7th Armored Division (United Kingdom)

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"The Desert Rats" - Insignia of the 7th Armored Division since 1944

The 7th Armored Division ( German  7th Panzer Division ) was a tank division of the British Army , which gained notoriety in the battles of the Africa campaign during World War II . The division was better known as "desert rats" ( English Desert Rats ), which the relatives gave themselves, since the division's emblem shows a gerbil .

Later she fought in Normandy and took Hamburg in 1945.

Well-known members of the division were Dan Ranfurly , Field Marshal John Harding, 1st Baron Harding of Petherton , as well as Major General GPB 'Pip' Roberts and General Frank Messervy .

history

founding

British military doctrine before World War II was deeply divided over the use of tanks . While some officers, according to JFC Fuller's theories, called for mobile warfare based on the new weapons, the higher military in particular opposed the introduction of an independent armored force . So it came about that only on the eve of the new war in 1938 two British armored units were brought into being with no time limit. A so-called mobile division was set up in England and another in Egypt . The mobile unit set up near Alexandria under Percy Hobart , a follower of Fuller, was to form the basis of the "desert rats". It was led in 1939 as the "Armored Brigade" and finally converted into the 7th Panzer Division under new command in February 1940.

Second World War

North africa

1940

During the Italian attack on the Egyptian border (September / October 1940) the 7th Panzer Division under Major General Creagh formed the backbone of the defending Western Desert Force . During the Battle of Marmarica initiated on December 8 , the division led the counter-offensive at Mersa Matruh , and in mid-December the 4th Indian Division supporting the attack was replaced by the Australian 6th Division. The Italian front was broken between Sofafi and Nibeiwa and Sidi Barrani was surrounded on December 10th. An advance command of the 7th Panzer Division had bypassed Bardia by December 15 and sealed off the road from there to Tobruk . After the fall of Tobruk, the Allies resumed the advance. While the 6th Australian Division advanced along the coastal road towards Darna at the end of January 1941 , the 7th Panzer Division swung over to the route south of the Green Mountain to Benghazi via Mechili. The quickly assembled Combe Force reached the coastal road about 32 km north of Ajdabiya on February 5 and acted against the flank of the Italians. The remaining units of the 7th Panzer Division blocked the breakout of Italian troops in the direction of the desert near Beda Fomm. Only about 30,000 Italian soldiers had escaped the ensuing captivity in Marmarica .

1941

The "desert rats" remained part of the Western Desert Force (now Gen. Kdo. XIII. Corps), which was now in combat with the German Africa Corps , in the spring of 1941 and in the further African campaign . The 7th Panzer Division was an indispensable tactical and strategic tool for the respective commanders. On March 24th, an Italian-German association launched a counter-offensive in Kyrenaica . On April 8th, the Axis powers captured Mechili and the remaining 2,700 Allied soldiers were taken prisoner of war. After the start of the Battle of Sollum Operation Battleaxe in mid-June, the 7th Panzer Division was under the command of the XIII. Corps under Major General Beresford-Peirse . Creagh had 190 tanks, of which about 90 were cruiser tanks (about 40 older models Cruiser MKI-IV and 50 newer models MKVI), his division was organized as follows:

4th Tank Brigade - Brigadier General Alexander Gatehouse

  • 4th Tank Regiment (Matilda Panzer) - Lieutenant Colonel Walter O'Carroll
  • 7th Tank Regiment (Matilda Panzer) - Lieutenant Colonel Basil Groves

7th Tank Brigade - Brigadier Hugh Russell

  • 2nd Royal Tank Regiment (Mk I, II and III / IV cruiser tanks)
  • 6th Tank Regiment (Crusader Panzer)

7th Support Group - Brigadier John Campbell

  • 1st, 3rd, 4th and 106th regiments Royal Horse Artillery
  • 1st Battalion King's Royal Rifle Corps
  • 2nd Battalion Rifle Brigade

On June 16, after the attack on the Hafid ridge, the 7th Panzer Brigade only had 48 of the original 90 cruiser tanks , the 4th Panzer Brigade had lost around half of its almost 100 Matilda tanks . The combat strength of the Crusader tank was recognized as insufficient.

