History

This armoured brigade was formed from the conversion of the 1st Armoured Reconnaissance Brigade on 26 November 1940 and attached to the 9th Armoured Division

British 9th Armoured Division

The 9th Armoured Division was a Second World War British Army formation. The 9th Armoured was created on 1 December 1940 and dispersed and disbanded on 31 July 1944. The division never saw active service during the war...

. While based in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 the brigade was used to experiment with specialised armoured vehicles

Hobart's Funnies

Hobart's Funnies were a number of unusually modified tanks operated during World War II by the United Kingdom's 79th Armoured Division or by specialists from the Royal Engineers. They were designed in light of problems that more standard tanks experienced during the Dieppe Raid, so that the new...

.

On 8 September 1942 it was attached to the 79th Armoured Division until 20 October 1943, when it was attached to the 3rd Infantry Division

British 3rd Infantry Division

The 3rd Mechanised Division, known at various times as the Iron Division, 3rd Division or as Iron Sides; is a regular army division of the British Army...

 for the Normandy Landings

D-Day

D-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...

.

The brigade landed at Sword Beach

Sword Beach

Sword, commonly known as Sword Beach, was the code name given to one of the five main landing areas along the Normandy coast during the initial assault phase, Operation Neptune, of Operation Overlord; the Allied invasion of German-occupied France that commenced on 6 June 1944...

 as part of I Corps and fought in the Caen

Caen

Caen is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the Calvados department and the capital of the Basse-Normandie region. It is located inland from the English Channel....

 area until disbanded on 30 July 1944.

Commanders

• Brig. C.W. Norman
  Charles Norman
  Major-General Charles Wake Norman CBE was General Officer Commanding Aldershot District.-Military career:Educated at Eton College, Norman was commissioned into the Queen's Own West Kent Yeomanry in 1910....
  
  
• Brig. H.F. Fisher
• Brig. J.G. de W.Mullins
• Brig. G.E. Prior-Palmer

Component Units

• 148th Regiment, Royal Armoured Corps
  Royal 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...
  
  
• 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards
  4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards
  The 4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards was a cavalry regiment of the British Army from 1922 to 1992.It was formed in India in 1922 by the amalgamation of the 4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards and 7th Dragoon Guards , as the 4th/7th Dragoon Guards; it gained the distinction Royal in 1935...
  
  
• 13th/18th Royal Hussars (Queen Mary's Own)
  13th/18th Royal Hussars (Queen Mary's Own)
  The 13th/18th Royal Hussars was a cavalry regiment of the British Army.-Formation:On 9 September 1922, the 13th/18th Hussars was formed by amalgamation of the 13th Hussars and the 18th Royal Hussars . In December 1935, it became known as the 13th/18th Royal Hussars ...
  
  
• 1st East Riding of Yorkshire Yeomanry
  East Riding of Yorkshire Yeomanry
  The East Riding of Yorkshire Yeomanry was a unit of the British Army from 1794–1956.The regiment was formed as volunteer cavalry in 1794 during the French Revolutionary Wars. It was converted to an armoured role in 1920. In 1956 it merged with two other Yorkshire yeomanry regiments to form...
  
  
• The Staffordshire Yeomanry (Queen's Own Royal Regiment)
• 1st Bn, Queen Victoria's Rifles (The King's Royal Rifle Corps)
• 7th Bn, The King's Royal Rifle Corps