page_title: Northamptonshire Yeomanry
section_title: 1st Northamptonshire Yeomanry
hierarchical_section_title: Northamptonshire Yeomanry / History / Second World War / 1st Northamptonshire Yeomanry
caption_attribution_description: The crew of a Sherman tank of 1st Northamptonshire Yeomanry receive rations before the start of Operation 'Totalise',
context_page_description: The Northamptonshire Yeomanry was a Yeomanry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1794 as volunteer cavalry. It served in the Second Boer War, the First World War and the Second World War before being reduced to squadron level in 1956. It ceased to have a separate existence in 1971.
context_section_description: In 1944, as a part of the 33rd Armoured Brigade, the unit participated in the Invasion of Normandy, landing on Gold Beach in Normandy on 6 June. The brigade also included the 1st East Riding of Yorkshire Yeomanry and the 144 Regiment RAC. The Brigade's role was to support any infantry who were in need of armour support, therefore it rarely fought as one entity. One of the occasions when the Brigade did undertake an operation on its own was at Le Mesnil-Patry, Rots on 11 June 1944.
  Further battles they were involved in were around Caen, including Operation Charnwood on 7 July, the battle to capture Caen. On 16 July 1944, it was involved in Operation Pomegranate, where it come under the command of the 59th (Staffordshire) Infantry Division.
  On 8 August 1944, it was involved in Operation Totalize, a planned breakout from the Caen Salient. It was during Operation Totalize that Joe Ekins, a Sherman Tank gunner of the Northamptonshire Yeomanry, gained recognition for killing the renowned German tank commander, Michael Wittmann, the 4th top scoring tank ace in history, near St. Aignan de Cramesnil, France.
  The regiment was briefly attached to the 51st (Highland) Division for the actions around the Battle of the Bulge. The Regiment was reformed and re-equipped with LVT 4 Buffalo amphibious armoured fighting vehicles for the Rhine crossing and was placed under the command of the 79th Armoured Division.
caption: Crew from the Northamptonshire Yeomanry eating rations during Operation Totalize
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