9th Armoured Brigade ( United Kingdom ) The 9th Armoured Brigade was a British Army brigade formed during the Second World War . The 9th Armoured Brigade was formed from the redesignation of the 4th Cavalry Brigade , a 1st Line Yeomanry ( mounted ) brigade in the Territorial Army which had been part of the 1st Cavalry Division . It was converted to an armoured role on 3 August 1941 in the Middle East , and joined the 10th Armoured Division . El Alamein . During the North Africa campaign , the Brigade was commanded by Brigadier J . C . Currie and fought at the Second Battle of El Alamein . The Brigade was nominally independent , but was placed under command of the 2nd New Zealand Division specifically for the El Alamein battle . The NZ infantry gained their objectives , but as with Operation " Lightfoot " on the first day of the battle , lanes could not be cleared through the minefields until night was almost over . 9th Armoured brigade was forced to make its attack silhouetted by the early daylight . As dawn came on 2 November , tank after tank was hit by the German 88 mm guns that kept firing through seven air attacks . The 9th never reached their objective . In fact , they took 75 percent casualties and lost 102 of their 128 tanks . Nevertheless , they breached the gun line and the 1st Armoured Division of X Corps , under the command of Raymond Briggs , was now able to engage . After the Brigade ' s action , Brigadier Gentry of the 6th New Zealand Brigade went ahead to survey the scene . On seeing Brigadier Currie asleep on a stretcher , he approached him saying , ' Sorry to wake you John , but I ' d like to know where your tanks are ? ' Currie waved his hand at a group of tanks around him , replying ' There they are . ' Gentry was puzzled . ' I don ' t mean your headquarters tanks , I mean your armoured regiments . Where are they ? ' Currie waved his arm and again replied , ' There are my armoured regiments , Bill . ’ Nevertheless , the assault of 2nd New Zealand Division had drawn in both 15 and 21 Panzer Divisions , with the result that there was a wide gap in the Axis lines to the south west . Through this gap Lieutenant General Bernard Montgomery , commander of 8th Army , pushed the remainder of his armour , breaking the " Afrika Korps " line and pushing westwards into its rear areas and supply lines . By 4 November the battle was won and Montgomery was entertaining the captured Afrika Korps commander , Wilhelm von Thoma to dinner in his caravan . In an account of the battle published to mark its 25th anniversary , Montgomery wrote : I must mention the magnificent fight put up by 9th Armoured Brigade - 3rd Hussars , Wiltshire Yeomanry , Warwickshire Yeomanry . . . If the British armour owed any debt to the infantry of 8th army , the debt was paid on 2 November by 9th Armoured Brigade in heroism and blood . . . General Bernard Freyburg , the NZ Division ' s commander , also paid tribute to the gallant support provided by the brigade . Post Alamein . After the battle the Brigade , reduced to a handful of operational tanks , was withdrawn to Syria to regroup and undertake internal security duties . In 1944 the Brigade ( with the same three constituent Regiments ) fought in the Italian Campaign in support of the 78th Infantry Division , and the 4th Indian and 10th Infantry Divisions . After the reformation of the Territorial Army in 1947 , the Brigade was reformed as an independent formation within Northern Command . It was almost certainly disbanded by the time the Territorial Army Volunteer Reserve formed in 1967 . Further reading . During Operation Supercharge ( the battle of El Alamein ) :