
By Patrick Forbes
The 6th Guards Armoured Brigade was formed in 1941 from the Infantry of the Guards. In 1942 all British armoured divisions were reorganised to have one armoured brigade and one motor brigade.
The 6th Guards Armoured became an independent tank brigade being renamed as the 6th Guards Tank Brigade. The brigade now equipped with the Churchill tank, served in the North West Europe Campaign landing in Normandy on 20 July 1944. They went onto take part in Operation Bluecoat, the attack by the British Second Army at the Battle of Normandy, from 30 July 1944 to 7 August 1944. They also saw action during Operation Veritable, a pincer movement conducted by Montgomery's 21st Army Group to clear and occupy the land between the Rhine and Maas rivers, and finally ending the war at Lübeck on the Baltic Sea.