The Guards Armoured Division was an armoured division of the British Army during the Second World War. The division was created in the United Kingdom on 17 June 1941 during the Second World War from elements of the Guards units, the Grenadier Guards, Coldstream Guards, Scots Guards, Irish Guards, Welsh Guards, and the Household Cavalry.
Sherman tanks of the Guards Armoured Division cross the road bridge at Nijmegen during its capture in Operation Market Garden, September 1944.
Covenanter tanks of the Irish Guards, part of the 5th Guards Armoured Brigade, in Southern England, March 1942.
The Guards Armoured Division vehicle insignia, on a Sherman Firefly preserved at the Bovington Tank Museum.
A Tiger II tank of the 503rd Heavy Tank Battalion, and the Sherman tank that knocked it out by ramming, July 1944.
The Grenadier Guards is the most senior infantry regiment of the British Army, being at the top of the Infantry Order of Precedence. It can trace its lineage back to 1656 when Lord Wentworth's Regiment was raised in Bruges to protect the exiled Charles II. In 1665, this regiment was combined with John Russell's Regiment of Guards to form the current regiment, known as the 1st Regiment of Foot Guards. Since then, the regiment has filled both a ceremonial and protective role as well as an operational one. In 1900, the regiment provided a cadre of personnel to form the Irish Guards; while later, in 1915 it also provided the basis of the Welsh Guards upon their formation.
Regimental badge of the Grenadier Guards
Cap badge of the regiment
Attack on Moyenneville. Men of the Grenadier Guards consolidating the former German second line. Near Courcelles, France, 21 August 1918.
Universal Carriers of the 1st Battalion, Grenadier Guards cross 'Euston Bridge' as they deploy for Operation 'Goodwood', 18 July 1944.
