| Unit Name: | Heavy Armoured Brigade (Egypt) 4th Armoured Brigade 4th Armoured Brigade Group 4th Mechanized Brigade 4th Infantry Brigade and Headquarters North East 4th Light Brigade Combat Team |
| Dates: | 1939–1945 1976–Present |
| Country: |  United Kingdom |
| Type: | Infantry |
| Size: | Brigade |
| Command Structure: | 1st (United Kingdom) Division |
| Current Commander: | Brigadier R J Singleton |
| Garrison: | Catterick, North Yorkshire |
| Battles: | Second World War
North West Europe CampaignGulf War |
| Notable Commanders: | Michael Carver |
| Heavy Armoured Brigade (Egypt) | |
| Date: | September 1939 |
| Parent: | 7th Armoured Division |
| Subordinate: | 1st Royal Tank Regiment 6th Royal Tank Regiment |
| 4th Armoured Brigade | |
| Date: | April 1940 |
| Parent: | 7th Armoured Division |
| Subordinate: | 2nd Royal Tank Regiment 6th Royal Tank Regiment 7th Queen's Own Hussars |
| 4th Armoured Brigade Group | |
| Date: | February 1942 |
| Parent: | 7th Armoured Division |
| Subordinate: | 3rd Royal Tank Regiment 5th Royal Tank Regiment 1st Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps 1st Regiment, RHA Troop, 4th Field Squadron, RE 5th Company, RASC 58th Company, RASC 151st Light Field Ambulance |
| 4th Armoured Brigade | |
| Date: | June 1943 |
| Subordinate: | 2nd Derbyshire Yeomanry 3rd County of London Yeomanry |
| 4th Armoured Brigade | |
| Date: | May 1945 |
| Parent: | 21st Army Group |
| Subordinate: | 44th Royal Tank Regiment 2nd Battalion, KRRC |
| 4th Armoured Brigade | |
| Date: | 1981 |
| Parent: | 3rd Armoured Division |
| Subordinate: | Queen's Royal Irish Hussars 17th/21st Lancers 1st Battalion, Irish Guards |
| 4th Armoured Brigade | |
| Date: | 1989 |
| Parent: | 3rd Armoured Division |
| Subordinate: | 14th/20th King's Hussars 17th/21st Lancers 1st Battalion, Grenadier Guards |
| 4th Infantry Brigade and Headquarters North East | |
| Date: | 2020 |
| Parent: | 1st (United Kingdom) Division |
| Subordinate: | Light Dragoons Queen's Own Yeomanry 2nd Battalion, Yorkshire Regiment 4th Battalion, Yorkshire Regiment Royal Highland Fusiliers 52nd Lowland Volunteers |
| 4th Light Brigade Combat Team | |
| Date: | 2030 |
| Parent: | 1st (United Kingdom) Division |
| Subordinate: | Light Dragoons 1st Battalion, Grenadier Guards 1st Battalion, Coldstream Guards 2nd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland 1st Battalion, Duke of Lancaster's Regiment 2nd Battalion, The Rifles 1st Battalion, Royal Gurkha Rifles 103rd Regiment, Royal Artillery 75 Engineer Regiment, RE 154 (Scottish) Regiment RLC 102 Battalion REME |
4th Light Brigade Combat Team, provides light infantry mass, offering significant utility in operate tasks and with the ability to surge ground manoeuvre units by air or sea to reinforce UK forces or partners[1] .Previously known as 4th Infantry Brigade and Headquarters North East, and before that as 4th Mechanized Brigade and before that 4th Armoured Brigade is a brigade formation of the British Army, currently based in Catterick, North Yorkshire as part of 1st (United Kingdom) Division. The brigade, now known as the 'Black Rats', was formed in 1939 and fought in the Second World War in the Western Desert Campaign in North Africa. The Black Rats were subsequently involved in the invasion of Sicily and fighting in Italy before taking part in the Battle of Normandy and the advance through Belgium, Holland and into Germany.[2]
More recently, the Brigade took part in the First Gulf War and completed a number of tours to the Balkans during the 1990s. The Black Rats have also since deployed twice to Iraq and twice to Afghanistan as the lead formation.
In September 1939, at the start of the Second World War this brigade changed its title from Heavy Armoured Brigade (Egypt) to 4th Armoured Brigade.[3]
On 27 July 1941, it handed over its units to the 1st Army Tank Brigade and received new units based in Egypt. It was reformed again when the HQ arrived in Sicily and it took control of new units there. The 4th Armoured Brigade saw service in the North African Campaign, the Allied invasion of Sicily, the Italian Campaign and in North-western Europe. Although it served under many different formations it was most famous as part of the 7th Armoured Division, the "Desert Rats".[3]
The 4th Armoured Brigade left the 7th Armoured Division in North Africa in 1943, to return to join the Allied invasion force for Normandy. In June 1944, the brigade landed in Normandy as an independent brigade and fought during the Battle of Normandy during the Battle for Caen.[4]
The 4th Armoured Brigade was the first to cross the Rhine into Germany.[3]
The brigade was disestablished in 1948.[3]
Former BBC motorsports commentator Murray Walker served with 4th Armoured Brigade during the Second World War as a member of The Royal Scots Greys. After the war he started a motorcycle club, organising trials and scrambles for the soldiers within the Brigade.[5]
The brigade spent many years in Germany as part of the British Army of the Rhine. The brigade was one of two "square" brigades assigned to 2nd Division when it converted into an armoured formation in 1976.[6] After being briefly converted to "Task Force Charlie" in the late 1970s, the brigade was reinstated in 1981, assigned to 3rd Armoured Division[7] and was based at York Barracks in Münster.[8] The Brigade deployed to the First Gulf War on Operation Granby in 1990/91 and was involved in the liberation of Kuwait. It moved to Quebec Barracks at Osnabrück in 1993 to replace 12th Armoured Brigade as part of 1st (UK) Armoured Division.[9]
4th Armoured Brigade deployed to Bosnia in October 1995 as UNPROFOR HQ Sector South-West and subsequently as the leading UK element of the NATO Implementation Force (IFOR). The Black Rats have since deployed twice to Iraq and twice to Afghanistan, first on Operation Herrick 12 in 2010; and again in October 2012 for Operation Herrick 17, during which it was working in support of the Afghan Army's 3/215 Brigade and elements of the Afghan National Police.[10]
Under Army 2020, the brigade lost its armour and converted to an infantry brigade. The structure of the brigade in 2020 was as follows:[11] [12]
During the Second World War:[18] [19]
Recent commanders have included:[20]