Assault Landings By Canadian Armoured Regiments

[Wolfkin]

Hello all!

Recently, I have been thinking of the Allied Armoured Regiments that made assault landings. This brought me to thinking about all the assault landings that the various Canadian Armoured Regiments made during WWII. It seems that between them, the regiments of the Canadian 1st and 2nd Armoured Brigades, made quite a large number of assault landings.

I decided to make a listing of the Canadian Armoured Regiments that have participated in assault landings. In the first list I am after the units that landed the day of the assault and not later. The second list is for units that still made a landing but not on the day of the assault but later. Looks like the Calgary Tank Regiment participated in more landings than any other! This is what I have so far:

Assault Landings:

14th Armoured Regiment - The Calgary Tank Regiment - KOCR
-Dieppe on August 19, 1942
-Italy on September 3, 1943

12th Armoured Regiment - The Three Rivers Regiment
-Sicily on July 10, 1943

11th Armoured Regiment - The Ontario Regiment
-Italy on September 3, 1943

10th Armoured Regiment - The Fort Garry Horse
-Normandy on June 6, 1944

6th Armoured Regiment - 1st Hussars
-Normandy on June 6, 1944

27th Armoured Regiment - The Sherbrooke Fusilier Regiment
-Normandy on June 6, 1944


Non-Assault Landings:

14th Armoured Regiment - The Calgary Tank Regiment - KOCR
-Sicily on July 13, 1943

12th Armoured Regiment - The Three Rivers Regiment
-Italy on September 30, 1943

11th Armoured Regiment - The Ontario Regiment
-Sicily on July 13, 1943

Any corrections or additions to these lists will be welcome! My main source was the Royal Canadian Armoured Corps Illustrated History.

Next, I would like to make a comparison with some British and U.S. Armoured units.

Cheers,

Jon Fitzgerald
Calgary,AB,Canada

[Wolfkin]

Hello all!

I have been able to dig up some more information on some British and U.S. Armoured units as a comparison. I have found a few that made one Assault Landing but only the following that have made more than one. Once again, the definition that I am using for an "Assault Landing" is one that landed the day of the assault and not later. The definition for a "Non-Assault Landing" is one that still made a landing but not on the day of the assault but later.

Assault Landings:

3rd County Of London Yeomanry (As a part of the British 4th Armoured Brigade)
-Sicily on July 10, 1943
-Sicily on August 15, 1943 - A sea-borne expedition to cut roads behind enemy lines involving a Squadron of 3CLY.

Non-Assault Landings:

3rd County Of London Yeomanry (As a part of the British 4th Armoured Brigade)
-Italy on September 23, 1943
-Normandy on June 7, 1944


Unsure of whether these are Assault or Non-Assault Landings:

U.S. 70th Tank Battalion
-North Africa on November 8, 1942
-Sicily on July 10, 1943
-Normandy on June 6, 1944

U.S. 191st Tank Battalion
-Italy on September 9, 1943
-Italy on January 22, 1944
-France on August 15, 1944

Any corrections or additions to these lists will be welcome! There is much more information out there to make this list much more complete!

Cheers,

Jon Fitzgerald
Calgary,AB,Canada

[Crewman]

Hi Wolfkin,

Are we talking only about the MTO and ETO?

Those several tanks in the PTO also had to land in assault and non-assault modes, if I am not mistaken...?

US Army had in the PTO 13 tank battalions and the USMC had two such battalions so they had to land somewhere in assaualt and non-assault manner.

And what about the US Army and USMC's LVT Amtracs and LVTA Amtanks? How do you classify them?

And the US Army's PTO tank destoyers? They had six battalions...


Best regards

C.

[Wolfkin]

Hello Crewman!

Yes, I was actually thinking only of the various Armoured Regiments in the ETO and MTO but you are still very correct about all the landings in the PTO! Yes, any additional information is very welcome and I think this might make me want to look at some of those Tank Battalions in the PTO! Thank you for this information!

Cheers,

Jon Fitzgerald
Calgary,AB,Canada

[HaroldLukas]

Don't forget about Operation Veritable (Feb 45) and the Rhine Crossing (Mar 45) by the 3rd Candian Infantry Division with 2nd Armoured Brigade in support.

The 3rd Canadian Infantry Division had been one of the assaulting divisions in the landing in France on D-Day, on June 6, 1944. By now it was veteran fighting formation. Its role in VERITABLE began on February 8 when they began the job of clearing the northern flank. Because the Germans had flooded this area by blowing up the Rhine dykes, the attacking units had to make use of amphibious vehicles, like Buffaloes and DUKWs, gaining them the nickname of the "Water Rats." For the next week, a strange amphibious war took place on this flank, with some isolated villages falling easily while others were defended vigorously.

HTH
Harold

[Wolfkin]

Hello!

Thank you for mentioning these battles Harold, I forgot about the fact that there were Assault Landings in these battles! These were not invasions in the style of Operation Overlord or Operation Husky but they were definitely Amphibious Assaults! I shall have to look at these events some more and see which Armoured Regiments were involved. Thank you again!

Cheers,

Jon Fitzgerald
Calgary,AB,Canada

[Wolfkin]

Hello all!

