British Expeditionary Force Armoured Units
When the BEF went to France in late 1939, early 1940, it included in its ranks a variety of armoured Regiments and Battalions. These units saw action for around a month before the survivors were evacuated from Dunkirk, leaving all their armoured fighting and soft-skin vehicles behind them. The units reformed in their place adopted very different organisations from those used in France once new equipment became available, largely during 1941, but their earlier incarnations are still of interest.
Heavy Armoured Regiment or Battalion, circa 1939 to 1940
Regimental Headquarters (5 Officers, 16 men)
Headquarter Squadron (5 Officers, 124 men)
Squadron HQ (1 Officer, 4 men)
Intercommunication Troop (1 Officer, 23 men)
Administrative Troop (3 Officers, 97 men)
Three Squadrons (7 Officers, 145 men), each comprised of;
Squadron HQ (2 Officers, 92 men)
Light Half-Squadron (3 Officers, 25 men)
Heavy Half-Squadron (2 Officers, 28 men)
Total strength of 606 all ranks (31 Officers, 575 men)
Light Armoured Regiment, circa 1939 to 1940
Regimental Headquarters (5 Officers, 12 men)
Headquarter Squadron (5 Officers, 118 men)
Squadron HQ (1 Officer, 3 men)
Intercommunication Troop (1 Officer, 23 men)
Administrative Troop (3 Officers, 92 men)
Light Cruiser Squadron (5 Officers, 140 men)
Squadron HQ (2 Officers, 83 men)
Five Troops, each comprised of (1 Officer or NCO and 11 men)
Two Light Tank Squadrons (5 Officers, 112 men), each comprised of;
Squadron HQ (2 Officers, 70 men)
Five Troops, each comprised of (1 Officer or NCO and 8 men)
Total strength of 519 all ranks (25 Officers, 494 men)
Points of note
1st Armoured Division was only deployed in full to France after the beginning of the German offensive and had one Light and one Heavy Brigade, each of three Regiments or Battalions of the appropriate model. In early May it had already been agreed that the large numbers of light tanks should be removed, and a new regimental organisation based on fifty-two cruiser tanks was drafted. However, there was no opportunity for this to be enacted before the Division crossed the Channel for its first meeting with the Wehrmacht.
The elements of the Regiment
Regimental Headquarters - both types of HQ deployed four tanks. In the Light RHQ these were all light cruiser tanks, in the Heavy RHQ there were two light cruisers and two close support cruisers. Staff was the usual Commanding Officer, Second in command, Adjutant, and Intelligence Officer, plus a Subaltern acting as a de facto Troop commander for the tanks.
Intercommunication Troop - operated twelve Daimler scout cars, each with a two man crew, and where available a Bren gun.
The (Heavy Regiment) Squadron - one of the more convoluted organisations used by the British Army, the Squadrons of the Heavy Regiments were split between a Light and Heavy 'half squadron', each with its own HQ element.
The Light Half-Squadron consisted of a HQ tank commanding three Troops, each of two tanks. All seven machines were light cruisers quoted as having four man crews. This would indicate the intended tank was the A13, which seated a commander, gunner, loader and driver, and mounted a 2 pdr main gun with coaxial machine gun. However, the earlier A9 was also in service. The A9 differed by virtue of having a six man crew, the two extra troopers manning the small machine gun turrets that flanked the driver's position. It does appear that the A13 was the more prevalent, with the A9s perhaps seeing use as HQ tanks, though given the equipment shortages of the time they may well have been in the fighting squadrons. The HQ tank and one each in the first and second Troops were commanded by officers, the third Troop by a Warrant Officer Class III, the other tanks by Sergeants.
The Heavy Half-Squadron also had a single HQ tank, with two Troops each of two tanks. Here again there was room for variation, with each tank quoted as having a six man crew suggesting the A9. However, the third type of cruiser tank used was the A10, which seated a five man crew of commander, gunner, loader, driver and machine gunner. It, like the A9 and A13, mounted a 2 pdr gun with both coaxial and hull mounted machine guns, and had much heavier armour than either of the other tanks. Given the application of the term 'heavy', the A10 may well have been used in this subunit.
