A.F.V in 9th Australian Division Cavalry Regiment

[David W]

Does anyone have the breakdown of the numbers of Crusaders, Stuarts, Light Tanks & Carriers present in the 9th Aus Div Cav Reg in the end of July of 1942 when it was called back to North Africa from Palestine?

[Tom from Cornwall]

David,

The Aus OH says "the tanks of the cavalry regiment were obsolete and 22 below the establishment"...

In a Movement Order in the Div HQ GS Branch WD for July 42 it says it had 120 vehicles...the Adjutant Branch war diary contains personnel numbers and casualties returns but nothing about vehicles.

Can't seem to find exact details though, but will keep browsing.

Got them - in the QMG Branch message file (page 121!) - so for example Tank State for Cav Regt on 28 Jul:

"A Crusader 5 Honey 3
B Crusader 2 Honey 2
K NIL
One Crusader T44859 evacuated 28 Jul to 1 Armoured Div Workshop. Replacement requested."

P,127 states:
"A - runners
B - non-runners
K - casualties beyond repair or recovery."

p.134
"numbers of Crusader tanks evacuated [on 25 Jul] are T46184, T45054, T44859."

Unfortunately the first date for information on tanks is dated 17 Jul 42 - contains details of Crusaders evacuated (p.170) - there are about another 100 pages - I will have a look tomorrow if I get the time

Regards

Tom

[David W]

Thanks Tom, that would be great.

22 below establishment would leave us looking for about 30 then?
You have found 12, so roughly another 18 to account for.
No sign of the obsolete Lt tanks or the near useless carriers?
A, B & K Squadrons, what's that all about!!?

[Tom from Cornwall]

David,

A,B and K are codes for the Tank State, see my previous post:

P,127 states:
"A - runners
B - non-runners
K - casualties beyond repair or recovery."

It did confuse the hell out of me, as I have only ever seen them called X,Y and Z in British returns before.

As for "obsolete" light tanks, I wonder if they mean the Honeys? The numbers are contained in daily "tank state" returns, I haven't seen anything about carriers or about divisional artillery returns either.

Tom

[David W]

Silly me. I should read more carefully!

[Tom from Cornwall]

David,

I found the following on the Australian War Memorial Web Site:

9th Division Cavalry Regiment
The 8th Division Cavalry Regiment was formed in July 1940 when it was raised around the nucleus of two squadrons from the 7th Division Cavalry Regiment. Based at Seymour, in Victoria, the regiment trained on Vickers light tanks and machine-gun carriers but in February 1941 the unit was redesignated the 9th Division Cavalry Regiment. With the 8th Division being sent to Malaysia, Singapore, and the islands, its commander mistakenly thought that armour would only have limited use in the jungle. Consequently, the regiment was reassigned to the 9th Division.

Sailing for the Middle East in April the regiment arrived in Egypt and then moved to Palestine. Within 30 days of its arrival in Palestine the regiment was in action in Syria. In June, with the 6th Division Cavalry Regiment, it supported the 7th Division as part of the Allied invasion of Syria. The 9th Divisional Cavalry Regiment’s A and C Squadrons relieved the 6th Divisional Cavalry Regiment’s troops supporting the 21st Brigade south of Saida and the 25th Brigade in the Merdjayoun area. While in Syria, the regiment also used a number of captured French Renault R35 tanks in addition to its Vickers light tanks and machine-gun carriers.

As the war in the North Africa continued and German armour became stronger, the regiment was equipped with Crusader cruiser tanks, Stuart light tanks, and machine-gun carriers. By July 1942 the situation had become critical for Allied forces as German and Italian troops had reached El Alamein, in Egypt. The 9th Division was consequently rushed to the Alamein “box” and held the northern sector for almost four months as the 8th Army was reinforced for a new offensive.

Two of the regiment’s squadrons provided protection for 9th Division headquarters, while in September the regiment supported the 2/15th Battalion’s raid during operation “Bulimba”. During the main Alamein offensive at the end of October the regiment was held in reserve and did not play a large role in the fighting. However, once the breakthrough was made on 3 November, the regiment’s crusaders led the coastal advance and reached El Daba the same day, before being withdrawn.

Alamein was a great, although bloody, success for the Allies and by 6 November enemy forces were retreating. But the 9th Division was needed elsewhere. In January 1943 the regiment left Egypt and boarded troopships for Australia. The unit reached Sydney at the end of February and, after a period of leave, regrouped with the rest of the division on the Atherton Tablelands, Queensland, in April.

During 1943 and 1944 divisional cavalry regiments were reorganised into cavalry (commando) regiments. In January 1944 the 9th Division Cavalry Regiment became the 2/9th Cavalry (Commando) Regiment. The regiment lost its vehicles and instead became the administrative headquarters for the 2/4th, 2/11th, and 2/12th Commando Squadrons. However, the regiment remained with the 9th Division for its final campaign on Tarakan and British north Borneo during 1945.

And...just check this site out:

http://www.mheaust.com.au/Aust/Research ... arthtm.htm

It seems that the 9 Aus Car Regt were given 9 Stuarts by 6 RTR on 19 July 42, but of "the nine vehicles handed over, only five were considered serviceable after inspection and taken onto Regimental strength. With the additional vehicles the Regiment’s vehicle strength at the end of July 1942 stood at seven Crusader (Mk I and II), five M3 General Stuarts and 70 carriers."

"At the commencement of the battle 9 Aust Div Cav Regt had a vehicle strength of 15 Crusader (I and II), five M3 General Stuarts and 52 carriers. The M3 General Stuarts were allocated to 13 and 14 Troop, C Squadron. 13 Troop comprised three tanks and 14 Troop comprised two tanks. Unfortunately, there is no evidence to indicate which vehicles were allocated to which troop.

The history of T 37603 after January 1943 is unknown. At this point 9 Aust Div Cav Regt handed in its vehicles and returned, along with the rest of the Division to Australia."

The only comment I would have on all this is that it is strange that the issue of Stuarts and Crusaders isn't (unless I missed it) included in the Div HQ QMG Branch war diary!

regards

Tom