21st Tank Brigade
| 21st Army Tank Brigade 21st Tank Brigade 21st Armoured Brigade |
|
|---|---|
| Active | 1939–1945 |
| Country |
 United Kingdom
|
| Branch |
 British Army
|
| Type | Armoured |
| Size | Brigade |
| Engagements |
Tunisia Campaign, Italian Campaign |
The 21st Army Tank Brigade was an armoured brigade formation of the British Army active during World War II. The brigade served with the British First Army and the British Eighth Army during the fighting in Tunisia and Italy.
In 1939, the brigade was a 1st Line Territorial Army Brigade stationed in the United Kingdom. It was assigned to Eastern Command defending the south-eastern portion of the country. Equipment shortages prevented it from receiving any significant numbers of modern tanks; obsolete Vickers Medium Mark II and Mk II Light Tanks comprising most of the armour on hand until after the Battle of Dunkirk. Shortly after that battle, the brigade HQ was pulled back to Salisbury Plain, although each tank battalion was detailed as a mobile reserve for the infantry divisions holding the coastline. Each regiment could only form a single mobile squadron, the remaining two serving as infantry.
In August 1940, it began to receive modern Valentine I tanks, the first of what would be a continual change in tanks. Valentine IIs were received from April 1941 and the brigade had about a hundred Churchill tanks on strength by the end of the year. The brigade lost 44th Royal Tank Regiment on 11 September 1940, but 43rd Royal Tank Regiment wasn't assigned until 9 November 1940. 42nd Royal Tank Regiment was transferred away on 12 April 1941 and 43rd Royal Tank Regiment was exchanged for 12th Royal Tank Regiment on 12 April 1941. 145th Regiment Royal Armoured Corps arrived on 15 November 1941. This left the brigade with 12th and 48th Royal Tank Regiment and the 145th Royal Armoured Corps, the units which it would keep for the bulk of the war. The brigade was redesignated as the 21st Tank Brigade on 6 June 1942 when it was assigned to the 4th Infantry Division as part of the British experiment with "Mixed Divisions". A mixed division had one tank brigade with infantry tanks and two non-motorized infantry brigades; the idea being to better coordinate tank and infantry support.
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