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British Armoured Divisions and their Commanders, 1939-1945

Author: Richard Doherty

Publisher: Pen and Sword

Published: 2013-07-16

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13: 1848848382

A total of eleven British armoured divisions were formed during the 1939-1945 war but, as this highly informative book reveals, just eight saw action.??In 1940 only 1st Armoured Division faced the German blitzkrieg and it was in the North African desert that armoured divisions came into their own. The terrain was ideal and six such divisions of Eighth Army fought Rommel's Panzers into submission. Three were disbanded prior to the invasion of Sicily and Italy. The campaign from D-Day onwards saw the Guards Armoured, 7th Armoured (the Desert Rats), 11th and Percy Hobart's 79th Armoured Division in the thick of the action.??Of particular interest are the men who commanded these elite formations and the way their characters contributed to the outcome of operations. While some, such as Dick McCreery, went onto greater heights, others did not make the grade; the stakes were high. A number, such as 'Pip' Roberts, were just perfectly suited in the role.??Written by a leading military historian, this book describes many fascinating aspects of armoured warfare from its uncertain beginnings, through the development of tactics and the evolving tank design. Due to British deficiencies, reliance had to be placed on US Grants and Shermans, with the Comet coming late and the Centurion too late.??The combination of gripping historical narrative and well researched fact make this an invaluable and highly readable work on the contribution of British Armoured Divisions to victory in the Second World War.

Armoured Warfare in the British Army 1939–1945

Author: Dick Taylor

Publisher: Pen and Sword Military

Published: 2022-10-21

Total Pages: 370

ISBN-13: 1399081063

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The second volume in Dick Taylor’s three-volume illustrated history of the evolution of armored maneuver warfare in the British army covers the period of the Second World War, in which the tank came of age and developed into the principal land weapon of decision. He describes how, during the first half of the war, the British army came close to disaster from the armored warfare perspective and how the bitter lessons of failure were learned in time to deliver success in 1944 and 1945. As well as providing a fascinating overview of the tactical use of armor during the main campaigns, he considers such much-neglected aspects as the role of training and organization, officer selection and recruitment, and the mechanization of other arms. His wide-ranging book also features extensive, well-laid-out tables giving key information about British armor during this period. This expert account quotes heavily from the vivid recollections of soldiers who served in armor, and is not afraid to criticize as well as praise.

Companion to the British Army 1939-45

Author: Lieutenant Colonel George Forty OBE

Publisher: The History Press

Published: 2009-10-01

Total Pages: 251

ISBN-13: 0750951397

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To encapsulate the British Army in one book is no easy task, but here, George Forty presents it as it was during the Second World War. When war was declared in 1939, the British Army was very much the 'Cinderella' of the three armed services, with a total strength of around 865,000 men. However, just four years later when the Allies invaded north-west Europe, the British Army had grown into a powerful, well-organised and well-equipped fighting force of 3 million men and women. George Forty presents a comprehensive overview of the British Army during this important time. He includes full details of mobilisation and training, higher organisation and arms of the service; divisional organisations and non-divisional units; HQs and Staff; the combat arms and the services; the individual soldier, his weapons and equipment; tactics; vehicle markings and camouflage; the Auxiliary Territorial Service and other Women's Corps. Fully illustrated with an unusual collection of photographs and line illustrations, this is an indispensable reference guide for anyone interested in this fascinating period of British history.

TAURUS PURSUANT A History Of 11th Armoured Division

Author: Anon

Publisher:

Published: 2020-03-13

Total Pages: 248

ISBN-13: 9781783315611

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11th Armoured Division is widely recognised as one of the best British armoured divisions in the Second World War, earning its spurs in all of the most famous actions of the North West European campaign and commanded by the desert legend Pip Roberts. Originally printed in occupied Germany soon after WW2 had finished, this is an excellent Divisional History, with good, clear colour maps and a well written narrative. A Roll of Honour by regiment (Name, Date and Place) completes this fine history. The 11th Armoured Division, also known as the Black Bull, was an armoured division of the British Army which was created in March 1941. The division was formed in response to the unanticipated success of the German panzer divisions. The 11th Armoured was responsible for several major victories in the Battle of Normandy in the summer of 1944, shortly after the D-day landings of 6 June 1944, and it participated in the rapid advance across France, Belgium and the Netherlands and, later, the Rhine crossing in March 1945, and later invaded Germany. Without doubt, the 11th Armoured Division surely earned its moniker of the Black Bull. After the painful beginnings in Operation Epsom it learnt its lessons and evolved tactics and doctrine throughout the war, including the conversion of most of its Stuarts to Jalopies before Goodwood and the tight co-operation employed between infantry and armoured units after Goodwood. It continually hounded the German units facing it and crashed through defences on numerous occasions thanks to superb leadership at all levels and also a dash, élan, skill and determination that could be matched by few other divisions during the war. It can truly be recognised as one of the prize armoured divisions of the British Army at its zenith during the latter part of the war.

Armored Bears Volume One

Author: Veterans of the 3rd Panzer Division

Publisher: Stackpole Books

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 338

ISBN-13: 0811711706

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First major treatment of the 3rd Panzer Division in English Covers the division's formation and its battles in Poland in 1939, France in 1940, and the Eastern Front in 1941 and 1942 The division had nearly 50 Knight's Cross winners by the end of the warContains numerous photos of soldiers and their tanks Based on the daily logs of the division and recollections of its commanders and soldiers

THE STORY OF THE 79th ARMOURED DIVISION

Author: Anon

Publisher:

Published: 2020-09-08

Total Pages: 402

ISBN-13: 9781783316731

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The much prized story of the British Army's famed 79th Armoured Division, a specialised 'hush-hush' unit especially created in readiness for the D-Day invasion of Normandy. This history, profusely illustrated with photos and coloured maps, follows the Division from its formation through its finest hour on D-day to final victory in Europe.

Raising Churchill's Army

Author: David French

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2000-06-08

Total Pages: 332

ISBN-13: 9780191608261

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This is the first serious analysis of the combat capability of the British army in the Second World War. It sweeps away the myth that the army suffered from poor morale, and that it only won its battles thorugh the use of 'brute force' and by reverting to the techniques of the First World War. David French analyses the place of the army in British strategy in the interwar period and during the Second World War. He shows that after 1918 the General Staff tried hard to learn the lessons of the First World War, enthusiastically embracing technology as the best way of minimizing future casualties. In the first half of the Second World War the army did suffer from manifold weaknesses, not just in the form of shortages of equipment, but also in the way in which it applied its doctrine. Few soldiers were actively eager to close with the enemy, but the morale of the army never collapsed and its combat capability steadily improved from 1942 onwards. Professor French assesses Montgomery's contributions to the war effort and concludes that most important were his willingness to impose a uniform understanding of doctrine on his subordinates, and to use mechanized firepower in ways quite different from Haig in the First World War.