Squadron HQ was divided into fighting and administrative elements, the latter swelled by some thirty plus relief drivers for the tanks. They may well have helped to account for the variations in crews of the three tanks mentioned above, as drivers could also act as machine gunners. The fighting portion fielded two close support tanks for the Major and Captain, either A9 or A10 types armed with a 3 inch howitzer in place of the 2 pdr, and one light cruiser for the Squadron Sergeant Major.
The Light Cruiser Squadron - slightly less complicated, but still with many provisos, the Light Tank Squadrons operated five Troops.
Each Troop had three tanks, commanded by a Subaltern, Sergeant and Corporal respectively, two Troops substituting a WOIII for the officer. Again the given crew was four men, suggesting the A13. Squadron HQ added another three light cruisers, having no close support tanks.
The Light Tank Squadron - the Light Tank followed the same organisation as given above for the Light Cruiser Squadron.
The light tank of the day was the Vickers Mark VI, a small vehicle with a three man crew of commander, gunner and driver. Armament could be either a .50 cal Vickers with coaxial .303 machine gun, or a 15 mm Besa with 7.92 mm Besa machine gun, the latter arrangement sporting a much longer barrel. The Vickers was really nothing more than a tracked armoured car, but was increasingly used to offset the shortfall of cruisers, a role for which it was wholly unequipped. The light tanks were to be removed from the Armoured Regiments, however they made up nearly half of 1st Armoured Division's tanks in May 1940. One real puzzler is that the WE table refers to the light tanks as having 2 pdr armament, and may have anticipated the eventual withdrawal of the light tanks.
A Divisional Cavalry Regiment, circa 1939 to 1940
Regimental Headquarters (5 Officers, 21 men)
Headquarter Squadron (5 Officers, 101 men)
Squadron HQ (1 Officer, 4 men)
Motorcycle Troop (1 Officer, 40 men)
Administrative Troop (3 Officers, 57 men)
Three Squadrons (4 Officers, 100 men), each comprised of;
Squadron HQ (2 Officers, 32 men)
Two Light Tank Troops, each (1 Officer or NCO, 12 men)
Four Carrier Troops, each (1 Officer or NCO, 10 men)
Total strength of 444 all ranks (22 Officers, 422 men)
Points of note
The Divisional Cavalry Regiment, as its title implies, was meant to provide a reconnaissance unit for the Infantry Divisions of the BEF. In the event, four of the seven regiments present were removed to form the short-lived Armoured Reconnaissance Brigades, two in each, with the remaining three staying in their Divisions. They were though Cavalry Regiments, and so are included here rather than under the Armoured Reconnaissance pages, and also because they operated in their own Brigade structure.
The elements of the Regiment
Regimental Headquarters - RHQ deployed four light tanks and two scout carriers, with the normal command staff.
Motorcycle Troop - intended to provide a pool of motorcyclists for service to the Squadrons, no doubt to act as messengers, but also included the Regimental Police usually found at RHQ.
The Squadron - each Squadron operated both light tanks and scout carriers.
Each Light Tank Troop had three Vickers Mark VI tanks, commanded by a Subaltern, or WOIII in the second Troop, Sergeant and Corporal. There were also four relief crews actually carried in Squadron HQ vehicles.
The Carrier Troops each had three Scout Carriers, with a Subaltern, driver and signaller in the first, NCO, driver and two troopers in the second and third vehicles. A WOIII replaced the officer in three of the Troops. Each carrier was to mount both a Bren gun and an anti-tank rifle. Individual weapons are simply cited as two rifles per carrier, the remaining crew having pistols.
Squadron HQ had two more light tanks and two carriers along with an administrative portion.
Summary
A key problem for British armoured units in the first half of the war was equipment shortages . These were particularly acute in early 1940, and took on nightmarish proportions after Dunkirk. Armoured Regiments tended to deploy a variety of tanks with differing characteristics, making maintenance especially problematic when considering the lamentable reliability of most machines. The excessive reliance on light tanks also diluted the armoured striking power of many Regiments, exacerbated by the dismemberment of 1st Armoured Division which lost its Motor Battalions and field artillery to other duties. Most of the tanks taken to France proved unequal to the task, and none of them made it home. Whilst their loss was not entirely unwelcome, it would take several years to make good the gaps in Britain's armoured forces, with many of the new vehicles coming off American production lines.
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British Divisional Organisations
The United States Armored Battalion