7th Armoured Division (United Kingdom)

"Desert Rats" redirects here. For other uses, see Desert rat (disambiguation).

Mobile Division (Egypt) 7th Armoured Division
7th Armoured Division insignia, from 1944 onwards
Active	1938–1958
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	British Army
Type	Armoured Division
Size	Second World War: 14,964 men
Nickname(s)	The Desert Rats
Mascot	Jerboa
Engagements	Second World War North African Campaign Italy North West Europe
Commanders
Notable commanders	Percy Hobart William Gott Jock Campbell

The 7th Armoured Division was an armoured division of the British Army that saw distinguished service during World War II where its exploits made it famous as the Desert Rats.

After the Munich Agreement, the division was formed in Egypt during 1938 as the Mobile Division (Egypt) and its first divisional commander was the acclaimed tank theorist Major-General Sir Percy Hobart. During January 1940, the name of the unit was changed to the 7th Armoured Division. It was during this period that the nickname "Desert Rats" was coined.

The division fought in most major battles* during the North African Campaign; later it would land and fight in the Italian Campaign during the early stages of the invasion of Italy before being withdrawn to the United Kingdom where it prepared to fight in North-west Europe. It began landing in Normandy during the afternoon of D-Day, 6 June 1944, and fought its way across Europe ending the war in Kiel and Hamburg, Germany. The 7th Armoured Brigade was detached from the division during early 1942 and fought the Japanese during the fighting in the Burma Campaign, it then returned to the Mediterranean Theatre and fought in the Italian theatre.

Although the 7th Armoured Division was disbanded during the 1950s, the history, name and the famous 'Desert Rat' flash is carried on by the 7th Armoured Brigade.

History

Further information: Order of battle for 7th Armoured Division (United Kingdom)

Founding

When Italian troops were massed for the invasion of Abyssinia in 1935, a Mobile Force was assembled in Egypt in case the war spread. When rain and sandstorms led to vehicles being bogged down, it became known as the "Immobile Farce" within the ranks.

After the Munich Crisis, elements of what would become the 7th Armoured Division arrived in the Middle East in 1938 to increase British strength in Egypt and form a Mobile Division.

The 'Mobile Force' – initially the "Matruh Mobile Force" – was established on the coast some 120 mi (190 km) west of Alexandria. It was formed from the Cairo Cavalry Brigade (three armoured regiments: the 7th Queen's Own Hussars, the 8th King's Royal Irish Hussars and the 11th Hussars) and supported by the 3rd Regiment Royal Horse Artillery, a company of the Royal Army Service Corps and a Field Ambulance unit.

The Force was organised as a cavalry brigade (the Hussar regiments with Light Tanks, 15-cwt Ford vehicles, and armoured cars), a tank group (older medium and light tanks and latest Light Tanks) and a "pivot group" (artillery with 3.7-inch Mountain guns and tracked vehicles to tow them).

It was joined by the 1st battalion of the King's Royal Rifle Corps from Burma and then its first commander, Major-General Percy Hobart. Hobart was an armoured warfare expert and saw that his troops were properly prepared to fight in the desert despite their poor equipment. Stewart Henry Perowne, the Public Relations Attaché at the British Embassy in Baghdad, perhaps uncharitably referred to the unit as the "Mobile Farce" because it included some obsolete tanks like the Vickers Medium Mark II.

The King's Royal Rifle Corps battalion joined the pivot group as a Motor Battalion. By September 1939 the artillery was equipped with 25 pounder gun-howitzers and 37mm anti-tank guns. The next month the first cruiser tanks were issued.

North Africa

In December 1939, Major-General Sir Michael O'Moore Creagh succeeded Hobart, who had fallen foul of his superiors.

The unit was meant to be equipped with 220 tanks. However, at the outbreak of war, the 'Mobile Force' only had 65. Most of the unit's troops had already been deployed for two years by 1940 and it took as long as three months for mail to arrive.

On 16 February 1940, the Mobile Division, which had changed names during the middle of 1939 to be called the Armoured Division, became the 7th Armoured Division. The Desert Rat divisional flash was adopted about the same time. It originated from a sketch of a jerboa drawn by the divisional commander's wife after a visit to the Cairo Zoo.

