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7th Armoured Brigade (United Kingdom)

March 06, 2023

The 7th Armoured Brigade was an armoured brigade formation of the British Army. The brigade is also known as the "Desert Rats", a nickname formerly held by the 7th Armoured Division, of which the brigade formed a part of during the Second World War until late 1941.[1]

Light Armoured Brigade (Egypt)
7th Light Armoured Brigade
7th Armoured Brigade
7th Armoured Brigade formation badge; first (left) and second (right) type.
Active1938–2014
Country United Kingdom
Branch British Army
TypeArmoured
SizeBrigade
Part of7th Armoured Division
1st Armoured Division
Nickname(s)The Green Rats
The Desert Rats
Motto(s)"All of one company"
EngagementsWestern Desert campaign, Burma campaign, Italian campaign, Iraq War, War in Afghanistan

History

The brigade was raised from garrison troops stationed in North Africa in 1938.[1] It was initially known as the Light Armoured Brigade which was part of the Mobile Division in Egypt.[2]

When the Mobile Division became 7th Armoured Division, the Light Armoured Brigade became the 7th Armoured Brigade in February 1940. The 7th Armoured Division had a red jerboa (a nocturnal rodent indigenous to North Africa) as its emblem and became known as "The Desert Rats". The 7th Armoured Brigade, meanwhile, had a green jerboa as its emblem. The 7th Brigade became known as the "Green Rats" or the "Jungle Rats" after it moved to Burma in 1942.[2]

Second World War

The Second World War broke out in September 1939, with both Britain and France declaring war on Germany after the German Army invaded Poland. Italy launched an invasion of Egypt, then a British Protectorate, shortly after entering the war on Germany's side in June 1940. The brigade fought in many of the major battles in North Africa, including Operation Crusader in November, fighting at Sidi Rezegh to try to relieve the Commonwealth forces in the port of Tobruk, besieged by Axis forces.[1]

 
Two Sherman tanks of the 6th Royal Tank Regiment in action against German machine gun positions on the walls of San Marino, during the Battle of San Marino, September 1944.

It moved to fight in the Burma campaign in early 1942 just as the Imperial Japanese Army were pushing the Allies back. The brigade took part in the fighting retreat to India, successfully completed in May just before the monsoons would have cut them off.[1] The 7th Armoured Brigade returned to the Middle East in 1943, based in Iraq and later Egypt. With Axis forces defeated in North Africa, the brigade's time was a quiet one until it moved to the Italian Front in April 1944 where it remained for the duration of the Second World War; fighting as part of I Canadian Corps, itself part of the British Eighth Army.[1] The brigade, now composed of the 2nd, 6th and 8th Royal Tank Regiments, fought in the final stages of the Battle of Monte Cassino and later the Gothic Line and in Operation Grapeshot, the final offensive in Italy.

Post–Second World War

 
The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (C Squadron) during live fire training exercises on Bergen-Hohne Training Area (Germany) near the Fallingbostel station

Reformation

 
Sign at the Celle Station of the 7th Armoured Brigade, 2012

Shortly after the end of the Second World War, the 7th Armoured Brigade was disbanded and the 22nd Armoured Brigade was re-designated as the 7th Armoured Brigade, based in Germany as part of the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR).[2]

After the 7th Armoured Division was disbanded in 1958 the 7th Armoured Brigade adopted its insignia and nickname, perpetuating the history of the famed division.[1] It was one of two "square brigades" assigned to 1st (UK) Armoured Division when this was formed in 1976.[3] After being briefly converted to "Task Force Alpha" in the late 1970s, the brigade was reinstated in 1981,[4] assigned to the 1st Armoured Division again[5] and was based at Bournemouth Barracks in Soltau.[6]

