9th Armoured Division (United Kingdom)

9th Armoured Division
Formation sign of the 9th Armoured Division.[1]
Active1 December 1940–31 July 1944[2]
Country United Kingdom
Branch British Army
TypeArmoured
Size14,964 men[3]
227 tanks[nb 1][nb 2]
Commanders
Notable
commanders
Major-General Brian Horrocks

The 9th Armoured Division was an armoured division of the British Army, raised during the Second World War. It never saw active service during the war as a complete division.

History

The 9th Armoured was created on 1 December 1940 and dispersed and disbanded on 31 July 1944. It never saw active service during the war as a complete division, although its 27th armoured brigade fought in the Normandy campaign and NW Europe in 1944.[5]

General Officer Commanding

The 9th Armoured Division had three men who held the position of General Officer Commanding during the Second World War.

Appointed General Officer Commanding
4 December 1940 Major-General Brocas Burrows[2]
20 March 1942 Major-General Brian Horrocks[2]
12 August 1942 Major-General John D'Arcy[nb 3]

Component Units

Component units included:[6]

27th Armoured Brigade (transferred from division on 10 August 1942)

  • 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards
  • 13th/18th Royal Hussars (Queen Mary's Own)
  • 1st East Riding Yeomanry
  • 1st Battalion, Queen Victoria's Rifles - renamed 7th Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps on 22 March 1941

28th Armoured Brigade

  • 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards
  • 15th/19th The King's Royal Hussars
  • 1st Fife and Forfar Yeomanry
  • 2nd Battalion, Queen Victoria's Rifles - renamed 8th Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps on 22 March 1941

9th Support Group (disbanded 12 June 1942)

7th Infantry Brigade (transferred to division on 5 June 1942)

  • 2nd Battalion, South Wales Borderers
  • 6th Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment
  • 2/6th Battalion, East Surrey Regiment

Divisional Troops

  • 1st Royal Gloucestershire Hussars - (16 January 1943 - 10 July 1943)
  • 6th Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery - (12 June 1942 - 10 July 1944)
  • 141st (Queen's Own Dorset Yeomanry) Field Regiment, Royal Artillery - (12 June 1942 - 10 July 1944)
  • 74th Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery - (12 June 1942 - 6 November 1943)
  • 92nd (Gordon Highlanders) Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery - (12 November 1943 - 10 July 1944)
  • 54th (Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery - (12 June 1942 - 2 March 1944)
  • 150th (Loyals) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery - (2 March 1944 - 10 July 1944)

See also

Notes

Footnotes
  1. ^ 201 tanks and 26 anti-aircraft tanks.[4]
  2. ^ These two figures are the war establishment, the on-paper strength, of the division; for information on how divisions size changed over the war please see British Army during the Second World War and British Armoured formations of World War II.
  3. ^ D'Arcy was appointed as the acting General Officer Commanding on 12 August 1942 at the rank of Brigadier, he took official command of the division on 8 September 1942 with the rank of Major-General.[2]
Citations
  1. ^ Cole p34
  2. ^ a b c d Joslen, p. 23
  3. ^ Joslen, p. 129
  4. ^ Joslen, p. 6
  5. ^ Anderson, Richard C. (2009). Cracking Hitler's Wall: The 1st Assault Brigade Engineers on D-Day: The 1st Assault Brigade Royal Engineers on D-Day. Stackpole Books. p. 8. ISBN 978-0811705899.
  6. ^ Ordersofbattle.com 9th Armoured Division subordinates

References

  • Joslen, Lieutenant-Colonel H.F. (1960) [1960]. Orders Of Battle Second World War 1939-1945. Naval & Military Press Ltd. ISBN 978-1-84342-474-1. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
  • Cole H (1973) Formation Badges of World War 2. Britain, Commonwealth and Empire Arms and Armour Press SBN 85368 078 7