After the Italian declaration of war, the Western Desert Force was massively outnumbered. However, the Italian army largely comprised leg infantry; its artillery dated back to World War I, it had no armoured cars and a few antitank weapons, which were effective only against light and cruiser tanks. As such, it proved to be no match for the British. The Western Desert Force captured 130,000 Italians during December 1940 - February 1941 in piecemeal battles.

During the January 1941 Italian retreat, Major-General Richard O'Connor, the Western Desert Force commander, ordered the Desert Rats to travel south of the Jebel Akhdar and cut off the Italian forces at Beda Fomm, while Australian forces pushed the Italians west. On 7 February, as the tanks were unable to travel fast enough, the manoeuvre was led by an ad hoc brigade of armoured cars, towed artillery and infantry, which completed the trip in 30 hours, that cut off the Italian retreat and destroyed the Italian Tenth Army. Lieutenant-Colonel John Combe led this ad hoc group, which was known as "Combe Force" after him. After this, the tanks of the 7th Armoured Division, after eight months of fighting, needed a complete overhaul and the division was withdrawn to Cairo and temporarily ceased to be available as a fighting formation being replaced in the line by *2nd Armoured division.

The Italians had proven so weak that Hitler was forced to send the Afrika Korps as reinforcements under the command of General Erwin Rommel. In April 1941, the allied troops in Tobruk were cut off by the Germans and Italians. In June, the 7th was again prepared for battle as part of Operation Battleaxe, having received new tanks and additional personnel. In the attack plan for Operation Battleaxe, the 7th force was divided between the Coast Force and Escarpment Force. However, this Allied push failed, and the 7th was forced to withdraw on the third day of fighting. On 18 November, as part of Operation Crusader the whole of the 7th Armoured Division was concentrated on breaking through. They faced only the weakened 21st Panzer. However, XXX Corps commander Norrie, aware that 7th Armoured division was down to 200 tanks, decided on caution. During the wait, in the early afternoon of 22 November, Rommel attacked Sidi Rezegh with 21st Panzer and captured the airfield. Fighting was desperate and gallant: for his actions during these two days of fighting, Brigadier Jock Campbell, commanding 7th Support Group, was awarded the Victoria Cross. However, 21st Panzer, despite being considerably weaker in armour, proved superior in its combined arms tactics, pushing 7th Armoured Division back with a further 50 tanks lost (mainly from 22nd Brigade).

The Western Desert Force later became HQ XIII Corps, one of the major parts of Eighth Army. The 7th Armoured Division took part in most of the major battles of the North African Campaign, including both Battles of El Alamein (the First Battle of El Alamein in July 1942, which stopped the Axis advance, and the Second Battle of El Alamein in October/November 1942). It also participated in the destruction of Axis forces in North Africa in Tunisia in 1943.

On 27 June 1942, the 7th Armoured Division, along with units of the British 3rd Hussars, suffered one of the worst friendly fire incidents when they were attacked by a group of RAF Vickers Wellington bombers during a two-hour raid near Mersa Matruh, Egypt. Over 359 troops were killed and 560 others were wounded.

Italy

The division was not an assault force in the invasion of Sicily, instead remaining in Homs for training in amphibious warfare, but did participate in the battle for Italy. It came ashore at Salerno, on 15 September 1943, to help repel heavy German counterattacks during the Battle for the Salerno beachhead. Shortly after landing the 131st (Queen's) Infantry Brigade (which become part of the division in November 1942 and consisted of the 1/5th, 1/6th and 1/7th Territorial battalions of the Queen's Royal Regiment) relieved its 'sister' duplicate, the 169th (Queen's) Infantry Brigade, (consisting of 2/5th, 2/6th and 2/7th Queen's, all formed in 1939), which was part of the 56th (London) Infantry Division. The assembley of six battalions of a single regiment has since been considered a unique moment in the regiment's history. The 169th (Queen's) Brigade was commanded at the time by Brigadier Lewis Lyne, who would later command the 7th Armoured Division from November 1944 onwards. Then, as part of Lieutenant General Mark Clark's U.S. Fifth Army's British X Corps, commanded by Lieutenant-General Richard McCreery, and supported by the British 46th Infantry Division, it drove on and took Naples. The Desert Rats, used to fighting in the desert, had to adjust to the confined Italian roads. The division crossed the river Volturno in southern Italy, constructing a pontoon bridge. This paved the way for many divisions heading north.

