The British 1st Armoured Division is the title of an armoured division of the British Army. The division has been formed, disbanded and reformed a number of times. It saw extensive service during World War II, was disbanded afterward, was reconstituted in 1976, and remains in service today.
The 1st Armoured Division was a regular division in the British Army at the outbreak of World War II. It had formerly been designated The Mobile Division. It first saw service in incomplete form under the second British Expeditionary Force sent to France in 1940. It landed in France on 14 April 1940 and was evacuated on 16 June having seen service south of the River Somme, isolated from the other British formations.
For the rest of 1940 and up until 27 August 1941 the Division was stationed in the United Kingdom on anti-invasion duties. It then embarked for Egypt under the command of Major General Herbert Lumsden. Arriving in Egypt on 13 November1941 it took part in many of the major battles of the later part of the campaign against Rommel including Gazala, Mersa Matruh, 1st El Alamein, 2nd El Alamein, Tebaga Gap, Akarit, El Kourzia and Tunis.
From the end of the Tunisian campaign the division remained in North Africa until May 1944. It then transferred to Italy, fighting one last battle at Coriano before ceasing to be an operational unit on 28 October. The division was disbanded on 1 January1945.
The post-war period
The unit was deployed in Palestine 1945 – 48; Libya 1948 – 51; Egypt 1951 – 55.
It was not until 1976 that the Division re-emerged in the British Army. It was reformed by the redesignation of the British 1st Infantry Division, and has been stationed in Germany ever since as part of the British forces committed to NATO. The 1st (UK) Armoured Division is currently the only British division to be stationed in Germany. The Headquarter is stationed in Herford.
Divisional formations and units have deployed on many other operations such as internal security in Northern Ireland, The Falkland Islands, Belize and United Nations tours in Cyprus, Bosnia and Kosovo. The Divisional Headquarters itself has also taken its full share of operational deployment in command of the Multi-National Division (South West) in Bosnia in 1996 – 97 and 1998 – 99.
The headquarters of the division was deployed to Saudi Arabia in 1990 to command British land forces. It had two brigades under its command, 4th and 7th Armoured Brigade. During the war it came under the US VII Corps and was part of the great armoured left-hook that destroyed many Iraqi Republican Guard formations. The two brigades in the division alternated heading the advance.
In 1993 the 1st Armoured Division was disbanded and the 1st (UK) Armoured Division formed from the 4th (UK Armoured Division
The Division headquarters again deployed to the Gulf area in 2003. It again commanded British forces in the area, this time with three full brigades under its control. Those were 7th Armoured Brigade again, along with 16th Air Assault Brigade, and 3rd Commando Brigade. In a combined arms operation the division secured southern Iraq, including the city of Basra during the invasion. It came under I Marine Expeditionary Force during the 2003 conflict.
Organisation
Present day
The following brigades make up the 1 (United Kingdom) Armoured Division.
