APPENDIX VI

11TH ARMOURED DIVISION GOODWOOD ORDER OF BATTLE 18 JULY, 1944

OVERALL DIVISIONAL STRUCTURE:

‘Tac’(or forward) Headquarters: Major General G B P ‘Pip’ Roberts

Main Headquarters

Divisional troops

• 2nd Northamptonshire Yeomanry (2 NY) (reconnaissance regiment)

• 13th Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery (13 RHA)

• 151st Field Regiment, Royal Artillery, ‘Ayrshire Yeomanry’ (151 RA)

• 75th Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery (75 AT)

• 58th Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery (58 LAA)

• The Inns of Court (reconnaissance) armoured car regiment

(attachment from mid-July to last for much of the NW Europe campaign)

29th Armoured Brigade: Brigadier C B C ‘Roscoe’ Harvey

• 23rd Hussars (23 H)

• 2nd Fife & Forfarshire Yeomanry (2 FF Yeo)

• 3rd Battalion Royal Tank Regiment (3 R Tks)

• 8th Battalion The Rifle Brigade (8 RB)

159th Infantry Brigade: Brigadier J B ‘Jack’ Churcher

• 3rd Battalion The Monmouthshire Regiment (3 MON)

• 4th Battalion The King’s Shropshire Light Infantry (4 KSLI)

• 1st Battalion The Herefordshire Regiment (1 HEREFORD)

plus detachments including:

• One squadron of Sherman ‘Crab’ flails of 22nd Dragoons (approximately 15

x 75mm gun tanks with minesweeping flails)

• 10 Armoured Vehicles Royal Engineers of 26 Assault Squadron (Churchill AVRE tanks mounting 290mm spigot mortars manned by sappers equipped with demolitions)

• One troop 612 Field Squadron, Royal Engineers with sappers mounted in half-tracks and 2 armoured bulldozers to deal with unforeseen obstacles

Notes:

1. After GOODWOOD the division’s two brigades operated with sub-units intermingled; up to and including GOODWOOD the brigades fought largely independently of each other. Thus at the start of GOODWOOD the only infantry in direct support of the tank regiments was 29th Brigade’s single motor battalion, 8 RB, with one motor company initially assigned to each tank regiment.

2. 13 RHA (armoured, self-propelled) generally supported 29th Armoured Brigade and the 151 RA (towed guns) 159th Infantry Brigade.

3. Lacking the firepower to engage in a tank battle, the role of the Inns of Court was to act independently, probing for gaps in the enemy line and penetrating the rear areas wherever possible.

4. The flail tanks were pressed on Pip Roberts against his wishes. As he expected, they were not needed to clear enemy minefields, but served usefully as gun tanks in support of 8 RB storming le Mesnil Frémentel. Numbers engaged are approximate as some had difficulty getting forward past obstacles in their path.

11th ARMOURED DIVISION 

Detailed Order of Battle 

18 July, 1944

(HQ and armoured units, excluding the infantry brigade which fought separately throughout the day, and much soft-skinned transport)

Tank Tac HQ

General Officer Commanding	1 x Cromwell command tank
General’s ADC (Aide-de-Camp)	1 x spare Cromwell command tank
CRA (Commander Royal Artillery)	1 x Cromwell command tank
Defence (or ‘Protection’) Troop	4 x Sherman gun tanks
	2 x Crusader AA tanks

Notes:

1. Command tanks had map tables and multiple radios (the GOC’s and his spare tank each had one radio set for contacting brigades and Main HQ, and a second for talking back to VIII Corps). Cromwell tanks were selected for their greater speed and lower profile. Some but not all of these had no main armament, simply a wooden dummy gun, differing from the normal 75mm in various ways including lack of a muzzle brake.

2. Depending on circumstances, the divisional commander personally allocated vehicles between his Tac and Main HQs. For the likely close fighting at GOODWOOD, Roberts decided to form his TAC HQ with tanks only. During 18 July, TAC HQ frequently used terrain and movement to avoid enemy fire. On the evening of 18 July, Roberts had his personal ACV brought forward for him to bivouac at the back of the vehicle rather than leave the field to return to Main HQ.