On the wishes of the Commander of the British Eighth Army, General Sir Bernard Montgomery, the 7th Armoured Division was recalled to the United Kingdom, along with the 4th Armoured Brigade, 8th Armoured Brigade, 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division and 51st (Highland) Infantry Division, all of which had seen extensive service alongside the 7th Armoured in the Mediterranean and Middle East, to participate in the invasion of North Western Europe with the British Second Army. The division left Italy in late December 1943, arriving in Glasgow in early January 1944.

North West Europe

Major General G Verney, GOC 7th Armoured, enters Ghent in his Staghound armoured car, 8 September 1944

In November 1943, the division left Italy for the United Kingdom; with the last units arriving on 7 January 1944. The division was re-equipped with the new Cromwell cruiser tanks and in April and May received 36 Sherman Vc Fireflies; enough to organise each troop so that they had a complement of three 75 mm gun Cromwell tanks and a 17 pounder gun Firefly. 7th Armoured was the only British division to use the Cromwell as their main battle tank.

The division was one of the three British follow-up divisions of the two British assault Corps earmarked for the Normandy Landings. The 22nd Armoured Brigade embarked on 4 June and most of the division landed on Gold Beach by the end of 7 June. The division initially took part in Operation Perch and Operation Goodwood, two operations that formed part of the Battle for Caen. During Perch, the division was to spearhead one arm of a pincer attack to capture the city. Due to a change in plan, elements of the division engaged tanks of the Panzer-Lehr-Division and the Heavy SS-Panzer Battalion 101 in the Battle of Villers-Bocage. Following the capture of Caen, the division took part in Operation Spring, which was intended to keep the German forces pinned to the British front away from the Americans who were launching Operation Cobra and then Operation Bluecoat, an attack to support the American break-out and intercept German reinforcements moving to stop it. The division then took part in the Allied advance from Paris to the Rhine.

The division's performance in Normandy and the rest of France has been called into question and it has been claimed they did not match those of its earlier campaigns. In early August 1944, Major General George Erskine, the division's commander, Hinde, the armoured brigade commanding officer, and up to 100 other officers of the division were removed from their positions and reassigned. Historians largely agree that this was a consequence of the "failure" at Villers-Bocage and had been planned since that battle. Historian Daniel Taylor is of the opinion that the battle's result provided an excuse and that the sackings took place to "demonstrate that the army command was doing something to counteract the poor public opinion of the conduct of the campaign". Historian Mungo Melvin has commented approvingly of the 7th Armoured Division's institution of a flexible combined arms structure, which other British armoured divisions did not adopt until after Operation Goodwood.

Cromwell tank with Challenger tank behind of 8th Hussars, 7th Armoured Division, outside Hamburg Dammtor station, 5 May 1945

Following the advance across France, the division took part in the Allied advance through Belgium and the Netherlands; liberating Ghent on 6 September. The division then took part in the advance to and securing of the River Maas. In January 1945 the division took part in Operation Blackcock to clear the Roer Triangle, followed by Operation Plunder; the division crossed the Rhine near Xanten and Wesel and advanced on the city of Hamburg its destination, as part of the Western Allied invasion of Germany.

The replacement of the division's commanding officer, following Normandy, did not change the performance of the division and in November 1944, Erskine's replacement Major General Gerald Lloyd-Verney was relieved after he "was unable to cure the division's bad habits well enough to satisfy Montgomery and Dempsey."

There is almost no doubt that the division was suffering from collective and cumulative battle fatigue. As Verney put it, with some prescience: "There is no doubt that familiarity with war does not make one more courageous. One becomes cunning and from cunning to cowardice is but a short step."

Post war

The Division remained in Germany as part of the occupation forces and then into the 1950s as part of the British Army of the Rhine standing watch against the Warsaw Pact. As the British Army became smaller, its higher numbered divisions were removed from the order of battle. The Division's long and illustrious career finally came to an end in this fashion, in April 1958, when it was converted into 5th Division. However, the traditions and iconic nickname ("Desert Rats") of the Division are maintained by 7th Armoured Brigade, which forms part of 1st Armoured Division.

