F Troops – ''attached to individual artillery regiments'' * 3 Squadron ** J Troop – ''attached to infantry brigade'' ** R Troop – ''attached to divisional reconnaissance regiment'' ** N Troop – ''attached to divisional engineers'' * 4 Squadron – ''attached to armoured brigade'' ** W Troop – ''attached to armoured brigade HQ'' ** V Troop – ''attached to armoured brigade motor battalion'' ** X, Y, Z Troops – ''attached to individual armoured regiments''

Later units

In July 1946, while stationed in

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into provi ...

, 6th Armoured Division was redesignated 1st Armoured Division and its signal unit became 1st Armoured Divisional Signal Regiment; it went to

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

in 1947 but disbanded in September that year. In April 1978, 1st Division in

British Army of the Rhine There have been two formations named British Army of the Rhine (BAOR). Both were originally occupation forces in Germany, one after the First World War and the other after the Second World War. Both formations had areas of responsibility located a ...

was converted to the armoured role and 1 Signal Regiment became 1st (UK) Armoured Division HQ and Signal Regiment.Lord & Watson, pp. 22–6.

Commanding Officers

The Commanding Officers of the unit include the following: ''Armoured Fighting Vehicle Signals'' * Major J.R. Carter, OBE, 1930 * Major (later Lt-Col) A.C. Sykes, DSO, OBE, 1931 ''1st Tank Brigade Signals'' * Major F.A.H. Mathew, OBE, MC, 1937 ''Mobile Divisional Signals'' * Lt-Col F.S. Straight, MC, 1937 ''1st Armoured Divisional Signals'' * Lt-Col F.S. Straight, MC, 1939 * Lt-Col M. Duncan * Lt-Col M.S, Wheatley * Lt-Col W.P. Doyle * Lt-Col W.R. Smith-Windham, DSO * Lt-Col P.A. Duke * Lt-Col F.W.P. Bradford,

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

* Lt-Col L.C.C. Harrison, MC

Footnotes

Notes

References

* Maj A.F. Becke,''History of the Great War: Order of Battle of Divisions, Part 1: The Regular British Divisions'', London: HM Stationery Office, 1934/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2007, .
Maj L.F. Ellis, ''History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Military Series: The War in France and Flanders 1939–1940'', London: HM Stationery Office, 1954/Uckfield, Naval & Military Press, 2004.
* Gen Sir William Jackson, ''History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Military Series: The Mediterranean and Middle East'', Vol VI: ''Victory in the Mediterranean, Part I, : June to October 1944'', London: HMSO, 1987/Uckfield, Naval & Military Press, 2004, . * * Cliff Lord & Graham Watson, ''Royal Corps of Signals: Unit Histories of the Corps (1920–2001) and its Antecedents'', Solihull: Helion, 2003, . * Maj-Gen R.F.H. Nalder, ''The Royal Corps of Signals: A History of its Antecedents and Developments (Circa 1800–1955)'', London: Royal Signals Institution, 1958. * Maj-Gen I.S.O. Playfair, ''History of the Second World War, United Kingdom Military Series: The Mediterranean and Middle East'', Vol III: ''(September 1941 to September 1942) British Fortunes reach their Lowest Ebb'', London: HMSO, 1960 /Uckfield, Naval & Military Press, 2004, {{ISBN, 1-845740-67-X

External sources

The Long, Long Trail

Unit Histories

Niehorster.org
Divisional signal units of the Royal Corps of Signals Military units and formations established in 1939 Military units and formations disestablished in 1944