Kuwait and Iraq

The 7th Armoured Brigade returned to the desert when it arrived in Saudi Arabia in October 1990 as part of Operation Granby, intended to protect Saudi Arabia from invasion by Saddam Hussein's Iraq. The brigade, commanded by Brigadier Patrick Cordingley, later took part in the Coalition of the Gulf War ground campaign to liberate Iraqi-occupied Kuwait on 24 February 1991 that began after a sustained air campaign.[7] The Desert Rats, along with the rest of the 1st Armoured Division, carried out a left-hook manoeuvre that swung round the Iraqi Republican Guard. The brigade advanced deep into Iraqi territory, encountering some armour of the Republican Guard. The ground campaign formally ended on 28 February with the liberation of Kuwait achieved.[8]

Balkans

The brigade moved to Campbell Barracks at Hohne in 1993.[9] From there the brigade deployed to Bosnia in May 1994 as part of the NATO IFOR peacekeeping organisation. The brigade returned for another tour-of-duty in April 1997, joining IFOR's NATO replacement known as SFOR. After the Kosovo War in 1999, the 7th Armoured Brigade returned to the Balkans for a tour-of-duty in Kosovo in 2000, based in the capital Pristina.[10]

Iraq

Just before Operation Telic began (Britain's contribution to the 2003 invasion of Iraq), the brigade, commanded by Brigadier Graham Binns, moved to Kuwait where it undertook extensive training and was "desertised" for service in the Middle East. The brigade, consisting of 112 Challenger 2 tanks, 140 Warriors and 32 AS-90 155 mm self-propelled howitzers, entered Iraq on 21 March. The main objective of the Desert Rats was to advance towards Iraq's second largest city, Basra, and help encircle and isolate it. The brigade, led by the 1st Fusiliers Battlegroup, made a rapid advance towards the city and soon reached its outskirts, securing Basra Airport and the critical bridges across the Shatt al-Arab. The advance by the brigade met sporadic though fierce resistance, with The Queen's Royal Irish Hussars, including an engagement between 14 Challenger 2s of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards and 14 Iraqi tanks, all of the Iraqi tanks being destroyed; it was the largest tank engagement by the British Army since the Second World War. Initially the brigade was faced by very spirited but un-coordinated attacks from Basra and in the town of Az Zubayr. These attacks were initially orchestrated by members of the Iraqi secret police, who used violence and threats against family members to coerce men to attack the Desert Rats and other elements of the 1st Armoured Division. As their influence waned, so did the frequency and ferocity of the Iraqi attacks.[11]

The 1st Armoured Division, including 7th Brigade, then undertook a number of raids into the city against specific targets, but in a plan that was very patient bided their time on the outskirts of Basra. On 6 April the Desert Rats, led by Challenger 2s of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, Queen's Royal Lancers and 2nd Royal Tank Regiment with Warriors of the 1st Fusiliers, Irish Guards and Black Watch pushed into the city on 6 April and stayed. They met sporadic resistance from Iraqi soldiers and irregulars known as Fedayeen. Basra was, for the most part, now controlled by 1st Division though further engagements did take place. The war was officially declared over on 1 May. The Desert Rats remained in Iraq after the war, acting as peacekeepers and helping to rebuild the country while based in the British sector in the south of Iraq. The brigade began to leave in late June 2003, being replaced by 19th Mechanised Brigade.[12]

Between October 2005 and May 2006 the brigade deployed to Iraq again for Operation Telic 7 under the command of Brigadier Patrick Marriott.[13]

Afghanistan

In 2011, some elements of the brigade deployed to Afghanistan.[14] In October 2013, 7th Armored Brigade deployed to Afghanistan's Helmand Province, Kandahar, and Kabul.[15]

