To begin with we need to dispel a recurring myth. When they went into action on D-Day,the three British regiments operating DD tanks had been divided between two armoured brigades and had no connection with 79th Armoured Division; the Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry and the 4th/7th Dragoon Guards formed part of the 8th Armoured Brigade which landed on Gold sector while the 13th/18th Hussars in 27th Armoured Brigade landed on Sword. Also, each DD regiment consisted of two squadrons of amphibious tanks (20 tanks each) while the remainder of the regiment, the Third Squadron and Regimental Headquarters, with 24 tanks between them, landed dry, not being equipped with DD tanks. Of course, regarded as specialised armour all of these regiments had been part of 79th Armoured Division while training in Britain but when they went into action they were seen as tanks with the ability to swim. Once that was done and they were ashore they became ordinary fighting tanks and as such formed part of a conventional armoured brigade. Even so, it is clear that the 79th Armoured Division found it hard to let them go and the divisional history often refers to the activities of the DD tanks when recounting events on 6 June 1944.
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