‘Tanks in Unexpected Places’: The Fighting Effectiveness of 4th (Independent) Armoured Brigade, 1943-45

Briggs, Jonny (2023) ‘Tanks in Unexpected Places’: The Fighting Effectiveness of 4th (Independent) Armoured Brigade, 1943-45. Doctoral thesis, The University Of Buckingham.

Text 1103363 Briggs J - Tanks in Unexpected Places 240423.pdf - Submitted Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives. Download (2MB)

Abstract

This thesis considers how fighting effectiveness was both produced and maintained during the Second World War. 4th Independent Armoured Brigade, the subject of this study, was part of the relatively small minority of British formations that fought in several theatres during that war. The thesis demonstrates that the brigade’s ubiquity was due in large parts to its ability to generate and sustain fighting effectiveness. To this end, the work examines three key areas; leadership, morale and organisational learning at the tactical level in the British Army during the Second World War with a particular focus on 1943 to 1945. It demonstrates the ways in which these wider organisational influences worked within a single brigade. The thesis seeks to define and assess fighting effectiveness at formation level, which, it will be seen, is largely shaped by the three areas mentioned. The brigade was one of the small number of formations transferred from the Mediterranean to support the largely inexperienced 21st Army Group. The performance of the veteran formations has been controversial and they have been the subject of considerable criticism. This thesis argues that 4th Armoured Brigade performed significantly better than many of the veteran formations, and indeed many other formations within 21st Army Group, and will explain why this was the case. The exceptional leadership provided by the brigade’s two main commanders during the period was important. John Currie and Michael Carver were both highly capable. Carver would go on to become chief of the defence staff. The climate generated by both men had an effect on the way the brigade was led and the way it operated in battle. Additionally, this thesis shows that the brigade’s composition, in terms of the units it contained and their individual ethoses, as well as the experiences they had undergone, had a powerful effect on the brigade’s morale, motivation and professionalism. The army of the 1939–45 period was a heterogenous organisation with strong and varied localised traditions. This was compounded by the dispersed nature of British forces between 1941 and 1943. The thesis demonstrates the varied effects of this and the degree of difference that could be found between some British formations. Fighting in Italy and then across North-West Europe from Normandy to the Baltic, 4th Armoured Brigade encountered a great variety of enemy formations in a huge array of landscapes. The study shows the differing influences of both and how they drove tactical and organisational change within the brigade. The three influences of leadership, tactical learning and morale were filtered through the impact produced by enemy action and difficulties stemming from the terrain and climate. The thesis proposes a model of fighting effectiveness drawn from the operational successes of 4th Armoured Brigade.

Actions (login required)

View Item