The Staffordshire Yeomanry, Royal Armoured Corps, was a tank regiment of Britain's Territorial Army converted from Yeomanry Cavalry serving in the Middle East during the Second World War. It fought at the Battles of Alam el Halfa and El Alamein in the Western Desert and the subsequent Tunisian campaign, distinguishing itself at the Battle of Tebaga Gap. It was then withdrawn to the UK to prepare for Operation Overlord, and landed on Sword Beach on D-Day. Subsequently, it was converted to operate amphibious tanks, and served in this role in the Battle of the Scheldt and the crossings of the Rhine (Operation Plunder) and Elbe (Operation Enterprise). Postwar, the Staffordshire Yeomanry remained part of the Royal Armoured Corps through various amalgamations.
Background
The Staffordshire Yeomanry (Queen's Own Royal Regiment) was a mounted auxiliary unit of the British Army raised in 1794 to defend Great Britain from foreign invasion. Its part-time soldiers from Staffordshire in the English Midlands acted in support of the civil powers during the 19th Century and supplied active service companies to the Imperial Yeomanry during the Second Boer War. In 1908 the Yeomanry became part of the Territorial Force, and volunteered for overseas service during the First World War when the active service regiment of the Staffs Yeomanry saw action in the Sinai and Palestine campaign, culminating in the Capture of Damascus.Frederick, pp. 51–2.Staffordshire Yeomanry at Regiments.org.Smith & Coogan.Staffordshire Yeomanry at Long, Long Trail (including summary war diary for 1/1st Staffs Yeomanry 1915–18), retrieved 30 March 2023.
The Staffordshire Yeomanry was reformed in the Territorial Force (later Territorial Army (TA)) on 7 February 1920. The experience of the First World War had shown that the British Army (Regular and Territorial) had a surplus of cavalry. The War Office decided that only the 14 most senior Yeomanry regiments were to be retained as cavalry, the remainder being converted to other roles such as armoured cars or artillery. As the 5th most senior regiment in the Yeomanry order of precedence, the Staffordshire Yeomanry was retained as horsed cavalry. By the later 1930s the policy was to mechanise all remaining cavalry units, but the TA was at the bottom of the priority list for modern equipment, and this had still not been done for the Yeomanry when the Second World War broke out.Army List.Hawkins.
Prior to the Second World War, the Staffs Yeomanry formed part of 6th Cavalry Brigade, a TA formation in Western Command, together with the Warwickshire Yeomanry and the Cheshire Yeomanry.Anon, 8th Armoured Bde, Chapter 1.Joslen, pp. 33, 189–91, 473, 476, 480.
Second World War Mobilisation The TA was called out just before war was declared and the Staffordshire Yeomanry mobilised at its headquarters at Wolverhampton on 1 September 1939. On 31 October, 6th Cavalry Bde became part of a reformed 1st Cavalry Division. There was clearly no role for cavalry in the mechanised warfare anticipated in Europe, so instead 1st Cavalry Division was sent to perform security duties in Mandatory Palestine, where they could still be effective, and would release other troops for the main fighting fronts. 6th Cavalry Bde crossed the English Channel on 18 December, and after transiting France embarked at Marseille on 31 December.
Palestine 6th Cavalry Bde arrived in Palestine on 9 January 1940, followed by the rest of the division, which was assembled by 20 February. However, most of is ancillary units and motor transport were taken from it, leaving only the three horsed brigades and some artillery.Playfair, Vol I, pp. 56, 62, 69, 104.
Over the next year, the division carried out internal security, quelling disturbances between Palestinians and Jewish settlers, and planned for mechanisation. Initially this was as motorised infantry mounted in 15-hundredweight trucks, though the five senior yeomanry regiments in the division (the Staffordshire being 5th) had been selected to be converted to armour when tanks became available. The Staffordshire Yeomanry officially became part of the Royal Armoured Corps (RAC) from 12 April 1941.
In April 1941, as British Middle East Forces were dealing with the German invasion of Greece and Rommel's advance in Cyrenaica, there was a coup d'état in Iraq that threatened to allow Axis forces into the vital oilfields. British HQ in Palestine and Transjordan (P&TJ) hastily sent what troops it could gather, including 4th Cavalry Bde (the only part of 1st Cavalry Division that had received all its lorries), to fight the short Anglo-Iraqi War. Vichy French forces in Syria allowed Axis aircraft to refuel on their way to Iraq and there were fears that Syria would become an Axis base, so HQ P&TJ pre-emptively invaded Syria in early June in Operation Exporter. The force included Free French, Australian and Indian troops, together with the remainder of 1st Cavalry Division (still mainly horsed). The Staffs Yeomanry served with 5th Cavalry Bde from 30 April to 4 June, returning to 6th Cavalry Bde just before the move into Southern Syria. Elements of 6th Cavalry Bde with its 15-cwt trucks and a few armoured cars took part in the Syria–Lebanon campaign, which ended after the fall of Palmyra and Damascus with the Armistice of Saint Jean d'Acre on 14 July.Playfair, Vol II, pp. 177–87, 203–4, 209–21.H. Stafford Northcote, 'Revolt in the Desert', Purnell's History of the Second World War, pp. 540–9.H. Stafford Northcote, 'Desert Tragedy: The Conquest of Vichy Syria', Purnell's History of the Second World War, pp. 550–60.Smith, pp. 174–5, 221–32, 236, 246–50. The 6th Cavalry Bde detachment then continued to Teheran as part of the pre-emptive Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran: here they were the first troops to make contact with the advancing Soviet force.H. Stafford Northcote, 'The Link Up: Anglo-Soviet Invasion of Persia', Purnell's History of the Second World War, pp. 725–7.Playfair Vol II, pp. 252–3.
