Country United Kingdom Type Armoured | Branch British Army Notable
commanders Sir Richard McCreery | |
 | ||
Active 4 November 1940 – 1 January 1943 Size Division, 13,235 men
130+ tanks | ||
The 8th Armoured Division was an armoured division of the British Army during the Second World War. It was deployed to Egypt in June 1942 but never operated as a complete formation and was disbanded in January the following year.
Contents
History
The division was sent to North Africa but never saw active service as a complete formation. As the division could not be provided with a lorried infantry brigade, it was broken up and was finally disbanded in Egypt on 1 January 1943.
Following the Second Battle of El Alamein a plan was put forth to use the remains of the division as a self-contained pursuit force to dart forward into the German-Italian rear as far as possibly Tobruk, however the plan to use the division was shelfed and units in the forward area were used instead. Afterwards, the name of the division was used for the purpose of military deception.
General Officer Commanding
The division had four officers who held the position of General Officer Commanding, during the Second World War.
Component Units
(all brigades stripped away from the division prior to the Second Battle of El Alamein)