Reorganization

On 5 March 2013, the British Secretary of State for Defence, Philip Hammond, announced that the 7th Armoured Brigade would have its Challenger 2 tanks and heavy armoured battalions removed over the next decade. Although the brigade itself was re-designated as an infantry brigade, it retains its famed "Desert Rats" insignia.[16] It forms part of the Adaptable Force under Army 2020.[17][18] The decision was met with regret by former 7th Armoured Brigade commander Patrick Cordingley, who said that the "changes would still dismay veterans and the general public".[19] On 14 November 2014, the brigade formally stepped out of its armour role into that of an infantry brigade as 7th Infantry Brigade.[20]

Brigade composition

Circa 2007

The composition was as follows:[21]

Brigade commanders

Commanders have included:[22]

See also

Citations

  1. ^ a b c d e f 7th Armoured Brigade at www.army.mod.uk accessed on 21 Sep 09. 21 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ a b c "History of the British 7th Armoured Brigade – Green Jerboa". Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  3. ^ Watson, Graham (2005). The British Army in Germany: An Organisational History 1947–2004. Tiger Lily. p. 95. ISBN 9780972029698.
  4. ^ Watson, p. 76
  5. ^ Black, Harvey (29 April 2014). "The Cold War Years. A Hot War in reality. Part 6".
  6. ^ "Bournemouth Barracks". BAOR Locations. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  7. ^ See Patrick Cordingley, "Eye of the Storm: Commanding 7th Armoured Brigade in the Gulf War."
  8. ^ Queen's Dragoon Guards 10 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine Gulf War
  9. ^ "Campbell Barracks". BAOR Locations. Retrieved 22 October 2015.
  10. ^ Fact file: 7th Armoured Brigade BBC, 20 January 2003
  11. ^ British troops move into Basra The Guardian, 7 April 2003
  12. ^ Carney, Stephen A. (30 September 2011). "Allied Participation in Operation Iraqi Freedom" (PDF). Center of Military History, United States Army. p. 120.
  13. ^ MARRIOTT, Major-General Patrick Claude in Who's Who 2011 online at ukwhoswho.com (accessed 20 February 2011)
  14. ^ "7th Armoured Brigade (United Kingdom)" (PDF). Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  15. ^ "7th Armoured Brigade to deploy to Afghanistan". Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  16. ^ "Desert Rats 'will live on'". Archived from the original on 10 April 2013.
  17. ^ "Desert Rats to lose armoured role". Irish Independent. 6 March 2013. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  18. ^ "Desert Rats lose tanks in cutbacks". Daily Express. 6 March 2013. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  19. ^ "Famed Desert Rats to lose their tanks under Army cuts". The Daily Telegraph. 5 March 2013. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  20. ^ . Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom). 14 November 2014. Archived from the original on 17 December 2014. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  21. ^ . Ministry of Defence. Archived from the original on 5 April 2008. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  22. ^ Army Commands 5 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine

General sources

  • Watson, Graham (2005). The British Army in Germany: An Organizational History 1947–2004. Tiger Lily. ISBN 978-0972029698.