I am still looking for more information involving any British Armoured Regiments that were involved in any Assault Landings. Information seems to be scarce on them. Also, anything else that anyone can think of is great! This has been a great thread so far, thanks again to all who have contributed!

Cheers,

Jon Fitzgerald
Calgary,AB,Canada

[John Tapsell]

How about this mob then?

Staffordshire Yeomanry
-D-Day - follow-up at 1030 on 6th June with wading tanks
-Walcheren/Dutch operation with DD tanks
-Rhine with DDs
-Elbe with DDs

Cheers,
John

[Wolfkin]

Hello John!

Excellent information! Thank you very much! This helps out a great deal!

I think, pretty soon, I will make a new list and post it here once I have gathered all the information together.

Cheers,

Jon Fitzgerald
Calgary,AB,Canada

[Wolfkin]

Hello all!

I am back to this thread after some lengthy research with a completely updated list for Assault Landings and Non-Assault Landings. I am going to restrict this to landings by Canadian, British and U.S. Armoured Units in the MTO and ETO because those areas and units are my main interest.

The first list is for an "Assault Landing". The definition that I am using for an "Assault Landing" is one that landed on the day of the assault and not later. The second list is for a “Non-Assault Landing”. The definition that I am using for a "Non-Assault Landing" is one that landed not on the day of the assault but later. For a “Non-Assault Landing” to be valid the landing must have had to take place within three days of the day of the Assault. If more than three days than it is not a “Non-Assault Landing” but an “Embarkation”.

Many units had an “Embarkation” so it is redundant to list them all. This is why I have deleted some "Landings" from my original list because they would qualify as an "Embarkation" and not as a "Non-Assault Landing".


Assault Landings:


14th Armoured Regiment - The Calgary Tank Regiment - KOCR
-Dieppe on August 19, 1942
-Italy on September 3, 1943

12th Armoured Regiment - The Three Rivers Regiment
-Sicily on July 10, 1943

11th Armoured Regiment - The Ontario Regiment
-Italy on September 3, 1943

10th Armoured Regiment - The Fort Garry Horse
-Normandy on June 6, 1944

6th Armoured Regiment - 1st Hussars
-Normandy on June 6, 1944

27th Armoured Regiment - The Sherbrooke Fusilier Regiment
-Normandy on June 6, 1944

3rd County Of London Yeomanry (As a part of the British 4th Armoured Brigade)
-Sicily on July 10, 1943
-Sicily on August 15, 1943 - A sea-borne expedition to cut roads behind enemy lines involving a Squadron (C Squadron and part of B Squadron) of 3CLY.

U.S. 70th Tank Battalion
-North Africa on November 8, 1942
-Sicily on July 10, 1943
-Normandy on June 6, 1944

U.S. 191st Tank Battalion
-Italy on September 9, 1943
-Italy on January 22, 1944
-France on August 15, 1944

Staffordshire Yeomanry (As a part of the British 27th Armoured Brigade)
-Normandy on June 6, 1944
-Walchern in November 1944
-Rhine Crossing in March 1945
-Elbe Crossing in April 1945

13th/18th Hussars (As a part of the British 27th Armoured Brigade)
-Normandy on June 6, 1944

Nottinghamshire Yeomanry (Sherwood Rangers) (As a part of the British 8th Armoured Brigade)
-Normandy on June 6, 1944

4th/7th Royal Dragoon Guards (As a part of the British 8th Armoured Brigade)
-Normandy on June 6, 1944

U.S. 741st Tank Battalion
-Normandy on June 6, 1944

U.S. 743rd Tank Battalion
-Normandy on June 6, 1944

U.S. 745th Tank Battalion
-Normandy on June 6, 1944

U.S. 746th Tank Battalion
-Normandy on June 6, 1944

U.S. 753rd Tank Battalion
-Sicily on July 10, 1943
-Italy on September 9, 1943
-France on August 15, 1944

U.S. 756th Tank Battalion
-France on August 15, 1944

44th Royal Tank Regiment (As a part of the British 4th Armoured Brigade)
-Sicily on July 10, 1943

46th Royal Tank Regiment
-Sicily on July 10, 1943
-Italy on January 22, 1944

50th Royal Tank Regiment
-Sicily on July 10, 1943

Royal Scots Greys
-Italy on September 9, 1943

Non-Assault Landings:

14th Armoured Regiment - The Calgary Tank Regiment - KOCR
-Sicily on July 13, 1943

11th Armoured Regiment - The Ontario Regiment
-Sicily on July 13, 1943

3rd County Of London Yeomanry (As a part of the British 4th Armoured Brigade)
-Normandy on June 7, 1944

Royal Scots Greys (As a part of the British 4th Armoured Brigade)
-Normandy on June 7, 1944

24th Lancers (As a part of the British 8th Armoured Brigade)
-Normandy on June 7, 1944

East Riding Yeomanry (As a part of the British 27th Armoured Brigade)
-Normandy on June 7, 1944

44th Royal Tank Regiment (As a part of the British 4th Armoured Brigade)
-Normandy on June 9, 1944

U.S. 747th Tank Battalion
-Normandy on June 7, 1944


Cheers,

Jon Fitzgerald
Calgary,AB,Canada

P.S. I would like to find some more information on the British Armoured units used in the Sicily and Italy landings. I could not find too much information on these units.