MAIN HQ

Staff:

CRE (Commander Royal Engineers) CRASC (Commander Royal Army Service Corps) 

CREME (Commander Royal Corps of Electrical and Mechanical Engineers) 

Field Security Section & APIS (Intelligence Corps) 

Discipline & Traffic (Corps of Military Police)

Vehicles:

ACV 1 Command 

ACV 2 Intelligence 

ACV 3 Operations 

ACV 4 Rear Link (to Main HQ) 

ACV 5 Rear Link (to VIII Corps) 

ACV 6 Signals 

ACV 7 RAF Liaison

Liaison Troop 10 x Humber scout cars

Notes:

1. Only a selection of Main HQ’s hundred-plus vehicles is indicated.

2. Armoured Command Vehicles were generally windowless AEC 4x4, tailored to their specialist functions.

ARMOURED CAR REGIMENT (Inns of Court)

This regiment underwent several reorganizations as it gained experience in Normandy. In mid-July, its ‘sabre’ squadrons had been revised to make them lighter and more flexible.

Sabre Squadron (four, designated A, B, C, & D)

Light Troop	(6 per squadron)	2 x Daimler ‘Dingo’ scout cars
Heavy Troop	(3 per squadron)	2 x Daimler Armoured Cars
		1 x ‘SOD’
‘Blitz’ Troop	(1 per squadron)	1 x Daimler Armoured Car
		3 x half-tracks

Notes:

1. Although one of the most successful armoured cars of the war, the Daimler proved somewhat bulky for use in Normandy. The unorthodox solution adopted by the Inns was to remove the turret and forward mudguards, in an improvised workshop in Ver-sur-Mer. The resulting ‘Sawn Off Daimler’ (or ‘SOD’) was lighter and faster, reportedly capable of 70 miles per hour. With experience, its single Bren gun might be augmented with a .50 cal Browning or even a pair of Vickers ‘K’ guns, though of course its primary ‘weapon’ remained its Number 19 Wireless set, relocated to the hull when the turret was removed. Other armoured car regiments, notably the Guards’ Second Household Cavalry Regiment, scorned such wanton desecration of His Majesty’s property.

2. One armoured car in each Heavy Troop would normally have a ‘Littlejohn Adaptor’, a barrel extension designed to enhance the velocity and penetration of its 2 pounder gun.

3. The ‘Blitz’ (or ‘Assault’) Troop contained three infantry sections whose dismounted role was to support the recce troops against moderate enemy resistance and to defend to the squadron in ‘harbour’.

ARMOURED RECONNAISSANCE REGIMENT (2NH)

HQ		1 x Daimler scout car
HQ Squadron		4 x Cromwell gun tanks
		2 x jeeps
		2 x half-tracks
		1 x carrier
Reconnaissance Troop		12 x Daimler scout cars
Communications Troop		9 x scout cars
AA Troop		5 x Crusader AA tanks
Armoured Reconnaissance Squadron (3 per Regiment)
	HQ Troop	2 x Cromwell CS (95mm)
		2 x Cromwell gun tank (75mm)
		1 x Jeep
		1 x Cromwell ARV1
		(Armoured Recovery Vehicle)
		2 x half-track ambulances
	Armoured Reconnaissance Troop (5 per Squadron)
		3 x Cromwell 75mm

Notes:

1. No Sherman Firefly tanks were assigned to the regiment; the first 17 pounder-armed ‘Challenger’ tanks arrived on 10 August, just one week before the regiment’s last action prior to being disbanded.

2. Cromwell ARV1 was a turretless tank capable of towing only (no winch or lifting gear).

29th ARMOURED BRIGADE HQ

HQ vehicle	ACV
Command Group	4 x command tanks
	6 x defence tanks
	2 x half-tracks
	9 x scout cars
	3 x bridging tanks
Air Support Signals Unit	1 x turretless Marmon Herrington armoured car

Notes:

1. The bridging tanks were turretless Valentines which could place and recover a hydraulically-activated scissors bridge capable of spanning a 30 foot gap. There is no known record of their employment by 11th Armoured Division during GOODWOOD though at least one is identifiable in aerial photographs of the armoured advance.

2. The attachment of an ASSU (formerly, a ‘tentacle’) at brigade (or even divisional) level was at this time an exceptional experiment. The car was to function as a Visual Control Post, manned by a Royal Signals Corps operator, and an Air Liaison Officer. The latter was an experienced Flight Lieutenant able to ‘speak the language’ of the fighter pilots assigned to support the advance. The ALO was wounded early on 18 June and the inexperienced operator was consequently not able to ‘call in’ fighter support as effectively as planned.

