21st Army Group Tanks

21st Army Group Tanks by Peter Brown This comprehensive list of the tanks used by the British 21st Army Group in North West Europe 1944 was compiled by Peter Brown. June 1944

Shermans, June 1944 Unit I I OP Ic II II OP II DD III  III OP III ARV V V DD V OP Vc V Crab V ARV 7 AD - - - - - - - - - - - - 36 - - 11 AD - - - - - - - - - 157  -  8 36 - 11 Gds AD - - - - - - - - - 157 - 8 36 - 11 4 AB - - - 157 8 - - - - - - - 36 - 11 8 AB - - - - - 76 95 8 9 - - - 22 - 2 27 AB - - - - - - 126 8 9 - 38 - 29 - 2 30 AB - - - - - - - - - 72 - - - 180 12 33 AB 157 8 - - - - - - - - - - 36 - 11 1 TB 50 8 - 27 - - - - - - - - - - 6 6 Gds TB - - - - - -  - - - 4 - - - - - 31 TB - - - - - - - - - 4 - - - - - 34 TB - - - - - - - - - 4 - - - - - 15/19 H - - - - - - - - - - 75 - - - - 4 Cdn AD - - - - - - - - -  225 - 8 36 - 14 2 Cdn AB - - - - - - 95 8 9 - 76 - 22 - 2 Pole AD - - 2 - - - - - - 139 - 5 23 - 2 Total 207 16 2 184 8 76 316 24 27 762 189 29 316 180 93 U.E. 207 16 - 200 8 76 316 24 27 762 175 32 312 180 101 ARG 52 - - 50 - - 150 - - 178 - - 24 45 12 Res. U.E. 75 - - 50 - - 150 - 6 232 - - 18 45 17

Churchills, June 1944 Unit III IV IV OP VI VII V/VIII CS ARV B/L 75 Conv. 6 Gds TB - 156 8 - - 18 11 3 164 31 TB 60 12 8 31 - 18 11 1 34 34 TB 90 18 8 24 24 18 11 2 59 141 RAC - 7 - - 45 - - - 7 Assault RE - - - - - - 15 - - Total 150 193 24 56 69 54 48 6 - U.E. 150 193 24 56 69 54  48 9 - ARG - 49 - 30 44 15 5 - 122  Res. U.E. - 49 - 30 44 15 6 3 -

Chart Key U.E.: Unit Establishment ARG: Armoured Replacement Group AD: Armoured Division AB: Armoured Brigade TB: Tank Brigade H: Hussar Regiment Cdn: Canadian Gds: Guards RAC: Royal Armoured Corps B/L: Bridge Layer ABRE: Armoured Brigade Royal Engineers ARV: Armoured Recovery Venicle CDL: Inf D: Infantry Division

The 75 Conversions column is the number of tanks in the III & IV columns that have been converted to carry 75mm guns.

Cromwells and Challengers, June 1944 Unit IV/V/VII OP VI CS ARV Challenger 7 AD 201 8 24 14 - 11 AD 62 - 6 3 - Gds AD 59 3 6 3 - Polish AD 53 - 6 3 - Total 375 11 42 23 - U.E. 385 - 42 23 - ARG 100 - 13 6 - Res. U.E. 124 - 15 8 18 Czech AB 116 4 14 9 (24) (Note: No vehicles were issued to the Czech AB at this time.)

Stuarts, June 1944 Unit III V VI 7 AD - 44 - 11 AD - 44 - Gds AD - - 44 4 AB 33 - - 8 AB 33 - - 27 AB 33 - - 31 TB 33 - - 33 AB 33 - - 34 TB 33 - - 6 Gds TB - 12 4 15/19 H - - 4 4 Cdn AD - 44 - 2 Cdn AB - 33 - Polish AD - - - Total 198 177 52 U.E. 198 165 158 ARG 9 63 11 Res. U.E. 48 42 3

Miscellaneous Tanks, June 1944 Unit Valentine B/L Crusader AA Grant CDL 7 AD 3 28 - 11 AD 3 28 - Gds AD 3 18 - 4 AB 3 20 - 6 Gds TB - 11 - 8 AB 3 20 - 27 AB 3 20 - 31 TB - 20 - 33 AB 3 20 - 34 TB - 20 - 1 TB 3 - 162 4 Cdn AD 3 27 - 2 Cdn AB 3 20 - Polish AD 3 - - Total 33 252 162 U.E. 33 302 162 ARG 8 - - Res. U.E. - - -

December 1944 Shermans, December 1944 Unit 75mm DD 17 pdr 76mm Crab ARV OP Kangaroo 7 AD - - 67 - - - 10 - 11 AD 139 - 74 - - 9 8 - Gds AD 174 - 56 - - 10 8 - 79 AD 4 55 - - 5 6 - 214 8 AB 149 - 66 - - 10 6 - 29 AB 112 - 48 - - 10 - - 30 AB 37 - - - 128 5 - - 33 AB 144 1 72 - - 9 12 - 6 Gds TB 5 - - - - - - - 34 TB 5 - - - - - - - 30 Corps 1 - - - - - - - 4 Cdn AD 183 - 101 - - 14 10 -  2 Cdn AB 127 - 77 - - 9 12 - Polish AD 41 - 40 51 - 12 5 - Czech AB - - 4 - - - 6 - Total 1121 56 605 51 133 94 88 214 ARG 128 9 123 39 3 6 3 12

Miscellaneous Tanks, December 1944 Unit Valentine B/L Crusader AA Stuart 7 AD 3 5 31 11 AD 1 - 28 Gds AD 1 2 36 6 Gds TB - - 27 8 AB 3 1 49 29 AB - - 26 33 AB - - 31 34 TB - - 33 3 inf D - 4 - 8 Corps - 9 - 12 Corps - 9 - 30 Corps - 5 - 4 Cdn AD - 10 49 2 Cdn AB 1 1 44 Polish AD - 5 40 Czech AB - - 37 Total 9 51 431 ARG 2 2 90

Churchills, December 1944 Unit III/IV 6pdr III/IV/VI 75mm V CS VII VII Croc AVRE ARV B/L ARK HQ 79 AD - 2 - - - 33 2 1 3 6 Gds TB 48 100 22 12 - - 12 4 - 31 TB - 13 12 - 90 - 6 - - 34 TB 49 108 23 15 - - 8 3 - 1 ABRE - - - - - 131 5 - - Czech AB 18 37 8 5 - - 3 - - Total 115 260 55 32 90 164 36 8 3 ARG 7 49 1 6 - 2 3 3 -

Cromwells, Challengers and Comets, December 1944  Unit 75mm 95mm ARV Comet Chall. 7 AD 196 23 12 - - 11 AD 49 7 3 - - Gds AD 70 7 3 - 10 8 AB 1 - - - 11 29 AB 18 - - 31 - 12 Corps - - 1 - - Polish AD 60 5 - - - Czech AB 125 13 5 - - Total 522 55 24 31 21 Depots 98 9 3 7 11

Disclaimer: While we would like to acknowledge Peter Brown as the source of this information, all errors in this transcription of his work are entirely ours!