This may be a stupid question and has probably been answered or mentioned before, but could someone please explain it to me? My father was in 34 Armoured Brigade - 153 then 147 then 107. I have read that the regiments were comprised of 58 Churchills. Three squadrons each of five troops of three - that makes 45 I have also read that RHQ had 4 tanks and each squadron HQ also had 4 tanks. That makes 61
A 1944 Churchill equipped Regt had 58 infantry tanks, 11 light tanks, 6 AA tanks and 3 armoured recovery vehicles (ARV). RHQ had 4 tanks Recce Tp 11 light tanks AA Tp 6 AA tanks Three Sqns, each Sqn HQ 3 tanks + 1 ARV Five Tps, each 3 tanks At the start of 1944 the Regts were supposed to have two OP tanks as well, but they were kicked up to Bde HQ by Mar/Apr 1944. Cruiser equipped Armd Regts had a fourth tank in Sqn HQ, so they had 61. Gary
Thanks very much Gary, I thought it must have had something to do with Sqn HQ. Also, could you tell me what AA tanks were? Obviously anti-aircraft but which tanks and how were they set up? Peter
They were modified Crusaders, armed with twin 20-mm guns; http://www.militarymodelling.com/sites/1/images/article_images/PB25May07_001.jpg Crew was four men per tank. Post Normandy the AA Tps were mostly disbanded by units as it became clear the Luftwaffe was not the threat it once had been. Gary
34 Tank Brigade organised their Stuarts as follows. Although officially a 'Recce Troop' it is a mini-Squadron. Note use of 'Sections'. HQ Section - 3 Stuart 4 Sections of 2 Stuart After Greenline (after suffering damage and realising profile was an issue) the vast majority had their turrets removed. They did reorganise to three Troops of 4 tanks and one Troop of 3 tanks in each of the Brigade's Tank Regiments in early August.