3. In April, 1944, the Brigade received ten ‘bulldozer attachments’ which were fitted to Sherman tanks and gave ‘satisfactory results’. It is assumed that these were assigned to Regimental HQs.

ARMOURED REGIMENT (3 per division: 23 H, 2 FF Yeo, 3 R Tks)

HQ		1 x scout car
HQ Squadron		2 x Sherman gun tanks
		2 x Sherman command tanks
		2 x half-tracks
	Reconnaissance Troop	11 x Stuart tanks (‘Honeys’)
	Communications Troop	9 x scout cars
	AA Troop	6 x Crusader AA tanks

Notes:

1. Earlier in the war, when tank 2 or 6 pounder guns had no HE capability, the HQ Squadron’s tanks included two gun tanks (usually AP-capable only) and 2 ‘CS’ (Close Support) tanks with howitzers capable of firing smoke and (usually) High Explosive. In Cromwell-equipped regiments (also in Churchill Infantry tank regiments) this arrangement was retained, the 1944 CS tanks having short 95mm howitzers.

2. The turret of the Stuart light tank was cramped and its 37mm gun very little use against German tanks. For reconnaissance purposes the tank’s height was a disadvantage. 29th Armoured Brigade War Diary for 6 July states: ‘It was decided to remove turrets from all Stuart tks in the light of experience in the recent battle.’ By the time of GOODWOOD, 23rd Hussars had already removed the turrets from half their Stuarts and by the end of the year all their turreted Stuarts had gone. After GOODWOOD, they disbanded the AA Troop. The Fifes went further prior to GOODWOOD, removing all their Stuarts’ turrets, and training the underutilized Crusader AA tanks in recce work. (Sellar 165) 3rd RTR’s recce troop had removed some, possibly all of their Stuart turrets. Other formations did not follow suit – once again Guards Armoured Division proved less willing to abuse the property of the King.

Armoured Squadron (3 per Regiment)

HQ Troop	4 x Sherman (75mm or some Fireflies)
		1 x Jeep
		1 x Sherman ARV1
(Armoured Recovery Vehicle)
1 x half-track ambulance
Armoured Troop (4 per Squadron, designated ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’, & ‘D’)
		3 x Sherman V (75mm)
		1 x Sherman VC (17 pounder Firefly)

Notes:

1. Sherman ARV1 was a turretless tank capable of towing only (no winch or lifting gear).

2. The earlier arrangement of five troops with three tanks each was altered as Firefly tanks became available in February, 1944. Allocated fifteen Fireflies per regiment, 29th Brigade decided to allocate five per squadron: one per four-tank troop and one to squadron HQ. (Other brigades sometimes decided to form whole troops of Fireflies; in some some situations, Fireflies with their longer effective range acted as rearguards covering withdrawing 75mm Shermans.) As numbers of Fireflies increased later in the NW Europe campaign, troops increasingly contained 2 x Fireflies and 2 x 75mm gun tanks.

MOTOR BATTALION (8 RB)

HQ		1 x Humber scout car
HQ Company		1 x carrier
		1 x command half-track
		1 x ambulance half-track
		20+ soft-skin lorries
	Signals Platoon	3 x half-tracks
Support Company (In 8 RB designated ‘E’)		1 x command half-track
	Antitank Platoon (3 per battalion)
	4 x Loyd carriers
		2 x 6 pounder antitank guns
	Machine Gun Platoon (2 per battalion)
		4 x carriers with Vickers MG (mounted on engine cover)
Motor Company (3 per battalion, in 8 RB designated ‘F’, ‘G’, & ‘H’)
	HQ Platoon	1 x Universal carrier
		2 x half-tracks
		2 x Universal carriers with 3” mortars (for dismounted fire)
		2 x Humber scout cars
Carrier (or Scout) Platoon (1 per company)
	11 x Universal carriers
		(section 2 i/c with 2” mortars mounted in fighting compartment)
Motor Platoon (3 per company)	4 x half-track

Notes:

1.Though confusingly referred to as ‘8th Rifle Brigade’, this was shorthand for 8th Battalion, the Rifle Brigade.

2. Though armoured and more heavily armed than lorried or ‘leg’ infantry, motor battalions suffered greatly from the low proportion of riflemen in the unit, the rest being specialists such as drivers, weapons crews, and technicians.

