33rd Armoured Brigade (United Kingdom)
Encyclopedia
The 33rd Armoured Brigade was a British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...

 brigade active in 1944-45, in the 1970s, and in 1980-92.

Normandy

The brigade was formed in the UK on 17 March 1944 by re-designating of the 33rd Tank Brigade. The brigade took part in the Normandy campaign and landed on Gold Beach
Gold Beach
Gold Beach was the code name of one of the D-Day landing beaches that Allied forces used to invade German-occupied France on 6 June 1944, during World War II....

 on 6 June 1944. The brigade, consisting of three armoured regiments, was assigned to any infantry who were in need of armoured support; because of this mission, the brigade rarely fought as a single unit.

The brigade took part in several actions that comprised the Battle for Caen
Battle for Caen
The Battle for Caen from June-August 1944 was a battle between Allied and German forces during the Battle of Normandy....

. On 11 June the brigade took part in fighting at Le Mesnil-Patry
Le Mesnil-Patry
-References:*...

. Between 8-9 July the brigade participated in Operation Charnwood
Operation Charnwood
Operation Charnwood was a Second World War Anglo-Canadian offensive that took place from 8–9 July 1944, during the Battle of Normandy. The operation was intended to at least partially capture the German-occupied French city of Caen , which was an important Allied objective during the opening stages...

; the capture of northern Caen. Supplementing the 59th (Staffordshire) Infantry Division, on 16 July, the brigade took part in Operation Pomegranate, part of the Second Battle of the Odon
Second Battle of the Odon
The Second Battle of the Odon was a series of operations fought by the British Army in mid-July 1944 against the German Heer as part of the Battle of Normandy...

; an attack launched to divert German attention away from the upcoming Operation Goodwood
Operation Goodwood
Operation Goodwood was an attack launched on 18 July 1944, during the Second World War, by the British army to the east of the city of Caen...

 attack. Following the Battle for Caen the brigade was then involved in the First Canadian Army’s attack towards Falaise
Falaise pocket
The battle of the Falaise Pocket, fought during the Second World War from 12 to 21 August 1944, was the decisive engagement of the Battle of Normandy...

; on 8 August the brigade took part in Operation Totalize.

Rhine Crossing

The brigade was reformed and re-equipped with LVT 4 (Buffalo amphibious armoured fighting vehicles) for the Rhine crossing and was placed under the command of the 79th Armoured Division.

Post War

On 1 December 1977 the brigade was renamed Task Force Echo. Three years later, on 1 January 1980, Task Force Echo was reverted back to 33rd Armoured Brigade. Following the fall of the Berlin Wall, in December 1992, the brigade was merged with the 20th Armoured Brigade
British 20th Armoured Brigade
The British Army's 20th Armoured Brigade is an armoured formation currently based in Sennelager, northern Germany, as part of the 1st Armoured Division.- World War II :...

 and disbanded as part of the Options for Change
Options for Change
Options for Change was a restructuring of the British Armed Forces in 1990, aimed at cutting defence spending following the end of the Cold War....

 programme.

1940 - 1944

  • 1st Northamptonshire Yeomanry
    Northamptonshire Yeomanry
    The Northamptonshire Yeomanry was a unit of the British Army formed in 1794 as volunteer cavalry, it later served in an armoured role before being reduced to squadron level in 1956...

     (Sherman I & Firefly VC)
  • 144th Battalion Royal Armoured Corps
    Royal Armoured Corps
    The Royal Armoured Corps is currently a collection of ten regular regiments, mostly converted from old horse cavalry regiments, and four Yeomanry regiments of the Territorial Army...

     (Sherman I & Firefly VC)
  • 148th Battalion Royal Armoured Corps (Sherman I & Firefly VC)

Rhine Crossing

  • 1st Northamptonshire Yeomanry
  • East Riding of Yorkshire Yeomanry
    East Riding of Yorkshire Yeomanry
    The East Riding of Yorkshire Yeomanry was a unit of the British Army from 1794–1956.The regiment was formed as volunteer cavalry in 1794 during the French Revolutionary Wars. It was converted to an armoured role in 1920. In 1956 it merged with two other Yorkshire yeomanry regiments to form...

  • 4th Royal Tank Regiment
    Royal Tank Regiment
    The Royal Tank Regiment is an armoured regiment of the British Army. It was formerly known as the Tank Corps and the Royal Tank Corps. It is part of the Royal Armoured Corps and is made up of two operational regiments, the 1st Royal Tank Regiment and the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment...

  • 11th Royal Tank Regiment

1980 - 1992

The Following served with the Brigade during this time.
  • Royal Scots Dragoon Guards
    Royal Scots Dragoon Guards
    The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards is a cavalry regiment of the British Army, and the senior Scottish regiment. It was formed on 2 July 1971 at Holyrood, Edinburgh, by the amalgamation of the 3rd Carabiniers The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards (Carabiniers and Greys) (SCOTS DG) is a cavalry regiment of...

  • 15th/19th The King's Royal Hussars
    15th/19th The King's Royal Hussars
    The 15th/19th The King's Royal Hussars was a cavalry regiment of the British Army. It was created as part of the reduction in the cavalry in the aftermath of World War I. It was formed by the amalgamation of the 15th The King's Hussars and the 19th Royal Hussars on 11 April 1922, becoming the...

  • 1st Btn Black watch
    Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment)
    It all began in 1725 when General Wade, as leader of the King's Army in Scotland, and involved in his great project of building the military roads there, set up six companies of the Highland "Watch". These were formed to stop fighting among the clans; controlling the roads was an important part of...

  • 3rd Btn Royal Regiment of Fusiliers
    Royal Regiment of Fusiliers
    The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers is an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Queen's Division.The regiment was formed on April 23, 1968, as part of the reforms of the army that saw the creation of the first 'large infantry regiments', by the amalgamation of the four English fusilier...

  • 1st Btn Queens Regiment
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