Armoured Division of 1944-45

Alongside the Infantry Divisions in the Second World War, Armoured Divisions provided the organisation for tanks and motorised elements of the British Army. They could work relatively independently as they included artillery, engineers, medical and logistical support. When working in a larger organisation, multiple divisions, including infantry and armoured, could be part of the same Corps, which would then be part of an Army and potentially an Army Group from multiple nations.

As they only had a single Infantry Brigade, their demand for machine gun support was limited and they had an Independent Machine Gun Company attached at a divisional level. Within the Armoured Brigade itself, there was an infantry battalion that was armoured so it could work directly alongside the tanks and armoured fighting vehicles of the brigade. This was a Motor Battalion and included a machine gun platoon.

armddiv

The units that included machine gun capability within the Armoured Divisions are listed below. The Motor Battalions are listed on that page. Not all Armoured Divisions had any divisional level machine gun assets.

Guards Armoured Division.
- 1 Independent Machine Gun Company, Royal Northumberland Fusiliers.
  - 24 March 1944 to 11 June 1945.
6th Armoured Division.
- “B” Heavy Support Group.
  - 19 December 1944 to 11 February 1945.
- 1 Heavy Support Company, Middlesex Regiment.
  - 12 February 1945 to 31 August 1945.
7th Armoured Division.
- 3 Independent Machine Gun Company, Royal Northumberland Fusiliers.
  - 1 February 1944 to 31 August 1945.
11th Armoured Division.
- 2 Independent Machine Gun Company, Royal Northumberland Fusiliers.
  - 16 March 1944 to 31 August 1945.