External links

  • on British Army official website

March 06, 2023
armoured, brigade, united, kingdom, armoured, brigade, armoured, brigade, formation, british, army, brigade, also, known, desert, rats, nickname, formerly, held, armoured, division, which, brigade, formed, part, during, second, world, until, late, 1941, light,. The 7th Armoured Brigade was an armoured brigade formation of the British Army The brigade is also known as the Desert Rats a nickname formerly held by the 7th Armoured Division of which the brigade formed a part of during the Second World War until late 1941 1 Light Armoured Brigade Egypt 7th Light Armoured Brigade7th Armoured Brigade7th Armoured Brigade formation badge first left and second right type Active1938 2014Country United KingdomBranch British ArmyTypeArmouredSizeBrigadePart of7th Armoured Division1st Armoured DivisionNickname s The Green RatsThe Desert RatsMotto s All of one company EngagementsWestern Desert campaign Burma campaign Italian campaign Iraq War War in Afghanistan Contents 1 History 1 1 Second World War 1 2 Post Second World War 1 2 1 Reformation 1 2 2 Kuwait and Iraq 1 2 3 Balkans 1 2 4 Iraq 1 2 5 Afghanistan 1 2 6 Reorganization 2 Brigade composition 2 1 Circa 2007 3 Brigade commanders 4 See also 5 Citations 6 General sources 7 External linksHistory EditThe brigade was raised from garrison troops stationed in North Africa in 1938 1 It was initially known as the Light Armoured Brigade which was part of the Mobile Division in Egypt 2 When the Mobile Division became 7th Armoured Division the Light Armoured Brigade became the 7th Armoured Brigade in February 1940 The 7th Armoured Division had a red jerboa a nocturnal rodent indigenous to North Africa as its emblem and became known as The Desert Rats The 7th Armoured Brigade meanwhile had a green jerboa as its emblem The 7th Brigade became known as the Green Rats or the Jungle Rats after it moved to Burma in 1942 2 Second World War Edit The Second World War broke out in September 1939 with both Britain and France declaring war on Germany after the German Army invaded Poland Italy launched an invasion of Egypt then a British Protectorate shortly after entering the war on Germany s side in June 1940 The brigade fought in many of the major battles in North Africa including Operation Crusader in November fighting at Sidi Rezegh to try to relieve the Commonwealth forces in the port of Tobruk besieged by Axis forces 1 Two Sherman tanks of the 6th Royal Tank Regiment in action against German machine gun positions on the walls of San Marino during the Battle of San Marino September 1944 It moved to fight in the Burma campaign in early 1942 just as the Imperial Japanese Army were pushing the Allies back The brigade took part in the fighting retreat to India successfully completed in May just before the monsoons would have cut them off 1 The 7th Armoured Brigade returned to the Middle East in 1943 based in Iraq and later Egypt With Axis forces defeated in North Africa the brigade s time was a quiet one until it moved to the Italian Front in April 1944 where it remained for the duration of the Second World War fighting as part of I Canadian Corps itself part of the British Eighth Army 1 The brigade now composed of the 2nd 6th and 8th Royal Tank Regiments fought in the final stages of the Battle of Monte Cassino and later the Gothic Line and in Operation Grapeshot the final offensive in Italy Post Second World War Edit The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards C Squadron during live fire training exercises on Bergen Hohne Training Area Germany near the Fallingbostel station Reformation Edit Sign at the Celle Station of the 7th Armoured Brigade 2012 Shortly after the end of the Second World War the 7th Armoured Brigade was disbanded and the 22nd Armoured Brigade was re designated as the 7th Armoured Brigade based in Germany as part of the British Army of the Rhine BAOR 2 After the 7th Armoured Division was disbanded in 1958 the 7th Armoured Brigade adopted its insignia and nickname perpetuating the history of the famed division 1 It was one of two square brigades assigned to 1st UK Armoured Division when this was formed in 1976 3 After being briefly converted to Task Force Alpha in the late 1970s the brigade was reinstated in 1981 4 assigned to the 1st Armoured Division again 5 and was based at Bournemouth Barracks