General Officer Commanding

Commanders included:

Appointed	General Officer Commanding
3 September 1939	Major-General Percy Hobart
16 November 1939	Brigadier John A. L. Caunter (acting)
4 December 1939	Major-General Michael O'Moore Creagh
1 April 1941	Brigadier J.A.L. Caunter (acting)
13 April 1941	Major-General Michael O'Moore Creagh(replaced after failure of Battleaxe)
3 September 1941	Major-General William Gott (promoted to command of XIII Corps)
6 February 1942	Major-General John Campbell VC (killed in motor accident 23 February)
23 February 1942	Brigadier A.H. Gatehouse (acting)
9 March 1942	Major-General Frank Messervy (dismissed after battle of Gazala)
19 June 1942	Major-General James Renton
14 September 1942	Major-General John Harding (wounded on 18 January 1943)
20 January 1943	Brigadier George Roberts (acting)
24 January 1943	Major-General George Erskine
4 August 1944	Major-General Gerald Lloyd-Verney
22 November 1944	Major-General Lewis Lyne
1947	Major-General George Roberts
March 1949	Major-General Robert Arkwright
May 1951	Major-General Charles Jones
November 1953	Major-General Kenneth Cooper
March 1956	Major-General John Hackett
February 1958	Major-General Geoffrey Musson

Members of the 7th Armoured Division

• Field Marshal Lord Carver – GS01
• Major-General John Combe- initially 11th Hussars, later staff officer
• The Rt Hon Enoch Powell MBE – Staff officer
• Second Lieutenant Dan Ranfurly – chronicled by his wife's book To War With Whitaker: The Wartime Diaries of the Countess of Ranfurly, 1939–1945

Monument

There is a monument to the 7th Armoured at Brandon in Thetford Forest where the 7th trained prior to D-day.

See also

• List of British divisions in World War II
• British Armoured formations of World War II
• British Army Order of Battle (September 1939)

Notes

Footnotes

Citations

References

• Gootzen, Har. Connor, Kevin. "Battle for the Roer Triangle", Creative, 2006. ISBN 978-90-90-21455-9
• Delaforce, Patrick. Churchill's Desert Rats: From Normandy to Berlin with the 7th Armoured Division, Sutton Publishing, 2003
• Forty, George. Battle Zone Normandy: Villers Bocage. Sutton Publishing, London, 2004. ISBN 0-7509-3012-8
• Fortin, Ludovic. British Tanks In Normandy, Histoire & Collections (30 November 2004). ISBN 2-915239-33-9
• Foster, R.C.G. History of The Queens Royal Regiment: Volume VIII 1924–1948, Gale and Polden, 1953
• Graham, Andrew Sharpshooters at War, The Sharpshooters Regimental Association, 1964
• Joly, Cyril, Take These Men – The campaign of the Desert Rats from 1940 to 1943. Penguin Books, 1956.
• Kelly, Saul. The Lost Oasis: The Desert War and the Hunt for Zerzura. Westview Press, 2002. ISBN 0-7195-6162-0 (HC)
• Lindsay, Martin and Johnston, M.E. History of the 7th Armoured Division June 1943 – July 1945 first published by BAOR in 1945, reprinted in 2001 by DP & G for the Tank Museum
• Mollo, Boris. The Sharpshooters 1900–2000, Kent and Sharpshooters Yeomanry Trust, 2000
• Neillands, Robin. The Desert Rats : 7th Armoured Division, 1940–45, Aurum Press Ltd (29 August 2005), ISBN 2-913903-13-4
• Verney, G.L. The Desert Rats: the History of the 7th Armoured Division 1938 to 1945, Hutchinson, 1954, Reprinted 2002 by Greenhill Books

External links

• Battle of the Roer Triangle January 1945
• British Unit Histories
• "The Sharpshooters", the County of London Yeomanry Association website
• The History of the British 7th Armoured Division, plus the 4th and 7th Armoured Brigades
• Journeyman Autobiography of former Desert Rat Ted Rogers
• 7th Armoured Division Desert War.net