2nd Armored Division (United Kingdom)

2nd Armored Division (United Kingdom)
2nd Armored Division badge
Lineup	1939-1941 1976-1982
Country	United Kingdom
Armed forces	British Army
Branch of service	Armored force
Type	division
Subordinate troops	4th Armored Brigade 12th Armored Brigade Division troops
commander
Major General	Martin Farndale

Chieftain tanks as the main weapon system of the 2nd Armored Division

The 2nd Armored Division ( German  2. Panzerdivision ) was a tank division of the British Army , which was put into service during the Second World War . In 1982 she was converted to the 2nd Infantry Division .

history

Second World War

The division was established in December 1939. As a result of the Battle of Britain , the association had to be reorganized right from the start. Their first fights took place in Greece . In May 1941 the 2nd Armored Division was relocated to North Africa . There she fought against Rommel's Africa Corps in Libya . On May 10, 1941, the division was officially dissolved.

Structure of the 2nd Armored Division during the Africa campaign

• 1st Light Armored Brigade (1st Light Armored Brigade, renamed 1st Armored Brigade)
  • 3rd (The King's Own) Hussars
  • 4th Queen's Own Hussars
  • 1st King's Dragoon Guards
  • 3rd Battalion, Royal Tank Regiment

• 22nd Heavy Armored Brigade (22nd Heavy Armored Brigade, renamed 22nd Armored Brigade)
  • 2nd Royal Gloucestershire Hussars
  • 3rd County of London Yeomanry (snipers)
  • 4th County of London Yeomanry (snipers)

• 3rd Armored Brigade
  • 2nd Battalion, Royal Tank Regiment
  • 3rd Battalion, Royal Tank Regiment
  • 5th Battalion, Royal Tank Regiment

• 2nd Support Group
  • 1st Battalion The Rangers, The King's Royal Rifle Corps
  • 1st Battalion, Tower Hamlets Rifles, Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own)
  • 102nd (Northumberland Hussars) Light Anti-Aircraft / Anti-Tank Regiment
  • 12th Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery
  • 2nd Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery
  • 3rd Field Squadron, Royal Engineers
  • 142nd Field Park Troop

• Division troops
  • Divisional Signals, Royal Corps of Signals
  • Royal Engineers
    • 3rd Field Squadron
    • 142nd Field Park Troop

Cold War

The 2nd Armored Division became part of the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) in 1976 and took part in the NATO exercise Spearpoint 76. In this phase, which lasted until 1977 , the division consisted of five combat groups, made up of armored and mech. Infantry units, which had been reorganized for the combined arms battle .

The 2nd Armored Division formed the Task Forces CHARLIE and DELTA. She was subordinate to the 1st Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment, 1st King's Regiment, 2nd Grenadier Guards, 4th Royal Tank Regiment, 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards and the 17th / 21st Lancers at times. The division had a peacetime strength of 8,500 men, which should increase to 14,000 in the event of a defense. The divisional headquarters were in Lübbecke in North Rhine-Westphalia , that of the telecommunications force in the Birdwood Barracks near Bünde .

As part of the I. BR Corps, the 2nd Armored Division was designed for the slow fight against numerically superior armored forces of the Soviet Army. In the event of a war, the 3rd Shock Army would probably have faced it. While the 3rd and 4th Armored Divisions were assigned their position rooms directly at the VRV, the 2nd Armored Division was kept ready as an operational reserve in the rear area of ​​responsibility of the I. BR Corps. The scenario of a large-scale tank battle in the North German Plain was regularly practiced at the Munster and Bergen-Hohne military training areas .

The division previously consisted of the 2nd Grenadier Guards, 4th Royal Tank Regiment and the 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards, the 2nd Grenadier Guards were replaced by the 1st Irish Guards in August 1981 and the Queen's Royal Irish Hussars by the 4th Royal in July 1982 Tank regiment. The 12th Armored Brigade initially consisted of the 1st Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment, 1st King's Regiment and the 17th / 21st Lancers. In January 1982 it was reinforced by the 1st King's Own Scottish Borderers. Further reorganizations took place in the course of this year. The 2nd Armored Division was converted to the 2nd Infantry Division and returned to the UK, where headquarters at Imphal Barracks in York began. In December 1982 it was officially renamed the 2nd Infantry Division.

Structure of the 2nd Armored Division during the Cold War

• 4th Armored Brigade
  • 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards
  • 4th Royal Tank Regiment
  • Queen's Royal Irish Hussars
  • 2nd Battalion, Grenadier Guards
  • 1st Battalion, Irish Guards

• 12th Armored Brigade
  • 17th / 21st Lancers
  • 1st Battalion, King's Regiment
  • 1st Battalion, Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment
  • 1st Battalion, King's Own Scottish Borderers

• Division troops
  • Divisional artillery
    • 27th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery (M109 self-propelled howitzers)
    • 40th Field Regiment, Royal Artillery (Abbot self-propelled howitzers)
    • 10th Air Defense Battery, Royal Artillery (equipped with blowpipe)
    • C Battery, Royal Horse Artillery (equipped with Swingfire)
  • Division pioneers
    • 23rd Engineer Regiment, Royal Engineers
    • 1st Royal Tank Regiment (Panzer Reconnaissance Regiment)
  • 2nd Regiment Army Air Corps (Heeresflieger)
  • Divisional Transport Regiment
  • 2nd Ordnance Company, Royal Army Ordnance Corps
  • 12th Workshop, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
  • Divisional Field Ambulance unit, Royal Army Medical Corps (medical force)

Commanders

Second World War

• December 15, 1939 Major-General FE Hotblack
• April 17, 1940 Brigadier CWM Norrie
• May 10, 1940 Major-General JC Tilly
• January 16, 1941 Brigadier HB Latham
• February 12, 1941 Major-General MD Gambier-Parry

Cold War

• 1977 Major-General Frank Kitson
• February 1978 Major-General Alexander Boswell
• March 1980 Major-General Martin Farndale

Web links

• BAOR locations (en.)

literature

• David Stone: Cold War Warriors: The Story of the Duke of Edinburgh's Royal Regiment (Berkshire and Wiltshire). London 1998: Leo Cooper. ISBN 978-0-85052-618-9 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Exercise Spearpoint 76 from October 28, 1976 to November 19, 1976 with the participation of 18,000 soldiers (mainly I. BR Corps) in the Hanover , Peine , Hildesheim , Salzgitter , Seesen , Bad Oeynhausen , Bad Driburg , Northeim , Bielefeld , Lippstadt area and Hameln .
2. ↑ Heiner Möllers and Rudolf J. Schlaffer: Sonderfall Bundeswehr ?: Armed Forces in National Perspectives and in International Comparison (Security Policy and Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Germany, Volume 12). De Gruyter Oldenbourg. 2014. p. 86ff. ISBN 978-3-11-034812-5 .