24 April 1940. Salisbury Plain, England.
2nd Armoured Brigade had been hard at it for the last couple of weeks. Word on the fighting in Norway had spurred on the three armoured regiments. So far only a troop of 3rd Kings Own Hussars from the Royal Armoured Corps, were expected to be shipped over the North Sea along with 15th Infantry Brigade from 2nd Infantry Division. In their light tanks the 3rd Hussars would be acting as the reconnaissance element for the Brigade, as the Cavalry Regiments attached to Infantry Divisions were trained to do.
The three Cavalry Regiments that made up 2nd Armoured Brigade however had a different purpose. A few days before, the Queens Bays had acted in the reconnaissance role as they and the 9th Lancers and 10th Hussars had made the road march to Salisbury Plain as the first element of their weeks training. This was a chance to get used to the new organisation, no longer were they the Light Armoured Brigade.
Word came through to the Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Christopher Peto before the morning briefing from the War Office that 1st Armoured Division were to be mobilised for service overseas by 1st June 1940. At the briefing, Peto noted that the 9th Lancers’ war establishment of 52 Cruiser tanks, was actually 18 A13 and 4 A10 (*) Cruiser tanks and 35 Light Tanks, a mixture of Mark VI B and Cs.
The previous week the 9th Lancers had spent their time at the firing range at Linney Head. Since all their tanks were to be Cruisers armed with 2-pdr guns, it was necessary to train the whole regiment in their use. On the range from 09:00hrs until 17:00hrs, every gunner and wireless operator had a chance to get used to the new Besa co-axial machine gun. Every commander, gunner and wireless operator also had firing practice with the 2-pdr and .303 Vickers Machine Gun, which still made up the majority of co-axial machine guns.
On the last two days on the firing range, each troop had a battle practice. This took place over a special course at Linney Head where the tanks were expected to move and engage various stationary and mechanically operated targets. Each troop had one experience of this, which was important because it gave both stationary and moving gunnery experience, but also it provided a chance to get used to handling a troop in cross country movement, something they weren’t able to do normally. If tanks went off the road outside of practice ranges, they would have to pay compensation to land owners for damaging crops.
During their week at Linney Head, the Regiment fired off 2500 rounds of 2-pdr ammunition 17000 rounds of Besa 7.92mm, and 22ooo rounds of .303. Coming together on Salisbury Plain was the next part of the honing of the skills that would include working with the other two regiments in the Armoured Brigade.
Having only 22 Cruiser Tanks was a major problem for the Regiment. As it was now expected that all the Light Tanks would eventually be replaced with Cruisers, this meant that all the drivers in the Regiment needed to be trained on them. Those used to the Vickers Mark VI would have to learn how to drive an A10 or an A13. The shortage of Cruisers was compounded as at least several of them were in the Regimental Workshop and RAOC Advance Depots for overhaul at any one time. The army stipulated that no Cruiser was to be shipped overseas if it exceeded 1000 miles. The overhaul mileage for an A13 had been set at 1500 miles, so if a tank was sent overseas with less than 1000 miles, it would have a theoretical minimum of 500 miles of useful life remaining before going in for an overhaul.
Everyone knew that the nearer a tank came to its 1500 mile overhaul it was more likely to suffer from mechanical ailments. The chances were that the last 500 miles were likely to be a tank's ‘worst’ miles. Ideally, any tank would have a considerably greater mileage in hand before being sent overseas. So, the 9th Lancers, and all the other regiments of 1st Armoured Division were caught in the predicament of having to conduct as much training as possible with less tanks than it should have, while simultaneously trying to avoid them being subjected to excessive wear and tear. What the regiments were finding was that the 1000 mile limit was eaten up very quickly in intensive training, two or three months at most.
9th Lancers were for the most part receiving the Mark II version of the A13, with the extra armour bolted on. The first 65 A13 Mark I, with the maximum 0.55 inch (14mm) armour were concentrated in the 3rd Armoured Brigade. However, all six regiments were having to send tanks to each other to allow for the mixture agreed upon to happen. If one regiment had more A10s than it needed for the Headquarters Troop, then the spare would be sent to another Regiment, or even to the Brigade or Divisional Headquarters. As the A13s slowly increased in number, those approaching their overhaul would be sent off to the Depot and the newer tanks replace them in the training. It wasn’t unheard of, in fact it was normal practice, for a Regiment, if they had a spare tank, to send off one with deficiencies to a sister unit, rather than a good runner.
Lt-Col Peto was informed by the Regiment’s Quarter Master that the 9th Lancers were also deficient in ‘B’ vehicles (wheeled), gun parts and spare parts. Peto was also informed that they were short of 30 Driver Mechanics, 54 Driver Operators, 4 Electricians, 5 fitters and 15 motor mechanics. Peto asked that all of this information be passed onto Brigadier McCreery, 2nd Armoured Brigade’s Officer Commanding. Meanwhile the Regiment had another couple of days on Salisbury Plain, and with a lot to do, everyone had to make the most of it.
(*) This is the only change to OTL, in fact they had 18 cruisers and 39 light tanks.
