The 6th Guards Armoured Brigade was formed in 1941 from the Infantry of the Guards. In 1942 all British armoured divisions were reorganised to have one armoured brigade and one motor brigade. The 6th Guards Armoured became an independent tank brigade being renamed as the 6th Guards Tank Brigade. The brigade now equipped with the Churchill tank, served in the North West Europe Campaign landing in Normandy on 20 July 1944. They went onto take part in Operation Bluecoat, the attack by the British Second Army at the Battle of Normandy, from 30 July 1944 to 7 August 1944. The geographical objectives of the attack were to secure the key road junction of Vire and the high ground of Mont Pinçon. Strategically, the attack was made to support the American exploitation of their breakout on the western flank of the Normandy beachhead. They also saw action during Operation Veritable, a pincer movement conducted by Montgomery’s 21st Army Group to clear and occupy the land between the Rhine and Maas rivers, and finally ending the war at Lübeck on the Baltic Sea.
6TH GUARDS TANK BRIGADE The Story Of Guardsmen In Churchill Tanks
The 6th Guards Tank Brigade was formed in 1941 as the 6th Guards Armoured Brigade when Great Britain was under the threat of invasion and more armoured formations were required, over the summer of 1941, the Infantry of the Guards converted into an armoured formation and the Guards Armoured Division was formed which contained the 5th Guards Armoured Brigade and the 6th Guards Armoured Brigade. A truly great account of armoured warfare in NW Europe 1944-45, and lucid view of the sharp end of the conflict by a skilled writer.