List of commanders of the British 7th Armoured Division

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List of commanders of the British 7th Armoured Division - Wikipedia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mobile Division, Egypt / Mobile Division (Egypt) Armoured Division (Egypt) 7th Armoured Division
Percy Hobart, the first commanding officer of the Mobile Division (Egypt)
Active	1938–1958
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	British Army
Engagements	Second World War

The 7th Armoured Division was an armoured division of the British Army and formed in 1938. The division was commanded by a general officer commanding (GOC), who received orders from a level above him in the chain of command, and then used the forces within the division to undertake the mission assigned. In addition to directing the tactical battle in which the division was involved, the GOC oversaw a staff and the administrative, logistical, medical, training, and discipline concerns of the division.^[1] From its founding to when it was redesignated in the 1950s, the division had 18 permanent GOCs; one of whom was killed and another wounded.

The division was formed in Egypt, from mechanised-cavalry and tank units that were based there, following raising tensions with Italy. In 1939, the Mobile Division was renamed the Armoured Division and then became the 7th Armoured Division a year later. Following the Italian entry into the war, in June 1940, the division skirmished with their opposing forces throughout several engagements. After the Italian invasion of Egypt, a British counterstroke (Operation Compass) was launched in December 1940 and the division was able to help in the destruction of the Italian Tenth Army. Over the following two years, it fought in all the major battles of the back and forth Western Desert campaign. The fighting in the Western Desert saw the death of one commanding officer, Jock Campbell. Following the Second Battle of El Alamein it assisted in the pursuit west and joined in the Tunisian campaign and that fighting resulted in John Harding being wounded. While not selected for the subsequent Allied invasion of Sicily, it did land in mainland Italy for the opening stages of the Italian campaign. Chosen as a veteran formation to bolster the Second Army for Operation Overlord, the division was withdrawn to the UK and then landed in France in June 1944. It then fought in the Battle of Caen, notably at the Battle of Villers-Bocage and during Operation Goodwood. Following the Allied victory in Normandy, the division pushed east across France into the Low Countries, supported Operation Market Garden, and then took part in the Western Allied invasion of Germany.

The division was located in Germany at the end of the war and became part of the British Army of the Rhine. It was temporarily disbanded, when it was turned into a military district although it was soon reactivated. It remained in Germany until it was finally disbanded in 1958. The legacy of the division was maintained by the 7th Armoured Brigade until 2014, when it was reorganised as the 7th Light Mechanised Brigade Combat Team.

General officer commanding

General officer commanding
No.	Appointment date	Rank	General officer commanding	Notes	Source(s)
1	27 September 1938	Major-General	Percy Hobart	The division was formed in the United Kingdom, as the Mobile Division, Egypt / Mobile Division (Egypt).	^[2]^[3]
Acting	16 November 1939	Brigadier	John Caunter		^[3]
2	4 December 1939	Major-General	Michael Creagh	The formation was redesignated as the 7th Armoured Division on 16 February 1940	^[3]
Acting	1 April 1940	Brigadier	John Caunter		^[3]
2	13 April 1940	Major-General	Sir Michael Creagh		^[3]
3	3 September 1941	Major-General	William Gott		^[3]
4	6 February 1942	Major-General	Jock Campbell	Killed in action on 23 February	^[3]
Acting	23 February 1943	Brigadier	Alexander Gatehouse		^[3]
5	9 March 1942	Major-General	Frank Messervy		^[3]
6	19 June 1942	Major-General	James Renton		^[3]
7	14 September 1942	Major-General	John Harding	Harding was wounded in action on 19 January 1943	^[3]
Acting	20 January 1943	Brigadier	Philip Roberts		^[3]
8	24 January 1943	Major-General	George Erskine		^[3]
9	4 August 1944	Major-General	Gerald Verney		^[3]
10	22 November 1944	Major-General	Lewis Lyne	While retaining command of the division, Lyne was also the Commandant of the British sector of occupied Berlin in 1945. In December 1945, Lyne relinquished command of the division.	^[3]^[4]^[5]
11	January 1946	Major-General	Philip Roberts		^[6]^[7]
12	November 1947	Major-General	Philip Balfour	The division was disbanded in March 1948	^[8]^[9]
13	April 1948	Major-General	Euan Miller	The division was reformed from "Hannover District", a military district that had been formed in Germany.	^[10]^[11]^[12]
14	10 May 1949	Major-General	Robert Arkwright		^[13]
15	1 May 1951	Major-General	Charles Jones		^[14]
16	1 December 1953	Major-General	Kenneth Cooper		^[15]
17	24 March 1956	Major-General	John Hackett		^[16]
18	3 February 1958	Major-General	Geoffrey Musson	The division was redesignated as the 5th Division in April 1958. The 7th Armoured Division's history was then transferred to the 7th Armoured Brigade.	^[17]^[18]

Notes

^ Haythornthwaite 2016, The Divisional System.
^ "No. 34557". The London Gazette. 30 September 1938. p. 6140.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o Joslen 2003, p. 19.
^ Murray 1961, p. 235.
^ "British Commander in Berlin". The Times. No. 50232. 28 August 1945. p. 4.
^ Forty 2014, p. 219.
^ "Military Appointments". The Times. No. 50813. 15 July 1947. p. 2.
^ "Military Appointments". The Times. No. 50813. 15 July 1947. p. 2.
^ "The Seventh Armoured Division". The Tank: Journal of the Royal Tank Regiment. 30 (347): 205. March 1948. OCLC 173416953.
^ "The Fifth". The Tank: Journal of the Royal Tank Regiment. 30 (348): 236. April 1948. OCLC 173416953.
^ "No. 38634". The London Gazette (Supplement). 7 June 1949. p. 2843.
^ Kennett 1970, p. 425.
^ "Changes in Army Commands". The Times. No. 51378. 11 May 1949. p. 7., "No. 38634". The London Gazette (Supplement). 7 June 1949. p. 2843., and "No. 39249". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 June 1951. p. 3109.
^ "No. 39249". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 June 1951. p. 3109.
^ "No. 40046". The London Gazette (Supplement). 18 December 1953. p. 6927. and "No. 40739". The London Gazette (Supplement). 23 March 1956. p. 1801.
^ "No. 40739". The London Gazette (Supplement). 23 March 1956. p. 1801. and "No. 41306". The London Gazette (Supplement). 7 February 1958. p. 923.
^ "No. 41306". The London Gazette (Supplement). 7 February 1958. p. 923.
^ Lord & Watson 2003, pp. 34, 84.

