11th Armoured Division (United Kingdom)
A veteran of the Royal Tank Regiment, he had already strongly influenced the shape of the 7th Armoured Division, but his original and innovative ideas had led to his early retirement from the army.[4] In November 1942, as the Allies invaded French North Africa as part of Operation Torch the division, then serving in Scotland and now commanded by Major-General Brocas Burrows after Hobart was deemed too old, at 57, for active service, was warned to prepare for overseas service to join the British First Army, soon to be engaged in hard fighting in Tunisia, and began embarking when the order was cancelled, as it was felt that less armour and more infantry were needed in the difficult terrain in that country.It then progressed southward to Hill 112 (a dominant feature in the Normandy landscape near the village of Baron) and succeeded in capturing and holding this high ground against increasingly intense German counter-attacks.In what became the famous "Charge of the Bull", the division liberated Le Bény-Bocage on 1 August and quickly progressed southward.The sole memorial to the fallen of the division is at Pont de Vère, the location of a battle on 16 August against a German rearguard.Advancing in two columns, it managed to reach the US 101st Airborne Division at Nuenen, while on the 22nd, its engineers established a bridge over the Zuid-Willemsvaart canal.During this period the division came into contact with troops from the United States and the divisional sign was referred to as "the Swell Bison".On 16 October Sergeant George Harold Eardley of the 4th Battalion, King's Shropshire Light Infantry (from 159th Brigade) was awarded the Victoria Cross for bravery.Being one of few formations in reserve, the 11th Armoured was urgently recalled to active service with its old tanks and directed to hold a defensive line along the Meuse, between Namur and Givet.[23] On 17 February 1945 the 159th Brigade was recalled to the front, to add its weight to the reinforce XXX Corps fighting in Operation Veritable (Lower Rhine region).[28] The 11th Armoured Division was held in reserve until 28 March 1945[29] when it crossed the Rhine at Wesel, heading for the river Weser.[31] After crossing the canal on 1 April, the 11th Armoured approached Ibbenbüren and was heavily engaged on the heights of the Teutoburger Wald.[33] It was during the same action the division was also awarded its second Victoria Cross of the war, belonging to Corporal Edward Thomas Chapman of the 2nd Monmouths.[35] A local agreement with German commanders designed to prevent the spread of typhus made it possible to declare the neighbourhood of the camp a neutral area, and the fighting moved northeast.
InsigniaUnited KingdomBritish ArmyArmouredDivisionOperation OverlordOperation Market GardenBattle of the BulgeOperation VarsityPercy HobartCharles KeightleyGeorge Robertsarmoured divisionSecond World Warpanzer divisionsBattle of NormandyNormandy landingsAllied advance from Paris to the RhineRhine crossing4th Infantry DivisionValentine tanksYorkshireNorthern CommandRoyal Tank Regiment7th Armoured DivisionBattle of FranceGeorge VICrusader tanks30th Armoured Brigade159th Infantry Brigade53rd (Welsh) Infantry DivisionFrench North AfricaOperation TorchScotlandBrocas BurrowsBritish First Armyfighting in TunisiaPhilip RobertsOperation EpsomJuno Beach3rd Canadian Divisionlanded on D-DayBritish Second ArmyGoodwoodBluecoatFalaise GapVIII Corps15th (Scottish) Infantry DivisionGrainvilleCollevilleBernard MontgomeryChallenger tanks2nd Northamptonshire YeomanryOperation Goodwood23rd Hussars24th LancersOperation BluecoatSaint-Martin-des-BesacesSouleuvreLe Bény-BocageGuards Armoured Division9th SS Panzer Division3rd Infantry DivisionXXX CorpsMortainL'AigleM4 ShermansDeurneHeinrich EberbachGerman 7th ArmyTournaiAlbert CanalBeringenUS 101st Airborne DivisionNuenenZuid-Willemsvaart canalHelmondGeorge Harold EardleyKing's Shropshire Light InfantryVictoria Cross15th (Scottish) DivisionBattle of Broekhuizen29th Armoured BrigadeOperation VeritableLower Rhine region4th Armoured BrigadeMichael CarverSonsbeckII Canadian CorpsHochwaldOperation BlockbusterComet tanksFife and Forfar YeomanryPetershagenRhine at WeselGescherBritish 6th Airborne DivisionEvelyn BarkerEmsdettenDortmund-Ems canalIbbenbürenTeutoburger WaldTecklenburgMonmouthshire RegimentDevonshire Regiment131st Infantry BrigadeCheshire Regiment115th Independent Infantry BrigadeEdward Thomas ChapmanUniversal CarriersOsnabrückStolzenauBergen-Belsen concentration campLüneburgArtlenburgLübeckNeustadtCap ArconaSchleswig-HolsteinDönitz GovernmentFlensburg2nd Fife and Forfar Yeomanry3rd Royal Tank RegimentRifle Brigade (Prince Consort's Own)22nd DragoonsWestminster Dragoons