page_title: 1st (United Kingdom) Division
section_title: Second World War
hierarchical_section_title: 1st (United Kingdom) Division / Second World War
caption_attribution_description: English: Cruiser Mk I tanks of 5th Royal Tank Regiment, 1st Armoured Division, on Thursley Common, Surrey, July 1940. Cruiser Mk I tanks of 5th Royal Tank Regiment, 3rd Armoured Brigade, 1st Armoured Division, on Thursley Common, Surrey, July 1940.
context_page_description: The 1st (United Kingdom) Division, formerly known as the 1st Armoured Division, is a division of the British Army. It has recently returned home from being stationed in Germany. Originally formed in November 1937 as the Mobile Division, it saw extensive service during the Second World War and was disbanded afterwards; reconstituted in 1976, it remains in service. It should not be confused with the 1st Infantry Division.
context_section_description: The 1st Armoured Division first saw service during the Second World War in incomplete form under the command of Major-General Roger Evans when the second British Expeditionary Force (2nd BEF) was sent to France in May 1940. The 1st Armoured Division, consisting of the understrength 2nd and 3rd Armoured Brigades, along with the 1st Support Group, and with no infantry support (which had been transferred in April to form the 30th Infantry Brigade), landed in France on 14 May 1940 and, after suffering heavy tank losses during the Battle of France, was evacuated to England on 16 June, having fought south of the river Somme, isolated from the other British formations.
  Until 27 August 1941, the division was stationed in the United Kingdom on anti-invasion duties, anticipating a German invasion, under the command of Major-General Willoughby Norrie, who had taken command on 24 August 1940. It then embarked for Egypt under the command of Major-General Herbert Lumsden and arrived on 13 November 1941. After Major-General Lumsden was wounded, Major-General Frank Messervy took command in January 1942, retaining command until Major-General Lumsden returned in March. The 1st Armoured Division took part in many of the battles of the North African Campaign against Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel, the "Desert Fox", including Gazala, Mersa Matruh, First El Alamein, Second El Alamein, Tebaga Gap, Mareth Line, Akarit, El Kourzia and Tunis. In August 1942, Major-General Raymond Briggs was appointed to command and in July 1943 was succeeded by Major-General Alexander Galloway.
  From the end of the campaign in Tunisia in May 1943, which saw the surrender of almost 250,000 German and Italian soldiers, the 1st Armoured Division remained in North Africa until May 1944. The division, minus the 18th Lorried Infantry Brigade (previously 7th Motor Brigade, on loan to the 1st Infantry Division in the Anzio beachhead, only rejoining 1st Armoured in August), then transferred to the Italian Front, arriving in Italy in late May.
  The division came under command of V Corps, under Lieutenant-General Charles Keightley, of the Eighth Army, commanded by Lieutenant-General Sir Oliver Leese. The 1st Armoured Division was the only British division, of six in total, to have fought at Alamein under Eighth Army command, to rejoin the army in Italy. During the fighting in front of the Gothic Line throughout August and September, the 2nd Armoured Brigade suffered severe losses in tanks in the Battle of Coriano, with the 2nd Dragoon Guards (Queen's Bays), losing 31 tanks, out of 52. Major-General Richard Hull, aged just 37 and three months who became Chief of the General Staff, took over command for this part of the campaign in August 1944. The division was broken up soon after, due to a lack of sufficient drafts to replace casualties; the 2nd Armoured Brigade survived as an independent brigade and the 18th Infantry Brigade was broken up and used to fill gaps in other British divisions, mainly for the 46th and 56th Infantry Divisions. The division was officially disbanded on 11 January 1945.
caption: Cruiser Mk I tanks of the 5th Royal Tank Regiment, 1st Armoured Division, on Thursley Common, Surrey, July 1940.
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