3. Early in the Normandy campaign (indeed, before their first battle) 8 RB had already begun to acquire and fit extra weapons to their vehicles, in particular 0.5 calibre Browning machine guns discarded by tank squadrons.

SELF-PROPELLED FIELD REGIMENT RA (13 RHA)

HQ
	Command Troop	2 to 4 x Sherman tanks
		1 x half-track
		1 x 15cwt office
	Survey Troop	4 x jeeps
	Admin Troop	soft skins and 15cwt water bowser
Battery (3 per regiment: in 13 RHA these were ‘G’, ‘H’, & ‘I’ Btty, RA)
	Command Troop	1 x 75mm Sherman tank
		1 x jeep
	Signal Troop	5 x half-track
	Ammunition Troop	3 x 3 ton lorry
	Troop (2 per Battery: in 13 RHA ‘A’ & ‘B’ = G Btty; ‘C’ & ‘D’ = H; ‘E’ & ‘F’ = I)
		1 x jeep
		1 x 75mm Sherman tank
		1 x half-track
		1 X carrier
	Section (2 per Troop)	2 x Sexton 25 pounder sp

Notes:

1. In Normandy, the colonel’s Sherman tank (only) had a dummy gun, with a wooden barrel, leaving internal space for maps and radios. The regimental commander usually accompanied the armoured brigade Tac Headquarters, in contact with the brigade commander.

2. Three battery officers (the battery major and two troop captains) would usually be forward, in their 75mm gun tanks, with the tank regiment commander and the squadrons being supported. In theory the third (i.e., junior) captain was in charge of the gun positions, though in practice this was often rotated, all captains sharing the experience (and danger) of the Forward Observation Officer role. Note that in a towed Field Regiment, battery commanders in Normandy typically had half-tracks, not tanks, putting them at some disadvantage when they had to perform a FOO role.

3. After Normandy, FOOs and tanks were increased by one captain/tank per battery. FOOs’ Sherman tanks were increasingly involved in actual combat as the north-western Europe campaign progressed. (11th Armoured Division’s towed regiment, the Ayrshire Yeomanry, later had their Shermans replaced by Cromwells from tank regiments reequipped with the new Comet tank; they also received tanks for their battery majors).

4. Battery half-tracks usually had pulpit-mounted .50 cal machine guns.

5. Other vehicles varied constantly due to breakdown and ‘acquisition’.

ANTITANK REGIMENT, RA (75 AT)

HQ		8 x jeeps
Self-Propelled Battery (x 2: 117 & 119 Btty, RA)		6 x jeeps
	Troop (3 per Battery: ‘A’,’B’,& ‘C’ = 117 Btty and ‘G’,’H’,& ‘I’ = 119)
		1 x carrier / cmmnd tank
	Section (2 per Troop)	2 x M10 tank destroyers
Towed Battery (x 2: 118 & 338 Btty, RA)		6 x jeeps
	Troop (3 per Battery: ‘D’,’E’, & ‘F’ = 118 Btty and ‘J’,’K’,& ‘L’ = 338)
	Section (2 per Troop)	2 x 17 pounder a/tk gun

Notes:

1. By 1944 most antitank regiments had standardized on 48 guns divided between 4 batteries, but equipments varied widely. Some batteries retained 6 pounder guns, mainly those supporting infantry divisions.

2. SP troop commanders found carriers unsatisfactory as command vehicles. By July these were being replaced by tanks, usually turretless Crusaders or redundant Crusader AA tanks.

3. Although generally the SP batteries supported 29th Armoured Brigade and the towed guns 159 Infantry Brigade, nevertheless Batteries were assigned very flexibly, and sometimes outside the division. On 18 July, the SP batteries spent time accompanying companies of 8 RB, and covering 29th Brigade and Division TAC HQs.

4. The self-propelled batteries of 75 AT Rgt. were exclusively M10 ‘Achilles’ (17 pounder main armament and externally mounted Browning .50 calibre antiaircraft machine gun). (Some other regiments had batteries of M10 ‘Wolverine’ with a somewhat inferior American three inch naval gun.) The towed batteries found their wheeled tractors generally unsatisfactory for towing heavy 17 pounder guns. Troops improvised half-tracks and even redundant Crusaders as towing vehicles, and some eventually received purpose-built Crusader Gun Tractors.