9th Armoured Division (United Kingdom)

The 9th Armoured Division was an armoured division of the British Army, raised during the Second World War. It never saw active service during the war as a complete division.

9th Armoured Division
Formation sign of the 9th Armoured Division.[1]
Active1 December 1940–31 July 1944[2]
Country United Kingdom
Branch British Army
TypeArmoured
Size14,964 men[3]
227 tanks[nb 1][nb 2]
Commanders
Notable
commanders
Major-General Brian Horrocks

History

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The 9th Armoured was created on 1 December 1940 and dispersed and disbanded on 31 July 1944. It never saw active service during the war as a complete division, although its 27th armoured brigade fought in the Normandy campaign and NW Europe in 1944.[5]

General Officer Commanding

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The 9th Armoured Division had three men who held the position of General Officer Commanding during the Second World War.

Appointed General Officer Commanding
4 December 1940 Major-General Brocas Burrows[2]
20 March 1942 Major-General Brian Horrocks[2]
12 August 1942 Major-General John D'Arcy[nb 3]

Component Units

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Component units included:[6]

27th Armoured Brigade (transferred from division on 10 August 1942)

28th Armoured Brigade

9th Support Group (disbanded 12 June 1942)

7th Infantry Brigade (transferred to division on 5 June 1942)

Divisional Troops

See also

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Notes

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Footnotes
  1. ^ 201 tanks and 26 anti-aircraft tanks.[4]
  2. ^ These two figures are the war establishment, the on-paper strength, of the division; for information on how divisions size changed over the war please see British Army during the Second World War and British Armoured formations of World War II.
  3. ^ D'Arcy was appointed as the acting General Officer Commanding on 12 August 1942 at the rank of Brigadier, he took official command of the division on 8 September 1942 with the rank of Major-General.[2]
Citations
  1. ^ Cole p34
  2. ^ a b c d Joslen, p. 23
  3. ^ Joslen, p. 129
  4. ^ Joslen, p. 6
  5. ^ Anderson, Richard C. (2009). Cracking Hitler's Wall: The 1st Assault Brigade Engineers on D-Day: The 1st Assault Brigade Royal Engineers on D-Day. Stackpole Books. p. 8. ISBN 978-0811705899.
  6. ^ Ordersofbattle.com 9th Armoured Division subordinates

References

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  • Joslen, Lieutenant-Colonel H.F. (1960) [1960]. Orders Of Battle Second World War 1939-1945. Naval & Military Press Ltd. ISBN 978-1-84342-474-1.
  • Cole H (1973) Formation Badges of World War 2. Britain, Commonwealth and Empire Arms and Armour Press SBN 85368 078 7
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