1st Armored Division (United Kingdom)

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1st Armored Division (United Kingdom)

Lineup 1939
Country United Kingdom
Armed forces British Army
Branch of service Armored force
Type division
Subordinate troops

7th Armored Brigade
12th Armored Brigade
22nd Armored Brigade

Web presence Website
commander
Major General Ralph Wooddisse
King's Royal Hussars on a NATO exercise in Poland
firing Challenger tank in the Iraq war
Tanks of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards on the shooting range in Bergen-Hohne
Soldier of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards in Afghanistan
Insignia of the division

The 1st Armored Division ( German  1st Panzer Division ) was a tank division of the British Army . It was first erected during World War II and was stationed in Germany from 1976 to 2015 as part of the British armed forces . In July 2014, the association was renamed 1st (United Kingdom) Division and 1st Division (United Kingdom) .

history

Second World War

The division was set up at the beginning of the war in 1939 by renaming the "Mobile Division" that had existed since 1937. In April 1940 she was shipped to France as part of the British Expeditionary Force and took part in the Battle of France . She was evacuated in June 1940. She was then stationed in Great Britain until August 1941 and from November 1941 took part in the campaign in North Africa from Egypt . In May 1944 she was transferred to Italy and took part in the fighting for the position of the Goths before it was disbanded on January 1, 1945.

Rhine Army

In 1976 the division was re-established by renaming the 1st Infantry Division and has since been stationed in Verden on the Aller as part of the British Army of the Rhine . In the 1970s, the 1st Armored Division consisted of the two core elements of the 7th and 22nd Armored Brigade, which formed the ALPHA and BRAVO task forces. The 12th Armored Brigade was only subordinated to the association in the 1980s. In 1990 the divisional headquarters were moved to Saudi Arabia, where the division took part in the Second Gulf War as part of the coalition forces .

Outline during the Cold War

  • 7th Armored Brigade "Desert Rats"
    • 7th Armored Brigade HQ and Telecommunications Department
    • Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (Challenger 2 Main Battle Tanks)
    • 9th / 12th Royal Lancers (reconnaissance)
    • 4th Battalion Royal Regiment of Scotland (light infantry)
    • 3rd Battalion Mercian Regiment (Mech. Infantry - Warrior Fighting Vehicle)
    • 2nd Battalion Royal Regiment of Fusiliers (light infantry)
  • 12th Armored Brigade
    • The Royal Lancers (Queen Elizabeths' Own) (Enlightenment)
    • The King's Royal Hussars (tank battalion)
    • 1st Battalion, The Yorkshire Regiment (Mech. Infantry)
    • 1st Battalion, The Royal Welsh (Mech. Infantry)
    • 1st Battalion, Guardsman
  • 22nd Armored Brigade
  • Division troops

British armed forces in Germany

Entrance to Herford Army Base Germany (2010)
Structure of the 1st Armored Division prior to relocation to Great Britain

The divisional headquarters were from 1993 to 2015 in Herford , North Rhine-Westphalia. In the wake of the reduction in forces after the end of the Cold War , the division had been the only remaining division of the British Army in Germany since 1994. In 1996/97 and 1998/99 it provided the headquarters of the multinational Southwest Division in Bosnia and Herzegovina . In 2003 the division was relocated to the Gulf region again, where it took part in the Iraq war . Most recently, the division was one of two continuously combat-ready divisions of the British Army alongside the 3rd Infantry Division. The division, the largest and most powerful in the British Army, was commanded by a major general and consisted of two tank brigades - the 7th and 20th - as well as combat and logistical support elements. The combat troops were equipped with the Challenger 2 main battle tank and the Warrior armored personnel carrier.

The division was directly under the command of the HQ Land Command in Great Britain, but was supported in Germany in the areas of infrastructure, administration and welfare by the HQ UKSC (G).

