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Author: Bryan Perrett
Published by Osprey Publishing Limited, 1980.
Colour Plates by Mike Chappell
Vehicle Drawings
Plate A. 1. Churchill Mk I, 'B' Squadron 9 RTR, UK early 1942.
. The vehicle is shown with yellow tactical markings however, in early 1942 9th RTR was the senior unit in 31 ATB and should have red markings.
Plate B. 1 Churchill Mk III, 'C' Squadron, Calgary Regt., 1st Canadian Army Tank Bde., Dieppe, August 1942.
Arm of Service flash is shown as Green over Yellow - should be Blue over Brown.
'A' Set aerial too thick and shown as being mounted on a 'B' Set base.
Cheetah's turret bin was removed before going to Dieppe. If it had been
mounted it would not be high up as portrayed.
Plate C, 9 & 10.
Turret bins on both drawings placed too high.
Plate D, 1. Churchill NA75, A Squadron, 51 RTR, Gothic Line, Sept 1944
Arm of service number shows 163 - should be 162.
The 25th Tank Brigade's diabolo was not worn outside the yellow/red shield.
'A' Set aerial too thick.
No aerial on 'B' mount.
Plate D, 2. Churchill MkVI, C Squadron, NIH, Sept 1944
This is not a Mk VI but a NA75. The squadron marking is shown in blue instead of red.
The North Irish Horse, and the other Churchill two units of 25th Tank Brigade, followed the
Royal Armoured Corps 1942 ruling, not as suggested on page 37 that the reason for being blue "may be one of those cases where Royal Armoured Corps regiments marked their squadrons by seniority - e.g. red for 'A', yellow for 'B' and blue for 'C'." The colour sequence is not that of "squadrons" but denotes seniority of regiments/battalions in brigades.
Tank Brigade Insignia - Plate C, Page 26
2. 21 Army Tank Bde., original style.
Correctly 24th Army Tank Brigade.
3. 21 Tank Bde., intermediate style.
Correctly 25th Tank Brigade, adopted in 1942 replacing its black diabolo.
4. 25 Tank Bde., final style. The diabolo could be
in black or dark blue, and sometimes the yellow disc was omitted.
Correction: The diabolo was always black.
5. 25 Tank Bde. The maple leaf was added to the brigade’s black diabolo as a compliment from 1st Canadian Infantry Division after the Hitler Line fighting in May 1944.
Misleading: The inference is that it is 25th Tank Brigade's insignia instead of, correctly, a part thereof,.
6. 25 Armoured Engineer Bde., in RE colours with the black diabolo commemorating its Infantry Tank origins.
Correction: The insignia was adopted when the Brigade was formed in Italy, December 1944, with the merger of 'B' Assault Brigade RAC/RE and 51st Battalion Royal Tank Regiment. The black diabolo was added to the former's insignia in recognition of the latter's service with 25th Tank Brigade.
7. 34 Tank Bde.
Correction: This is 31st Tank Brigade's insignia.
8. 31 Tank Bde., seldom visible in monochrome photos, as the grass green diabolo does not show up against the background khaki green. The brigade’s two regiments, 7 and 9 RTR, can often be identified by their prominent tactical numbers, ‘191’ and ‘192’
Correction: This is 34th Tank Brigade's insignia. The statement relative to '191' and '192' is both incorrect and misleading requiring clarification. The tactical numbers, which correctly are '991' and '992', only apply during the period September 1943 - September 1944. From the latter date until February 1945, '991' designated 11th RTR and '992' 1st Fife & Forfar Yeomanry which wore it until war's end. On February 1st, 1945, the brigade was renamed as an Armoured Brigade, at which time, 7th RTR having completed training with Crocodiles returned, replacing 11th RTR, to resume wearing '991'.
Text
Extract from Page 15:
"In Italy the position was slightly complicated by a shortage of Churchills during 1944, which meant that two troops in each ‘I’ tank squadron were equipped with Shermans. Being less well armoured but having better gun control equipment than the Churchills, these vehicles formed the second echelon of the assault and often provided direct or semi-indirect gunfire support from layback positions. Following the disbandment of a brigade during the winter months more Churchills became available, and regiments fought the 1945 battles with a complete establishment.
Comments
1. There was no shortage of Churchills in 1944 vide 8th Army Tank States. The Shermans were in inventory pending delivery of the Churchill Na75s which were delivered to the North Irish Horse in July.
2. The inference all of 21st Tank Brigade units were not back to complete establishment until the disbandment of 25th Tank Brigade is misleading.
Extract from Page 26:
"The Churchills’ next involvement in Italy was at the Gothic Line"
As this quote follows detail of the breaking of the Hitler Line, this is incorrect. The North Irish Horse was in action non-stop for nineteen days down the Arno Valley before taking part in the Gothic Line assault.
Extract from Page 27:
"The only obstacle now remaining between 8th Army and the Po Valley was the heavily defended Argenta Gap between Lake Comacchio and the River Reno, but this was stormed on 18 April in a dashing operation carried out by 48 RTR and 36 Brigade."
Pure fantasy, the Argenta Gap battle, which commenced on 9th April ending ten days later, involved virtually all of 8th Army.
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