42nd Armoured Division (United Kingdom)
Encyclopedia
The 42nd Armoured Division was a First Line Territorial Army formation during the Second World War. It was formed by converting an infantry division into an armoured role. It was never deployed overseas and was disbanded before seeing combat.
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of the 42nd Armoured Division:
and the 145th Regt RAC. On 25th July 1942 the brigade was converted again into the 10th Tank Brigade and finally disbanded on the 25th November 1943. The 10th Armoured Brigade did not see active service as a unit.
History
The division was formed by converting the 42nd (East Lancashire) Infantry Division, a First Line Territorial Army infantry formation, on 1 November 1941 into an Armoured Division. The division was not posted overseas and its divisional headquarters was disbanded on 17 October 1943; the division's infantry was assigned to the 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division and its armour to the 79th Armoured Division79th Armoured Division
The 79th Armoured Division was a specialist British Army armoured formation created as part of the preparations for the Normandy invasion of 6 June 1944...
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General Officer Commanding
Two men served as the General Officer CommandingGeneral Officer Commanding
General Officer Commanding is the usual title given in the armies of Commonwealth nations to a general officer who holds a command appointment. Thus, a general might be the GOC II Corps or GOC 7th Armoured Division...
of the 42nd Armoured Division:
- Major-General Miles DempseyMiles DempseyGeneral Sir Miles Christopher Dempsey, GBE, KCB, DSO, MC was commander of the British Second Army during the D-Day landings in the Second World War...
- Major-General John Aldam AizlewoodJohn Aldam AizlewoodMajor General John Aldam Aizlewood MC was an officer in the British Army and British Indian Army during the interwar years and World War II.-Military career:John Aizlewood was commissioned into 4th Dragoon Guards in 1914....
10th Armoured Brigade
On 1st November 1941 the 10th Armoured Brigade was converted from the 125th Infantry Brigade and was attached to the 42nd Armoured Division. It comprised the 108th Regt Royal Armoured CorpsRoyal Armoured Corps
The Royal Armoured Corps is currently a collection of ten regular regiments, mostly converted from old horse cavalry regiments, and four Yeomanry regiments of the Territorial Army...
and the 145th Regt RAC. On 25th July 1942 the brigade was converted again into the 10th Tank Brigade and finally disbanded on the 25th November 1943. The 10th Armoured Brigade did not see active service as a unit.
11th Armoured Brigade
- 107th Regt. RAC
- 110th Regt. RAC
- 111th Regt. RAC
- 1st Bn. The Highland Light Infantry
42nd Support Group
- 1st Bn. The East Lancashire Regiment
- 147th (Essex YeomanryEssex YeomanryThe Essex Yeomanry was a yeomanry regiment of the British Army raised in 1797. The regiment recruited volunteers from the county of Essex in the East of England.-Origins:...
) Field Regt. Royal ArtilleryRoyal ArtilleryThe Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery , is the artillery arm of the British Army. Despite its name, it comprises a number of regiments.-History:... - 53rd (WorcestershireQueen's Own Worcestershire Hussars-History:The Queen's Own Worcestershire Hussars were formed in 1794, as the Worcestershire Yeomanry, when King George III, was on the throne, William Pitt the Younger was the Prime Minister of Great Britain, and across the English Channel, Britain was faced by a French nation that had recently...
and Oxfordshire YeomanryQueen's Own Oxfordshire HussarsThe Queen's Own Oxfordshire Hussars was the designated name of a Yeomanry regiment of the British Army between 1888 and 1922. In response a call by the government for troops of volunteers to be formed in the shires, meeting of “Nobility, Gentry, Freeholders and Yeomanry” was called at the Star Inn...
) Anti-Tank Regt. RA - 42nd Armoured Division Signal Regiment
See also
- British Armoured formations of the Second World WarBritish Armoured formations of the Second World WarThe British Armoured formations of the Second World War refers to the Armoured Divisions and Independent Armoured and Tank Brigades deployed by the British Army during the Second World War. They had two types of armoured vehicle. The Infantry tank which was heavily armoured and slow, designed to...