6th Guards Tank Brigade

Infobox Military Unit
unit_name= 6th Guards Tank Brigade
abbreviation=


caption=
dates= 1941 - 1945
country=
allegiance= British Crown
branch= British Army
type= Armoured
role=
size= Brigade
command_structure=Guards Armoured Division 1941 - 1942
Independent 1942 - 1945
equipment=
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battle_honours=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, permission was granted from King George VI and the Colonels of the Regiments involved and over the summer of 1941,the Infantry of the Guards converted into an armoured formation and so the Guards Armoured Division was formed which contained the 5th Guards Armoured Brigade and the 6th Guards Armoured Brigade. [The Guards Divisions 1914-45 By Mike Chappell,p 28]

In 1942 all British armoured divisions were reorginised to have one armoured brigade and one motor brigade. The 6th Guards Armoured became an independant tank brigade being renamed as the 6th Guards Tank Brigade. [cite web|title=Guards Armoured|url=http://panzer-abwehr.blogspot.com/2005/03/guards-armoured-division.html] The brigade now equipped with the Churchill tank [ 6th. Guards Tank Brigade: The Story of Guardsmen in Churchill Tanks] , served in the North West Europe Campaign landing in Normandy on July 20 , 1944. [cite web|title=D Day tanks|url=http://www.d-daytanks.org.uk/diary/july.html] They went onto take part in Operation Bluecoat [British Armour in the Normandy Campaign 1944 By John Buckley,p 101] , Operation Veritable finally ending the war at Lubeck on the Baltic Sea where they captured a U-boat. [cite web|title=brief history of the brigade|url=http://6thguardstankbrigade.googlepages.com/abriefhistoryofthebrigade]

Commanders

*15-Jan-1943 03-Aug-1944 Brigadier GL Verney
*03-Aug-1944 16-Aug-1944 Brigadier Sir Walter Bartellot, Bt
*18-Aug-1944 02-Feb-1945 Brigadier WDC Greenacre

Formation

*4th Motor Battalion Coldstream Guards
*4th Armoured Battalion Grenadier Guards
*3rd Armoured Battalion Scots Guards
*2nd Armoured Battalion Welsh Guards

Notes

References

*The Guards Divisions 1914-45 By Mike Chappell,Published by Osprey Publishing, 1995 .ISBN 1855325462
*British Armour in the Normandy Campaign 1944 By John Buckley,Published by Routledge, 2004 .ISBN 0714653233
*6th. Guards Tank Brigade: The Story of Guardsmen in Churchill Tanks by Patrick Forbes, Published by Sampson Low, 1947 .ISBN B000J2P9M8