The History of The 107 Regiment Royal Armoured Corps (King’s Own) June 1940-February 1946

At the beginning of July 1944, 107 RAC embarked at Gosport for Normandy with the rest of 34th Tank Brigade. Fighting in the Normandy Campaign as an independent brigade under 21st Army Group command, it could be assigned to support any infantry division that required the assistance of tanks, its regiments usually split up to form brigade groups with the infantry.
107 RAC went into action on 15 July during Operation Greenline, part of the Second Battle of the Odon, designed to pin German forces so that they could not interfere with the planned breakout from the Normandy beachhead (codenamed Operation Cobra). The regiment supported 15th (Scottish) Division in a night attack towards Evreux. 107 RAC’s The regiment had lost six tanks, with six men killed, seven wounded, and one missing. On 22 July 107 RAC supported troops of 53rd (Welsh) Division in a raid, and then went to support 59th (Staffordshire) Division in case of counter-attack.
On 7 August 107, RAC moved up in support of 176th Brigade of 59th Division who had established a bridgehead across the River Orne. A Squadron managed to ford the river, followed by C Sqn. The Germans put in a vigorous counter-attack and some of the British infantry withdrew, leaving 107 RAC’s two forward squadrons exposed to attacks by Tiger and Panther tanks. Despite heavy casualties, the bridgehead was held, but 107’s shattered squadrons had to be reformed as a single composite squadron until the regiment could be withdrawn from the line on 19 August.
By early September, the regiment was reorganised to take part in Operation Astonia, the attack on Le Havre. On 11 September, 107 RAC attacked in support of 147th Brigade of 49th (West Riding) Division, attacking the high ground on the North East side of the port. The tanks picked their way through lanes cut through the minefields by flail tanks and went on to assist the infantry in mopping up machine gun positions and (with some Churchill Crocodile flamethrowers under command) to clear buildings. The following day, 107 RAC’s tanks took up hull-down positions on the high ground and gave fire support to the infantry advance on the town, which fell later that day.
Clarkeforce
107 RAC was back in the line in early October, supporting small-scale infantry operations and standing ready to counter-attack if called upon. On 18 October, it became part of ‘Clarkeforce’, a mobile column commanded by Brigadier W.S. Clarke of 34th Tank Brigade. As part of operations on the Belgian–Dutch border to clear the approaches to the port of Antwerp, 49 Division was to attack towards Loenhout, and then unleash Clarkeforce to exploit the breakthrough and move up the main road to Wuustwezel (Operation Rebound).
s and SP guns. Four Honeys were knocked out, bringing the regiment’s casualties to eight tanks in the day.
On 22 October, the advance continued towards Esschen, 107 RAC engaging enemy infantry and SP guns. The regiment’s A Echelon vehicles, following behind, were ambushed and further casualties received.
After a day’s pause for planning, Clarkeforce was launched for a second time on 26 October for Operation Thruster towards Roosendaal. Clarkeforce pushed on towards Brembosch, losing four tanks and an SP gun from 245 Bty, 62nd A/Tk Regt. The following day, 107 RAC supported the 1st Leicesters in an attack along the Brembosch–Wouwse Hil road, and reached Oostlaar by nightfall.
107 RAC was temporarily attached to 31st Tank Brigade (part of 79th Armoured Division, equipped with specialist armour) and on 3 December went into action at Blerick in support of 15th (Scottish) Division in XII Corps.
Although due to return to 34 Tank Bde at the end of December,[22] 107 RAC was suddenly moved to the Ardennes sector, where it came under the command of 6th Airborne Division[24] to take part in British Second Army’s counter-attack against the Northern edge of the ‘Bulge’ created by the German Ardennes Offensive. 6th Airborne Division and its supporting tanks, attacking on 3 January in atrocious weather, had a very hard fight with the Germans in Bure (see Battle of Bure), which changed hands several times in the next few days.
Churchill tanks of the 107th Regiment RAC (King’s Own), part of the 34th Tank Brigade, at the start of the Reichswald battle, 9 February 1945.107 RAC reverted to the command of 34th Armoured Brigade for Operation Veritable, the British attack on the Siegfried Line in the Reichswald. In April it crossed the Rhine and took up occupation duties.