The Guards Armoured Division



	Photograph showing Hell's Highway, towards Nijmegan Click to Enlarge

The Guards Armoured Division was a remarkable part of the British Army in the Second World War. It was formed in 1941 to increase the number of tank regiments available in the event of invasion but this did not please everybody. Some argued that the Guardsmen were too tall to fit in tanks and too rigidly disciplined to fight them with skill and initiative. This scepticism was soon to be proven wrong on the broad planes of Europe.

The division was transferred to XXX Corps before the liberation of Brussels and was instrumental it is capture. Partly due to this action it was selected to lead XXX Corps in Operation Market Garden where it was to charge up club route to relieve the airborne troops aiming to seize the bridges up to at Endhoven, Nijmegan and Arnhem. It was during this time that the celebrated Lt. Col. J.O.E. Vandeleur commanded the 3rd Battalion Irish Guards and led the breakout of XXX Corps during Operation Market-Garden. His cousin Lieutenant-Colonel Giles Vandeleur was acting Commanding Officer of the 2nd Armoured Battalion Irish Guards.

The first part of the ground operation was the brake out and crossing of the Meuse-Escaut Canal. This Bridge, the De Groot Bridge was captured by Lt Col Vandeleur with leading elements of the Irish Guards and the 2/HCR. Such was the heroism and skill showed by the Col the Bridge was renamed after him Joe’s Bridge.

The involvement of the Division is the operation is legendary and well documented but the close co-operating between the British and US forces is not so well known. There are numerous stories that illustrate this unplanned close co-operation between the Guards and the US airborne and below is just one such story:



	British tank crewman offers a "smoke" to a GI. Click to Enlarge

The Germans now pressed forward, making the most of their numerical advantage, attempted to outflank the withdrawing Americans. Again the battle escalated and as the l01st historian described, '... all of Company C 1/502 was drawn into the fight'. The history continues:

'Watching from his battalion CP, Colonel Cassidy saw that the company was hard pressed ... Suddenly he remembered a tank that had come limping into the town that morning with the Irish Guards column. Unable to go more than five miles an hour it had dropped out of the line and stopped in front of the battalion CP.'

The Sherman was left with only its commander and driver; the gunner, loader and radio operator having accompanied the Irish Guard's main body north. Awaiting repair, Lance Sergeant James (Paddy) McCrory, responded to an appeal for help; 'Hell, yes!' but missing vital crew, he was going to need help. Taking the gunner's seat with its extremely limited vision, Paddy McCrory needed help spotting the enemy. Sergeant Nickrent and Private O'Brien, both from Headquarters 1/502, stepped forward and the tank roared forward into action - at little more than walking pace.

As the tank left the village, the volume of small arms fire helped Sergeant Nickrent overcome his natural paratroopers' suspicion of tanks. They spotted three vehicle-mounting quad 20mm guns engaging Company C from the flank. Approaching unseen, Sergeant McCrory slithered down into the gunner's seat and, eye pressed against the rubber sight, laid his gun on the nearest enemy vehicle. At 150 yards, the first 20mm was reduced to scrap and the other two were dispatched in quick succession. With these three 'kills', Paddy McCrory proved himself to be an accomplished armoured soldier by both loading and accurately laying his 75mm gun. As the 101st recorded,



	Meeting the local population... Click to Enlarge

'The timing could not have been more opportune. It came just as C's whole line was getting its heaviest deluge of 88, 20 mm and mortar fire in the middle of an enemy assault. The destruction of the enemy battery stifled the enemy offensive and for a few minutes, the action remained in the balance.

McCrory went on up the road towards Schijndel. Sergeant Nickrent, again on the outside, saw what looked like another camouflaged gun position and he yelled until he got McCrory's attention. McCrory searched for about ten seconds, then cut loose and destroyed the gun with two rounds. The tank limped on.'

An ammunition truck was McCrory's next victim; his shot initiating 'a most satisfactory pyrotechnic display'. However, the fire was getting too heavy and Sergeant Nickrent was forced off the turret and took cover behind the Sherman's bulk. Eventually he was forced to take cover in a ditch, joining three Germans who promptly surrendered. Other Germans, equally keen to surrender soon joined them. As the Sherman made its stately progress towards Schijndel, Private O'Brien, realising that his Sergeant had a problem to deal with, scrambled onto the advancing tank. Taking Paddy McCrory's Sten gun, he fired bursts into other Germans occupying the roadside ditches. Together with 'its tank' Company C drove the enemy back 500 metres. The gain was consolidated, when a troop of Guards' tanks arrived. However, as an experienced soldier, mindful of General Taylor's instructions, Lieutenant Colonel Cassidy was not about to loose the advantage, by becoming embroiled in a close quarter battle with a strong German force. Fifty-three prisoners were taken and thirty German bodies were recovered form the battlefield.



	M4A1 Sherman crosses a temporary bridge on Hell's Highway. Click to Enlarge

Back in St Oedenrode, The two Irish Guardsmen were warmly thanked and invited to be honorary members of 1/502 PIR. In a memorable phrase, Sergeant Paddy McCrory provided the battalion with an unofficial motto, 'When in doubt, lash out'. Paddy McCrory and his forgotten driver were soldiers who would earn the respect and affection of fellow fighting men the world over.

This story courtesy of Tim Saunders and his book Hell’s Highway.

The Guards Armoured Division went on to led XXX Corps all the way to the Island just south of Arnhem stopping almost in site of there ultimate goal. They operated first with 101st US Airborne Division in Eindhoven and Veghel and with 82nd US Airborne Division at Nijmegen. The Division fought well and has often be blamed for not getting to the Arnhem Bridge in time but to blame them is unfair and the whole plan should be looked at and not any one particular part. For their part the solders of the Guards Armoured did there best with the equipment they had and it as so the were so close of achieving the Bridge the so desperately wanted.