in Soltau 6 Kuwait and Iraq Edit The 7th Armoured Brigade returned to the desert when it arrived in Saudi Arabia in October 1990 as part of Operation Granby intended to protect Saudi Arabia from invasion by Saddam Hussein s Iraq The brigade commanded by Brigadier Patrick Cordingley later took part in the Coalition of the Gulf War ground campaign to liberate Iraqi occupied Kuwait on 24 February 1991 that began after a sustained air campaign 7 The Desert Rats along with the rest of the 1st Armoured Division carried out a left hook manoeuvre that swung round the Iraqi Republican Guard The brigade advanced deep into Iraqi territory encountering some armour of the Republican Guard The ground campaign formally ended on 28 February with the liberation of Kuwait achieved 8 Balkans Edit The brigade moved to Campbell Barracks at Hohne in 1993 9 From there the brigade deployed to Bosnia in May 1994 as part of the NATO IFOR peacekeeping organisation The brigade returned for another tour of duty in April 1997 joining IFOR s NATO replacement known as SFOR After the Kosovo War in 1999 the 7th Armoured Brigade returned to the Balkans for a tour of duty in Kosovo in 2000 based in the capital Pristina 10 Iraq Edit Just before Operation Telic began Britain s contribution to the 2003 invasion of Iraq the brigade commanded by Brigadier Graham Binns moved to Kuwait where it undertook extensive training and was desertised for service in the Middle East The brigade consisting of 112 Challenger 2 tanks 140 Warriors and 32 AS 90 155 mm self propelled howitzers entered Iraq on 21 March The main objective of the Desert Rats was to advance towards Iraq s second largest city Basra and help encircle and isolate it The brigade led by the 1st Fusiliers Battlegroup made a rapid advance towards the city and soon reached its outskirts securing Basra Airport and the critical bridges across the Shatt al Arab The advance by the brigade met sporadic though fierce resistance with The Queen s Royal Irish Hussars including an engagement between 14 Challenger 2s of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards and 14 Iraqi tanks all of the Iraqi tanks being destroyed it was the largest tank engagement by the British Army since the Second World War Initially the brigade was faced by very spirited but un coordinated attacks from Basra and in the town of Az Zubayr These attacks were initially orchestrated by members of the Iraqi secret police who used violence and threats against family members to coerce men to attack the Desert Rats and other elements of the 1st Armoured Division As their influence waned so did the frequency and ferocity of the Iraqi attacks 11 The 1st Armoured Division including 7th Brigade then undertook a number of raids into the city against specific targets but in a plan that was very patient bided their time on the outskirts of Basra On 6 April the Desert Rats led by Challenger 2s of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Queen s Royal Lancers and 2nd Royal Tank Regiment with Warriors of the 1st Fusiliers Irish Guards and Black Watch pushed into the city on 6 April and stayed They met sporadic resistance from Iraqi soldiers and irregulars known as Fedayeen Basra was for the most part now controlled by 1st Division though further engagements did take place The war was officially declared over on 1 May The Desert Rats remained in Iraq after the war acting as peacekeepers and helping to rebuild the country while based in the British sector in the south of Iraq The brigade began to leave in late June 2003 being replaced by 19th Mechanised Brigade 12 Between October 2005 and May 2006 the brigade deployed to Iraq again for Operation Telic 7 under the command of Brigadier Patrick Marriott 13 Afghanistan Edit In 2011 some elements of the brigade deployed to Afghanistan 14 In October 2013 7th Armored Brigade deployed to Afghanistan s Helmand Province Kandahar and Kabul 15 Reorganization Edit On 5 March 2013 the British Secretary of State for Defence Philip Hammond announced that the 7th Armoured Brigade would have its Challenger 2 tanks and heavy armoured battalions removed over the next decade Although the brigade itself was re designated as an infantry brigade it retains its famed Desert Rats insignia 16 It forms part of the Adaptable Force under Army 2020 17 18 The decision was met with regret by former 7th Armoured