This series is an attempt to display the units, vehicles
and markings of British armoured forces during the war. This has been a
very complicated undertaking fraught with problems at every turn. Much
more so than Canadian Army markings, the British Army had those markings
designated as official and had clear and concise direction as to where and
when they were to be applied. As with the Canadian Army though, things
just ain't always what they seem! Early in the war in the desert units
were being destroyed at an alarming rate and in most cases there simply
wasn't time enough to mark new vehicles before they were thrust into
battle. There were also local changes to assist security and the passing
of vehicles from unit to unit with little time to do anything except get
familiar and depart to the fighting. I have therefore, applied the
official markings to the appropriate units to the best of my ability,
having cross checked as many as possible with available photo and
documentary evidence. The part which I know to be correct is the ORBAT
data placing the various units within formations at a specific time, as I
have taken that data from LCol Joslen's brilliant book 'Orders of Battle
Second World War 1939 - 1945'. That data is quite clear and I feel almost
beyond debate, however much other data is not. I do not know exactly when
each unit was issued new vehicles and even if they were marked according
to directives but I have gone on the erroneous assumption that they were
and have displayed them that way. Also, many units came under the direct
control of higher commands (army, corps or a GHQ) during time of
re-equipment or reconstitution and have been shown wearing that command's
markings, even though I do not believe they were so marked. So what you
have here are the official designated markings which may or may not have
been painted on the vehicles which they might or might not have had. It is
difficult to know exactly when units were re-equipped with new/used
vehicles so some leeway must be granted on that side. As for the
reconnaissance units, I have sought data that would confirm what vehicles
were in use with the various units but the area is not well covered so
many detail errors are very possible. I have been singularly unsuccessful
in trying to find those units which were commanded by Corps, Army and Army
Group. Any help in that direction would be gratefully accepted.
Having said that, I would be grateful for any photographic
or primary source documents which can clarify what I have presented. Being
on the west side of the Atlantic I know that there are many books from
Britain in print which I have not been able to get. If you have one of
those which has data I lack and can e-mail a scan of the pertinent
pages/photos I will be grateful, further, this series of graphics will be
better for both our efforts. I accept that this series is flawed but it is
more of a starting point than a statement of fact. The topic itself is a
huge can of worms which I feel needed to be opened in the hope that there
might be confirmatory data out there just waiting to leap at the topic. My
profound thanks to Peter Brown for his guidance and help in the work done
to date, any errors are mine alone and I am very good at mistakes, so they
will not be minor ones!
Barry Beldam
09.06.2005
