|
The 11th Armoured Division, also known as The Black Bull, was an armoured division of the British Army which was created in March 1941 during the Second World War. The division was formed in response to the unanticipated success of the German panzer divisions. The 11th Armoured was responsible for several major victories in the Battle of Normandy from in the summer of 1944, shortly after the D-Day landings of 6 June 1944, and it participated in the rapid advance across France, Belgium, and the Netherlands and, later, the Rhine crossing in March 1945, and later invaded Germany. It was disbanded in January 1946 and reformed towards the end of 1950. In 1956, it was converted into the 4th Infantry Division. ==History== In Poland and western Europe in 1939 and 1940, the German armoured formations demonstrated what some observers felt were dramatically improved new tactics, leaving the Allied forces with a perceived need to address these developments. The continued evolution of the Royal Armoured Corps was the answer for the British Army. The 11th Armoured Division was organized in March 1941, in Yorkshire under Major-General Percy Hobart. A veteran of the Royal Tank Corps, he had already strongly influenced the shape of the 7th Armoured Division, but his original and innovative ideas had led to his retirement from the army. Reinstated after the disasters of the Battle of France in 1940, he further realised his vision with the 11th Armoured. Under his leadership the Division adopted the “Charging Bull” as its emblem. Originally composed of the 29th and 30th Armoured brigades, together with the 11th Support Group, it was reorganised in late May and early June 1942 on the standard armoured division establishment of the time, of a single armoured brigade and an infantry brigade, along with supporting units. As a result, the 11th Support Group was disbanded and the 30th Armoured Brigade left the division, to be replaced by the 159th Infantry Brigade, transferred from the 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division. After this reorganisation, for the next two years it conducted intensive training while gradually receiving new, more modern equipment.〔Taurus Pursuant pp. 5–8〕 In November 1942 as the Allies invaded North Africa as part of Operation Torch the Division was warned to prepare for overseas service to join the British First Army fighting in Tunisia and began embarking when the order was cancelled.〔Doherty, p. 142.〕 In July 1944, after the Allies invaded Normandy, the 11th Armoured Division participated in Operations ''Epsom'' and ''Goodwood''. It also participated in the drive to Amiens, the fastest and deepest penetration into enemy territory ever made at that time. On 4 September, the 11th Armoured Division captured the city of Antwerp. Soon thereafter, the Division pushed forward into the German-occupied Netherlands. In March 1945, it crossed the river Rhine and captured the German city of Lübeck on 2 May 1945. It occupied the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp on 15 April 1945. When men of the Division entered the camp, more than 60,000 emaciated prisoners were found in desperate need of medical attention. More than 13,000 corpses in various stages of decomposition lay scattered around the area. Units of the Division and its higher formations were detached to oversee the clean up of the camp. From the end of the war in Europe (8 May 1945), the 11th Armoured Division controlled the province of Schleswig Holstein until it was disbanded in January 1946. The 11th Armoured Division was reformed in the autumn of 1950, but was converted into the 4th Infantry Division in 1956. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「11th Armoured Division (United Kingdom)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|