The 1st Panzer Division was assigned to the Allied Command Europe Rapid Reaction Corps (ARRC) and was able to carry out national or NATO missions from peacekeeping to war missions. During ARRC missions, the division was strengthened by the Danish Reaction Brigade (Danish crisis reaction brigade).

On July 18, 2014, the division was awarded the black, red and gold flag ribbon as part of a military parade . It is the highest award for military units in Germany. The unit was then renamed 1st (United Kingdom) Division and 1st Division (United Kingdom) . The reason is the restructuring of the British Army under the name Army 2020 , according to which heavy tanks will no longer be used in the division.

On June 1, 2015, the division was withdrawn from Herford and stationed in York , UK .

Commanders

  • Major-General Roger Evans (September 3, 1939 - August 24, 1940)
  • Major-General C. Willoughby M. Norrie (August 24, 1940 - November 5, 1941)
  • Major-General Herbert Lumsden (November 5, 1941 - January 3, 1942)
  • Major-General Frank W. Messervy (January 3, 1942 - February 12, 1942)
  • Major-General Herbert Lumsden (February 12, wounded July 19, 1942)
  • Major-General AH Gatehouse (July 19, wounded July 22, 1942)
  • Brigadier General AF Fisher (July 22, 1942 - August 19, 1942)
  • Major-General Raymond Briggs (August 19, 1942 - July 17, 1943)
  • Major-General Alexander Galloway (July 17, 1943 - August 14, 1944)
  • Major-General Richard Hull (August 14, 1944 - November 24, 1944)
  • Lieutenant Colonel TEF Vogel (November 24, 1944 - January 1945)
  • Major-General Alan Jolly (1960–1961)
  • Major-General Thomas Pearson (1961–1963)
  • Major-General Miles Fitzalan-Howard (1963-1965)
  • Major-General Richard Ward (1965–1968)
  • Major-General Allan Taylor (1968–1970)
  • Major-General Jack Harman (1970–1972)
  • Major-General Edwin Bramall (1972–1973)
  • Major-General John Stanier (1973-1975)
  • Major-General David Alexander-Sinclair (1975–1977)
  • Major-General Richard Lawson (1977–1979)
  • Major-General Geoffrey Howlett (1979–1982)
  • Major-General Brian Kenny (1982-1983)
  • Major-General David Thorne (1983–1985)
  • Major-General Anthony Mullens (1985-1987)
  • Major-General Richard Swinburn (1987-1989)
  • Major-General Roger Wheeler (1989–1990)
  • Major-General Rupert Smith (1990-1992)
  • Major-General Iain Mackay-Dick (1992–1993)
  • Major General Anthony Denison-Smith (1993–1994)
  • Major General Roddy Cordy-Simpson (1994–1996)
  • Major General John Kiszely (1996-1998)
  • Major General Redmond Watt (1998-2000)
  • Major General Robin Brims (2000-2003)
  • Major General Peter Wall (2003-2005)
  • Major General John Cooper (2005-2006)
  • Major General Graham Binns (2006-2009)
  • Major General Adrian Bradshaw (2009-2011)
  • Major-General James Bashall (2011-2012)
  • Major-General James Chiswell (2012-2014)
  • Major-General James Chiswell (2014-2015)
  • Major-General Giles Hill (2015-2017)
  • Major-General Ralph Wooddisse (since 2017)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Steven Zaloga, Simon McCouai: Tank War: Central Front NATO vs. Warsaw Pact (=  Elite series . Band 26 ). Osprey Publishing, London 1989, ISBN 0-85045-904-4 , pp. 23 (English, limited preview in Google Book Search).
  2. ↑ the 7th Armored Division also had this nickname
  3. ↑ Award in Happy Herford, Westfalen-Blatt from July 19, 2014
  4. ↑ Army 2020, as of July 2013 ( Memento from June 10, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  5. ↑ 1st Armored Division to get new home in York, ITV news from July 17, 2014 ( English )

Coordinates: 52 ° 7 ′ 0.4 "  N , 8 ° 41 ′ 48.7"  E