On return to Palestine, 6th Cavalry Bde found that the 1st Cavalry Division had finally given up its last horses. 1st Cavalry Division and 6th Cavalry Bde were redesignated 10th Armoured Division and 8th Armoured Bde respectively on 1 August 1941. A few US-built Stuart tanks began to arrive that month, and by October each regiment had three for training. In addition to the Staffs Yeomanry stationed at Karkur Sea Camp, 8th Armoured Bde now comprised the Royal Scots Greys and Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry.Joslen, pp. 25–6, 160–1.Christopherson, pp. 209–13, 221.Playfair Vol II, pp. 232–3, 254–5.
Western Desert
In February 1942, the brigade moved to Khataba, 30 miles north-west of Cairo on the edge of the Western Desert, where desert training was carried out and the regiments were slowly brought up to their full strength of Stuart and Grant tanks. The organisation of 10th Armoured Division was still not complete, but during the crisis of the Battle of Gazala the 8th Armoured Bde was ordered up to join Eighth Army. However, when the brigade reached the Mersa Matruh area at the end of June it was ordered to hand its tanks over to re-equip the experienced 1st Armoured Division. The two yeomanry regiments (together with 3rd Royal Tank Regiment (3rd RTR))were sent back to Tahag Camp near Ismailia to await the arrival of fresh tanks.Christopherson, pp. 245–6, 254–5, 258–61.Playfair, Vol III, pp. 249, 281.
The Axis advance was halted at the First Battle of El Alamein in July 1942. By the time Field Marshal Erwin Rommel was ready to attack again, at the Battle of Alam el Halfa on 30 August, the British Eighth Amy had been reinforced and largely re-equipped under Gen Bernard Montgomery. 10th Armoured Division was now in the line, and 8th Armoured Bde was equipped with 12 Crusader and 72 Grant tanks. It was positioned at Berg al-Arab on the right flank of Rommel's anticipated line of advance. When Rommel's Afrika Korps attacked on 31 August their tanks were caught in minefields and mauled by 22nd Armoured Bde of 10th Armoured Division. Next day, 8th Armoured Bde was ordered out to make contact with 22nd Armoured Bde, but ran onto a German anti-tank (A/T) screen and lost 13 Grants. By 2 September, the Germans were withdrawing; however the commander of XIII Corps, Lt-Gen Brian Horrocks, was under orders not to risk his tanks and did not follow up. However, 8th Armoured Bde formed a composite regiment from the light squadron of each regiment, and this remained in action around Himeimat for another week.Christopherson, pp. 262–3.Horrocks, pp. 120–5.Playfair, Vol III, pp. 384–91.
Alamein to Tripoli Montgomery continued preparations for his own offensive, the Second Battle of El Alamein, and 8th Armoured Bde underwent intensive training at Wadi Natrun. Lieutenant-Col Jim Eadie took over command of the Staffs Yeomanry from Lt-Col Gordon Cox-Cox. On the eve of the battle, the brigade was equipped with 31 of the new Sherman tanks, 57 Grants, 33 older Crusaders and 12 new Crusader Mk IIIs. The attack (Operation Lightfoot) was launched on the night of 23/24 October following a massive artillery barrage. At first, the tanks had to pick their way in the dark through the British minefield: 8th Armoured Bde advanced though the New Zealand Division's sector with all three regiments abreast, each following a narrow corridor. It then crossed the enemy minefields through lanes cleared by special minefield task forces, and reached the Miteirya Ridge. However, trying to cross the ridge at first light, it was held up by mines and A/T fire: the Staffs Yeomanry only lost two tanks, but the whole brigade went into Hull down positions behind the ridge. It intended to resume the advance the following night, but there were far more mines behind the ridge than expected and clearance was slow. At zero hour (22.00) the brigade was formed up to pass through the gap when it was caught by an enemy air attack: vehicles were set on fire, and the blaze attracted other bombers. The tanks were forced to disperse as best they could. Despite the disorganisation, Montgomery ordered 10th Armoured Division to do its utmost to break our that night. By dawn, all three regiments of 8th Armoured Bde had emerged from a single gap, but came under increasingly heavy fire, with no hull-down positions available, and withdrew behind the ridge once more.Joslen, p. 568.Christopherson, pp. 265–73.Playfair & Molony, Vol IV, pp. 9, 37–41, 45–6.