Brigade commander Patrick Cordingley who said that the changes would still dismay veterans and the general public 19 On 14 November 2014 the brigade formally stepped out of its armour role into that of an infantry brigade as 7th Infantry Brigade 20 Brigade composition EditCirca 2007 Edit The composition was as follows 21 207 Signal Squadron Royal Corps of Signals 9th 12th Royal Lancers Royal Scots Dragoon Guards 1st Battalion Royal Regiment of Fusiliers 4th Battalion Royal Regiment of Scotland 3rd Regiment Royal Horse Artillery 32 Engineer Regiment Royal Engineers 2 Logistic Support Regiment RLC 29 Armored Combat Support Medical Squadron Royal Army Medical Corps 2nd Battalion Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers 111 Provost Company Royal Military PoliceBrigade commanders EditCommanders have included 22 1941 1942 Brigadier John Anstice 1943 1945 Brigadier Otho Prior Palmer 1945 1946 Brigadier Kenneth Cooper 1947 1949 Brigadier Reginald Harding 1950 1953 Brigadier Ralph Younger 1964 1965 Brigadier Ian Gill 1965 1967 Brigadier Richard Worsley 1968 1970 Brigadier Robert Ford 1972 1973 Brigadier Ian Baker 1973 1975 Brigadier Martin Farndale 1976 1977 Brigadier Norman Arthur 1977 1980 Brigadier Patrick Palmer 1980 1982 Brigadier Anthony Mullens 1982 1984 Brigadier Richard Swinburn 1984 1986 Brigadier Richard Barron 1986 1988 Brigadier Christopher Wallace 1990 1991 Brigadier Patrick Cordingley 1991 1993 Brigadier Timothy Sulivan 1993 Brigadier John Kiszely 1993 1994 Brigadier Andrew Ridgway 1996 1999 Brigadier Andrew Stewart 1998 2000 Brigadier Richard Shirreff 2001 2003 Brigadier Graham Binns 2003 2005 Brigadier Adrian Bradshaw 2005 2007 Brigadier Patrick Marriott 2007 2009 Brigadier Sandy Storrie 2009 2011 Brigadier Nick Welch 2011 2013 Brigadier Paul Nanson 2013 2014 Brigadier James WoodhamSee also Edit United Kingdom portal War portal World War II portal4th Armoured Brigade British armoured formations of World War II List of British brigades of the Second World WarCitations Edit a b c d e f 7th Armoured Brigade at www army mod uk accessed on 21 Sep 09 Archived 21 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine a b c History of the British 7th Armoured Brigade Green Jerboa Retrieved 20 December 2014 Watson Graham 2005 The British Army in Germany An Organisational History 1947 2004 Tiger Lily p 95 ISBN 9780972029698 Watson p 76 Black Harvey 29 April 2014 The Cold War Years A Hot War in reality Part 6 Bournemouth Barracks BAOR Locations Retrieved 31 October 2015 See Patrick Cordingley Eye of the Storm Commanding 7th Armoured Brigade in the Gulf War Queen s Dragoon Guards Archived 10 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine Gulf War Campbell Barracks BAOR Locations Retrieved 22 October 2015 Fact file 7th Armoured Brigade BBC 20 January 2003 British troops move into Basra The Guardian 7 April 2003 Carney Stephen A 30 September 2011 Allied Participation in Operation Iraqi Freedom PDF Center of Military History United States Army p 120 MARRIOTT Major General Patrick Claude in Who s Who 2011 online at ukwhoswho com accessed 20 February 2011 7th Armoured Brigade United Kingdom PDF Retrieved 20 December 2014 7th Armoured Brigade to deploy to Afghanistan Retrieved 20 December 2014 Desert Rats will live on Archived from the original on 10 April 2013 Desert Rats to lose armoured role Irish Independent 6 March 2013 Retrieved 23 November 2014 Desert Rats lose tanks in cutbacks Daily Express 6 March 2013 Retrieved 23 November 2014 Famed Desert Rats to lose their tanks under Army cuts The Daily Telegraph 5 March 2013 Retrieved 23 November 2014 Desert Rats formally leave armoured role Ministry of Defence United Kingdom 14 November 2014 Archived from the original on 17 December 2014 Retrieved 23 November 2014 7th Armoured Brigade Ministry of Defence Archived from the original on 5 April 2008 Retrieved 24 September 2018 Army Commands Archived 5 July 2015 at the Wayback MachineGeneral sources EditWatson Graham 2005 The British Army in Germany An Organizational History 1947 2004 Tiger Lily ISBN 978 0972029698 External links Edit7th Armoured Brigade on British Army official website Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 7th Armoured Brigade United Kingdom amp oldid 1074664799, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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