Desert Rats Comets.

[MarkF617]

Reading Churchill's Desert Rats by Patrick Delaforce I noticed on page 191 a picture of a row of Comets. The caption states this is A Squadron 1st RTR during the victory parade in Berlin. Does anyone know if 1st RTR received Comets before the end of the war with Germany and if so how many they received, or did they re-equip after fighting ended? I have read that 11th Armoured was the only Division to fully re-equip with Comets but was any other unit partially equipped?

Thanks

Mark

[Gary Kennedy]

Going somewhat from memory, but AFV returns for 21 Army Group in early May 1945 showed 7th Armd Div with just four Comets, so only enough for a single RHQ. The victory parade was some months after VE-Day, by which time I think Comets had been more widely dispersed. I also wonder if perhaps they went with the nice, shiny new tanks for it, rather than the battle worn Comets and 17-pr Shermans that had actually carried the Div through the campaign.

Gary

[MarkF617]

That would make sense. IIRC the RAF put on a massive show of force at the parade in an attempt to put the Soviets off coming any further west, so the ground forces would want to show their new tank and make it look like more of them were in service than actually were.

Mark

[Gary Kennedy]

I had a check back as I recalled I made some notes. All dates should be week ending -

24th Mar 1945 - 7th Armd Div 4 Comets, 11th Armd Div 228
31st Mar 1945 - 7th Armd Div same, 11th Armd Div 226 Comets
7th April 1945 - 7th Armd Div same, 11th Armd Div 224 Comets
14th April 1945 - 7th Armd Div 4 Comets, 11th Armd Div 226
21st April 1945 - 7th Armd Div same, 11th Armd Div 217 Comets
28th April 1945 - 7th Armd Div same, 11th Armd Div 218 Comets
5th May 1945 - 7th Armd Div 4 Comets, 11th Armd Div 233

No Comets noted for Guards Armd Div, though I think one Canadian formation showed a couple for a week.

There was a list of AFV returns for June 1945 on the web years back, which I'm sure showed a lot more Comets with 7th Armd Div after hostilities were over.

Gary

[Alanmccoubrey]

In the June 1945 RAC Return 7AD reported 83 Comets.

[Gary Kennedy]

Thanks Alan, glad to see I can still trust my memory for obscure facts at least! If the returns show unit entitlements it's sometimes possible to work out the authorised allocation to Regts (the Jun44 return does, but I couldn't get hold of the Dec44 and Jun45 reports).

Gary

[Alanmccoubrey]

Gary, I use Peter Brown's article in an old Tracklink which has the June and December 1944 along with June 1945 returns.

[MarkF617]

Thanks for the info. It seems strange that they were given 4 comets rather than all equipped at once. I'm wondering if they were used for on the job training and familiarisation. 29 armoured brigade were taken out of the line for a few months to convert but I have never heard of any Desert Rat units doing so.

Mark.

[Gary Kennedy]

Had an 'oh sod it' moment when checking on this thread. The figure for Comets with 7th Armd Div at 31st Mar and 7th Apr 1945 was a humongous 8, before halving back down to 4 from 14th Apr 1945 into May. I'd agree it was likely for familiarisation rather than combat.

Thanks Alan, I recall swapping a few emails with Peter Brown way back on the subject. I think he steered me to where the RAC returns were at the National Archives, and while I got Jun44 they said they couldn't find Dec44 or Jun45!

Gary

[Attrition]

That would make sense. IIRC the RAF put on a massive show of force at the parade in an attempt to put the Soviets off coming any further west, so the ground forces would want to show their new tank and make it look like more of them were in service than actually were.

Mark

As if they'd want to, what with Manchuria in the east and de Gaulle in the west....

[aghart]

I am a veteran of A Sqn 1 RTR, (but not a WWII vet) and can confirm that 1 RTR received it's Comet tanks "after" the fighting ended. They moved to Belgium to be re-equipped, then went to Scheleswig Holstein before moving to Berlin.

[Gary Kennedy]

Thanks for the confirmation, I didn't know the details but always thought the changeover was made after VE-Day, so good to know I wasn't off the mark.

Cheers,

Gary