References

Forty, George (2014). Desert Rats At War: North Africa, Italy, Northwest Europe. Not identified: Air Sea Media. ISBN 978-0-95769-155-1.
Haythornthwaite, Philip (2016). Picton's Division at Waterloo. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Books. ISBN 978-1-78159-102-4.
Joslen, H. F. (2003) [1960]. Orders of Battle: Second World War, 1939–1945. Uckfield, East Sussex: Naval and Military Press. ISBN 978-1-84342-474-1.
Kennett, Brian Bishop (1970). Craftsmen of the Army: The Story of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. Vol. I. London: Leo Cooper. OCLC 1033988.
Lord, Cliff; Watson, Graham (2003). The Royal Corps of Signals: Unit Histories of the Corps (1920–2001) and its Antecedents. West Midlands: Helion. ISBN 978-1-874622-07-9.
Murray, Robert Henry (1961). The History of the VIII King's Royal Irish Hussars, 1693-1958. Vol. III. Cambridge: W. Heffer & Sons. OCLC 752706021.

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Divisions of the British Army

Active

Administrative units	Guards and Parachute Union Queen's Light
Combat units	1st (United Kingdom) Division 3rd (United Kingdom) Division

Post-Cold War period

Administrative units	Guards King's Light Prince of Wales's Queen's Scottish Scottish, Welsh and Irish
Combat units	1st (UK) Armoured 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th Multi-National Division (South-West) (Bosnia) Multi-National Division (South-East) (Iraq)

Cold War

Administrative units	Guards King's Light Prince of Wales's Queen's Scottish
Airborne	6th Airborne 16th Airborne
Armoured	1st 2nd 3rd 4th 6th 7th 11th 49th (West Riding) 56th (London)
Infantry	1st 2nd 3rd 5th 13th 40th 42nd (Lancashire) 43rd (Wessex) 44th (Home Counties) 50th (Northumbrian) 51st/52nd (Scottish) 53rd (Welsh)
Other	Artillery Division 1st Commonwealth Division 17th Gurkha Division

Second World War (list)

Airborne	1st Airborne 6th Airborne
Armoured	Guards 1st 2nd 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 42nd 79th
Infantry	Guards 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th (Highland) 12th (Eastern) 15th (Scottish) 18th 23rd (Northumbrian) 36th 38th (Welsh) 42nd (East Lancashire) 43rd (Wessex) 44th (Home Counties) 45th 46th 47th (London) 48th (South Midland) 49th (West Riding) 50th (Northumbrian) 51st (Highland) 52nd (Lowland) 53rd (Welsh) 54th (East Anglian) 55th (West Lancashire) 56th (London) 59th (Staffordshire) 61st 66th 70th 76th 77th 78th 80th
Anti-Invasion "County Divisions"	Devon and Cornwall Dorset Durham and North Riding Essex Hampshire Lincolnshire Norfolk Northumberland West Sussex Yorkshire
Anti-Aircraft	1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th
Deception	See British deception formations in World War II
African	1st (African) 2nd (African) 11th (African) 11th (East Africa) 12th (SDF) 81st (West Africa) 82nd (West Africa)
Other	1st Cavalry Beauman Division Royal Marines Y Division British Army in India

First World War (list)

Regular Army

New Army

1st New Army	9th (Scottish) 10th (Irish) 11th (Northern) 12th (Eastern) 13th (Western) 14th (Light)
2nd New Army	15th (Scottish) 16th (Irish) 17th (Northern) 18th (Eastern) 19th (Western) 20th (Light)
3rd New Army	21st 22nd 23rd 24th 25th 26th
4th New Army	30th 31st 32nd 33rd 34th 35th
5th New Army	36th (Ulster) 37th 38th (Welsh) 39th 40th 41st

Territorial Force

1st Line	42nd (East Lancashire) 43rd (Wessex) 44th (Home Counties) 46th (North Midland) 47th (1/2nd London) 48th (South Midland) 49th (West Riding) 50th (Northumbrian) 51st (Highland) 52nd (Lowland) 53rd (Welsh) 54th (East Anglian) 55th (West Lancashire) 56th (1/1st London)
2nd Line	45th (2nd Wessex) 57th (2nd West Lancashire) 58th (2/1st London) 59th (2nd North Midland) 60th (2/2nd London) 61st (2nd South Midland) 62nd (2nd West Riding) 63rd (2nd Northumbrian) 64th (2nd Highland) 65th (2nd Lowland) 66th (2nd East Lancashire) 67th (2nd Home Counties) 68th (2nd Welsh) 69th (2nd East Anglian)

Other

Cavalry

Cavalry	1st 2nd 3rd
Mounted	1st 2nd 2/2nd (later 3rd) 4th Yeomanry

Second Boer War (list)

Infantry	1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th Colonial
Cavalry	Cavalry
Mounted	1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th

Crimean War (list)
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1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th Light

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