Can anyone please confirm the date of arrival in North Africa of the 73rd A/T Reg (R.A)? Most sources show August 1942. But I have seen an account somewhere of it arriving at Port Tewfik, and using 2Pdrs & 18Pdrs during Operation Crusader, which would of course considerably pre-date the above. Thanks in advance, David.
I have it arriving with 8th Support Group on July 18th, 1942. But on the other hand there are two references to the 73rd Anti-Tank Regiment in the RA History, "Years of Defeat 1939-41". On p. 224, it mentions a battery of 73rd Anti-Tank Regiment under 11th Indian Brigade on December 3rd, 1941 and p. 226 a Troop is with 5th Indian Brigade on December 15th, 1941. The RA history is notorious for misprints since there seems to be some conflict here. Joslen's 'Orders of Battle' has it with 8th Support Group arriving in July 1942 and no earlier mention. Neither the 1st Buffs (5th Ind Bde) or 2nd QO Cameron Highlanders (11th Ind Bde) mentions the 73rd Anti-Tank Regiment in December 1941. One does mention the 65th Anti-Tank Regiment.
David The information given to you in this thread is correct: Axis History Forum • View topic - 73rd Anti Tank Regiment R.A (T.A) They arrived in summer 41 as 73rd Medium, and were turned into an AT Rgt. One battery served with Oasis Group in the raid on Gialo. It's based on the war diary. All the best Andreas
Andreas, while you are correct in saying that 73 Medium was converted to Anti-Tank, it became 95 Anti-Tank Rgt not 73rd. It could not have taken the number 73 as this Anti-Tank Rgt had already been in existence since Nov 40. Although I don't have a date for their arrival, I do have them as being in N Africa in July 42.
Andreas, while you are correct in saying that 73 Medium was converted to Anti-Tank, it became 95 Anti-Tank Rgt not 73rd. It could not have taken the number 73 as this Anti-Tank Rgt had already been in existence since Nov 40. Although I don't have a date for their arrival, I do have them as being in N Africa in July 42. Derek All I can say is that all the period reports up to December 41 inclusive refer to 73 AT Rgt. RA. War diary, orders. If they had been renamed, nobody had bothered to tell the CO. They landed at POrt Tewfik on 29 September, and received the conversion order on 30 September. This order does not mention a re-naming. All the best Andreas
I have the 73rd Medium Regt RA, 282 & 311 Btys converting to the 95th A/Tk Regt RA in Oct/Nov 1941 & reverting back to the 73rd Medium Regt in Italy with 2AGRA in April 44. As you say looks like the Ajt just presumed they would be named 73rd A/Tk Regt, which was already in existance. Whats their title on the 1942 diary? Best Rob
My information is the same as Derek, but I think it was simply a matter of the nomenclature, 95th rather than 73rd, catching up with the unit. Maybe it was an assumption on the part of the CO that the 73rd Medium would become the 73rd Anti-Tank. When 'A' Battery left Egypt at the start of February 1942, it was referred to as 95th Anti-Tank Regiment. I have Orders of Battle for November 18th, 1941 that has it as 73rd Anti-Tank Regiment under 22nd Guards Brigade (less 'C' Battery) and 'C' Battery of the 73rd Anti-Tank Regiment under Oases Force. During the Retreat to Gazala in January 1942, 'C' and 'D' Batteries of the 73rd were under 200th Guards Brigade. Again I think that after the January 1942 fighting, the name of 95th Anti-Tank Reigment finally caught up with the 'recalcitrant' 73rd.
Hi David For 1941 that's pretty much what I have. For 1942 that's a good pointer, since I was unable to find the 1942 war diary. It might be filed under 95 AT Rgt, which would explain that. All the best Andreas
My post from this morning seems to have disappeared, so I'll try to remember exactly what I said. It seems that I have opened the preverbial "can of worms"! here with this query. Well done to Andreas for finding my original source from over five years ago! Some of the confusion seems to have arrived from not being able to identify the composite batteries. Why is it that the A/T Regiments seem to use the generic "A,B,C & D" Batteries, and not unique numbers like their A/A and Field cousins? I assume when the men of the 73rd Medium Reg arrived in North Africa they were sans guns (of any type). When did they get their 2Pdrs & 18Pdrs, and where from? Surely they were none just being held in reserve, and not being pressed into service? Also, when the "real" 73rd A/T Reg arrived in the July/August 1942, were they equipped with 6 Pdrs?
David Given that there had been virtually no action in the Western Desert after BATTLEAXE, I would expect the regiment to have drawn guns from stocks in the Middle East. I would also expect there to have been a shortage of medium guns, and that may have played a role in the decision to convert. If you look at this (8th Army Medium Artillery Stats 4 November 1941 (major update 19 June) « The Crusader Project ), you'll note that the only gun of which they had plenty in reserve on 4 November was the 6" howitzer, while the reserve of modern 4.5" guns was not sufficient to equip a regiment. All the best Andreas
At Alamein, the 73rd Anti-Tank Regiment had 48x6-pounders. I assume that is what they came to Egypt with in July 1942.
David, would that have been four batteries of 12 guns, or three batteries of 16 guns each? Porteed I presume? Thanks for all the info to you, and all the contributers to this thread. David W.
When the 73rd Anti-Tank Regiment was formed on November 1st, 1940 the batteries were labeled 'A', 'B', 'C' and 'D'. 234th Battery was added on 1 September 1942. The batteries were renamed ‘Q’, ‘R’, ‘S’ and ‘T’ on 8 October 1942 and numbered 195th, 196th, 197th and 234th on 30 March 1943. 197th Battery left on 10 May 1943 and was replaced by the newly-formed 198th Battery.
Coming very late to the debate, but.... It was not a case of 73 Med Regt RA being "recalcitrant" about their own name; 22 Gds Bde and XXX Corps op orders, loc stats etc also note the regiment as 73 ATk Regt RA. Even the 8th Army post-Crusader narrative lists them as 73 A/Tk Regt. It appears to be a case of those in the ME not knowing that another 73 ATk Regt RA existed in the UK rather than just a single stubborn CO.
