The 1st Armored Division was formed on the basis of the order of the Commander-in-Chief, Lieutenant General Władysław Sikorski, issued on February 25, 1942, on the basis of units separated from the 1st Polish Corps in Great Britain: 10th Armored Cavalry Brigade, 16th Tank Brigade, 1st Reconnaissance Division Corps, 1st Heavy Machine Gun Battalion of the 1st Corps and Sapper Battalion of the 1st Corps.
In the initial period, the division’s units participated in protecting an approximately two hundred-kilometer section of the eastern coast of Scotland against a possible Wehrmacht landing. This period ended with successful maneuvers in northern England. The strength of the 1st Armored Division was then: 885 officers, 15,210 non-commissioned officers and soldiers, 381 tanks, 473 guns and 5,060 motor vehicles for various purposes.
The 1st Armored Division consisted of the following units:
– Headquarters of the 1st Armored Division
– 10th Polish Armored Cavalry Brigade with the 24th Lancer Regiment, 1st and 2nd Armored Regiments, 10th Dragoon Regiment
– 3rd Polish Infantry Brigade with a command company, the Podhale Rifle Battalion, the 8th Rifle Battalion, the 9th Flanders Rifle Battalion and the 1st Independent CKM Squadron
– 10th Mounted Rifle Regiment – Reconnaissance Regiment of the 1st Armored Division
– 1st Spare Tank Squadron
– Artillery of the 1st Armored Division with the 1st and 2nd Motor Regiments, the 1st Anti-Aircraft Light Artillery Regiment and the 1st Anti-Tank Artillery Regiment
– Sapper units of the Division with the 1st Sapper Battalion, 10th and 11th Sapper Companies, 1st Sapper Park Company, Bridge Platoon
– Communication units of the 1st Division with the 1st Signal Battalion, 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 10th Signal Squadrons
– Supply Troops of the 1st Armored Division with 3, 10 and 11 Supply Companies
– Technical Troops, then Workshop Troops with the 10th Workshop Company (later called the Armored Brigade Workshop Company) and the 16th Workshop Company (later called the Rifle Brigade Workshop Company)
– Sanitary units of the Division with the 10th Light Sanitary Company, 11th Sanitary Company, 1st Field Dressing Station and 1st Hygiene Platoon
– Material Service of the 1st Division with the 1st Material Park
– Gendarmerie of the 1st Armored Division with the Traffic Regulation Squadron (then called the 8th Gendarmerie Squadron), 2, 3 and 6 Independent Gendarmerie Platoons
The 1st and 2nd Tank Regiments and the 24th Uhlan Regiment were equipped with M4 Sherman tanks. The 10th Mounted Rifles Regiment had Mk VIII Cromwell machines, while the 10th Dragoons Regiment was a motorized infantry unit using Carrier combat vehicles.
In the years 1942-1944, the 1st Armored Division commanded by General Stanisław Maczek, apart from the British coast protection service, underwent intensive theoretical and practical training in Great Britain, waiting for its use in the fight against German troops on the European continent.