In the Operation Crusader November 18, 1941, the next British counter-offensive followed. The new Commander in Chief of the British 8th Army , General Cunningham, ordered the XXX standing at Mersa Matruh . Corps with the subordinate 7th Panzer Division (now under Major-General William Gott ) and the South African 1st Division to bypass the border fortifications on the Sollum Front at Fort Maddalena to the south and to advance in a north-westerly direction towards Tobruk. The 22nd Panzer Brigade got into heavy fighting with the Italian division “Ariete” on the left near Bir el Gubi . On the right wing of the corps, the 4th Panzer Brigade encountered parts of the German 21st Panzer Division and was also involved in heavy fighting. The 7th Panzer Brigade in the center of the corps was able to occupy the airfield at Sidi Rezegh without hindrance. After the XXX. Corps had been pushed back before Sidi Rezegh by November 22nd, the 7th Panzer Division had to withdraw defeated. Of their original 150 tanks, only four were still operational at that time. On December 13th, after an eventful battle, the British XIII. Corps launched the attack on the Gazala Line, the weakened Africa Corps was only able to field about 40 tanks. After the stalemate at Gazala, there was a break in fighting lasting several months, during which there was only sporadic fighting.

1942

On August 30, 1942, the last attempt of the German-Italian offensive group to break through between the El-Taqa plateau and the Ruweisat ridge began in the Battle of Alam Halfa , the attack failed on the British positions. On October 23, the decisive battle of El Alamein began : the advance of the XIII, consisting of the 7th Panzer and two infantry divisions. Corps on the south wing initially served mainly to distract and bind the enemy. On the morning of November 4th, however, the position of the opposing Italian XX. Corps decisive for the battle. The almost complete annihilation of the Trento and Trieste divisions and the destruction of the fighting units of the Folgore division convinced most of the Italian generals that the war was lost.

1943

After participating in the pursuit of axial forces through Cyrenaica and Libya, the division moved into Tripoli on January 23, 1943 . On March 6, 1943, a counterattack by the Africa Corps in the direction of Medenine was repulsed , and the front on the Mareth Line froze . The 7th Panzer Division took Tunis on May 7, 1943 , thus sealing the defeat of the Axis powers in the Biserta bridgehead .

Italy

After a short break, the division was deployed in July 1943 during Operation Husky in Sicily and then participated with the American 5th Army in the landing in Italy near Salerno (September 1943). At the request of General Bernard Montgomery , the 7th Panzer Division, along with the 8th Panzer Brigade, the 50th and 51st Divisions, were deployed for the invasion of northern France and left Italy from November 1943. The last units of the Division in Glasgow , it was then equipped with the new Cromwell tanks , which were armed with stronger cannons.

France

Tanks of the British 7th Panzer Division on their way inland from Gold Beach, June 7, 1944

During the Allied Operation Overlord on June 6, 1944 (landing in Normandy), the division was subordinate to the British 2nd Army and was particularly involved in the fighting around Caen . From June 8 to 19, 1944, heavy fighting broke out with the German Panzer Lehr Division near Tilly-sur-Seulles . In the early morning hours of June 13th, the British 22nd Tank Brigade (Brigadier General WRN Hinde) took the town of Villers-Bocage . On the German side ten out of 25 tanks were lost during this battle, on the Allied side 30 tanks and more than 30 lightly armored vehicles. On June 14th, after withdrawing from Villers-Bocage, the 7th Panzer Division took up defensive positions near Amayé-sur-Seulles. As part of the I Corps , the division took in the east of Caen after July 18, along with 11 tanks and Guards Tank Division of the Operation Goodwood part, which, however, the village Bourguebus of the 12th SS Panzer Division was brought to a halt.

After the liberation of France , the 7th Panzer Division advanced into Belgium as far as the Meuse . In January 1945 she fought in Operation Blackcock in the German-Dutch border area. She crossed the Rhine in March 1945 and took part in the occupation of Hamburg .

guide

  • Major General Percy CS Hobart (September 3 - December 4, 1939)
  • Major General Michael O'Moore Creagh (December 4, 1939 - September 3, 1941)
  • Major General William HE Gott (September 3, 1941 - February 6, 1942)
  • Major General JC Campbell (February 6, 1942; fallen February 26, 1942)
  • Brigade General AH Gatehouse (February 23 - March 9, 1942)
  • Major General Frank Messervy (March 9 - June 19, 1942)
  • Major General JML Renton (June 19 - September 14, 1942)
  • Major General Allan Francis John Harding (September 14, 1942 - January 20, 1943)
  • Brigade General George Philip B. Roberts (January 20-24, 1943)
  • Major General George Watkin Erskine (January 24, 1943 - August 4, 1944)
  • Major General GL Verney (August 4, 1944 - November 22, 1944)
  • Major General LO Lyne (November 22, 1944–1945)

After the end of the war

Sign at the entrance to the British barracks in Celle, 2012

The division became part of the British troops in Germany after the end of the war and was also stationed in West Berlin . Until March 1952, the headquarters of the armored division was in the Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten in Hamburg .

The tradition of the "desert rats" today carries the 7th Armored Brigade ( English 7th Armored Brigade ), which participated as part of the 1st Armored Division in the Second and Third Gulf War .

literature

Web links