WWII
British 79th Armoured Division

Oct 1943-July 1944
Europe

List B181

by Mark Bevis

1. Teeth Arm

5th, 6th, 42nd Assault Regiments, Royal Engineers (1st Assault Brigade)

    RHQ: 2 SMG squads, 4 trucks
    4 Squadrons@
      SHQ: 2x Churchill AVRE, 1x Churchill ARV
      4 Troops@ 6x Churchill AVRE (+ SBGs, fascines, bobbins, mineploughs)

22nd Dragoons, 1st Lothian & Border Horse, Westminster Dragoons Armoured Regiments (30th Armoured Brigade)

    RHQ: 3x Sherman V, 3x Sherman ARV
    3 Squadrons@
      SHQ: 3x Sherman V
      4 Troops@ 5x Sherman V Flail
      1 Reserve Troop: 5x Sherman V + minerollers (up to June 1944)

11th RTR, 42nd RTR, 49th RTR Armoured Regiments (1st Tank Brigade)

    RHQ: 3x Sheman II, 1x Grant ACV, 2x Sherman or Grant ARV
    3 Squadrons@
      SHQ 2x Sherman II, 1x Grant ACV
      6 Platoons@ 3x Grant CDL searchlight tanks, 1x Sherman I

    1 Communication/Liaison Troop: 6-9x Daimler Scout Cars

141st Royal Armoured Corps Flame Tank Regiment

    RHQ: 4x Churchill VII, 7x Churchill IV OP
    3 Squadrons@
      SHQ: 1x Churchill VII, 2x Churchill VIIICS, 1x Churchill ARV, 1x Humber S/C
      5 Troops@ 3x Churchill VII Crocodile

    1 Communication/Liaison Troop:
      THQ: 3x Humber Scout Car
      2 Sections@ 3x Humber Scout Car

    1 AA Troop: 6x Crusader AA Mk2 (not used in action)

2. Brigade Support

    1st Assault Engineer Brigade HQ: 2x Churchill IV, 4 trucks, 2 rifle sqds
      with:

      149th Assault Park Squadron:

        SHQ: 2x D8 armoured bulldozers
        4 Troops@ 3x D8 armoured bulldozers

    30th Armoured Brigade HQ: 7x Sherman V-HQ, 4x Sherman V OP, 7x Humber S/C, 2x AEC 6x6 ACV, 3x Sherman V

      1st CDL Tank Brigade HQ: 7x Sherman I-HQ/OP tanks, 7x Humber S/C, 2x AEC 6x6 ACV
      1 Defence Troop: 4x Sherman I
      1 Bridge Troop: 3x Valentine AVLB

3. Divisional Support

    Up to:

    4 REME Workshop Troops@ fitters vehicles, gantry cranes
    A, B Wing Training Schools@ # Valentine DD, Sherman IDD, Sherman IIDD, etc in England
    109th Divisional Supply Company RASC
    4th Recovery Company, REME: recovery lorries
    269th Forward Delivery Squadron: tank transporters?

4. Notes

a) Radios are in all AFV.
b) The 79th Armoured Division has the 1st Assault Engineer Brigade of the 5th, 6th and 42nd Assault Engineer Regiments; the 30th Armoured Brigade of the 22nd Dragoons, 1st Lothian & Border Horse, and Westminster Dragoons Armoured Regiments with Flails; and the 1st Tank Brigade of the 11th RTR, 42nd RTR and 49th RTR Armoured Regiments with CDL searchlight tanks; and at division there is the 141st RAC Tank Regiment with Crocodiles.
c) The CDL (Canal Defence Light) Regiments never saw action, although they did land in Normandy in August 1944.
d) Usually squadrons are split up and individual troops assigned to other combat units. Hence all units can be used as Army support.
e) For D-Day 28 Breaching Teams were temporarily formed each of 1x Churchill AVRE+SBG bridge, 1x Churchill AVRE+ Bobbin, 1x Churchill AVRE+ fascine, another AVRE in 18 of the Teams, and 2 or 3 Sherman Flails. Only two troops of Crocodiles were available for the initial landings and fighting in June.


Back to MicroMark WWII British List of TO&Es
Back to MicroMark WWII National List of TO&Es
Back to MicroMark Period List of TO&Es
Back to Master Magazine List
© Copyright 2004 by Mark Bevis and MicroMark.
This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web.
Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com