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Hey guys, I had Italieri-branded 3 Cromwell MK.IVs arrive today in the post. I admit that I know very little about Cromwells, their unit markings and their schemes. Being fully accurate won't be a factor at all as neither my opponents or myself will know enough to pick out the finest details... but... I'd still like them to be reasonably accurate. Or at worst not terribly wrong.

What I'm hoping for here is if someone could give me some guidelines on appropriate paint and markings/decals (and placement) to use to represent a trio of Cromwell IVs for the 7th Armoured Div circa the Normandy Campaign. I may add a Firefly down the road once there's an appropriate plastic one. I'd strongly prefer not to have to source an Osprey book for 3 models, and if the decals I have are appropriate I'll try to build and paint them to completion over the course of a week, as a nice palette-cleanser from the Fantasy stuff I've been finishing off lately.

Here's the Italieri decal sheet I have for them. I'm prepared to buy another decal sheet or three from Warlord if there's a more appropriate/better ones.


I'm also quite happy to consider the 11th Armoured Division - though I'd still appreciate some guidelines on paint and marking placement. What other markings would I need if I picked up these decals from Warlord?
http://store.warlordgames.com/collections/bolt-action/products/british-11th-armoured-division-black-bull

Advice and suggestions are all obviously welcome!

The Cromwells in 7th Armoured equipped 22nd Armoured Brigade. During the Normandy fighting, that was comprised of 1st and 5th Royal Tank Regiment (1st RTR and 5th RTR) and 4th County of London Yeomanry (4th CLY). The tactical sign for these regiments was a red square with "51", "52" and "53" respectively in white. The divisional sign was of course 7th Armoured's famous red jerboa in a white circle within a red square. The tactical sign was on the right and the divisional sign on the left (if you're facing the same way as the tank).

4th CLY (nick-named "Sharpshooters") is (in)famous for coming unstuck at Villers-Bocage, so there's more info available for it. 4th CLY's Cromwells were quite plainly marked. The bridging number "30" was carried on the nose, on the right side, with the serial number in the middle. The serial number also appeared on the turret sides. Most of their Cromwells don't seem to have had either tactical or formation signs. Some carried names on the turret, like "SHUFTI CUSH" (apparently a rude word in Arabic). Many still had shipping instructions scribbled or stencilled on them. They probably had a white star in a circle on the top of the turret. They don't seem to have carried any squadron markings (geometric symbols usually seen on the turret), but if they had it should have been blue. So you don't actually need any more decals.

The "76" tactical sign on your decal sheet is for 5th Regiment RHA. This appeared on the Forward Observation Officer's tank (i.e. he was from the artillery), and one of 4th CLY's Cromwells was marked with this (the tactical sign was on the glacis between the hull gun and driver's hatch and the "RD" was on the left of the hull gun). Your decals are for a specific tank which was photographed at Villers-Bocage.

4th CLY's Fireflies were also very plainly marked - often just the serial number on the hull sides and a name (a well-known example being "ALLAKEEFEK", which was captured by the Germans at Villers-Bocage) and a squadron marking on the turret (which would also have been blue).

British tanks of this period are often shown as being a dark green, but this isn't really correct. It was a similar colour to faded olive drab, called Khaki Green (or Khaki Drab) No.15. There were different shades, and it was usually filthy, so it's not something to be too picky about.

Hope that helps. Let me know if you want more info. 11th Armoured had more elaborate markings than 7th Armoured.

That's great - very much appreciated. After reading a bit more on the 7th and 11th, I might go for them. I usually enjoy making my models a bit more interesting via markings and such, and Marouda has a thing for Bulls, so the 11th may be a better option.

If you could offer some guidelines for the 11th, that would also be fantastic.

Sure, I'll dig up some info on 11th Armoured.

I'm away from my books right now but IIRC the only Cromwells in 11th Armoured would have been in the Divisional Recce unit.


I'll try and find out more for you when I come back from work.

Yep...

1st Armoured Reconaissance Regiment (2nd Northhamptonshire Yeomanry then relieved 08/08/44 by 15/19 King's Royal Hussars).

The tank regiments in 11th were eqipped with Shermans. Though I have a vague recollection that 11th Arm. Div. HQ had some Cromwells in it...

Guards Armoured Division had Cromwells in the 2nd ARR, which was the Welsh Guards from memory.

The 1st Czech Independent Armoured Brigade also had two Cromwell regiments.

6th Airborne Armoured Recce Regiment acquired some Cromwell IVs in late July 1944.

Polish had them as Recce too, 10th Mounted Rifles for one I think.

2nd Northamptonshire Yeomanry was attached to 20th Armoured Brigade in 1943 as the reconnaisance armoured regiment. It and the divisional HQ were the only units in 11th Armoured equipped with Cromwells. In practice, it tended to be used as the fourth armoured regiment of the division, rather than for reconnaisance.

Cromwells in 2nd Northampshire Yeomanry were marked with the divisional sign on the left side of the glacis and the tactical sign on the far right (facing the same direction as the tank). The divisional sign was a black bull on a yellow square, chosen by Maj. Gen. Hobart when the division was formed in 1941. The tactical sign was a green over blue square with the number "45" in white. These signs were repeated on the rear, but were on the opposite sides. The serial number was in the centre of the nose and the centre of the the rear engine plate, and (often) on the turret sides. There was a yellow bridging sign on the right side; for some reason it was "28" (whereas in 7th Armoured it was "30"). Some tanks carried names in small letters above the front divisional sign. Names included "OLIVER" and "TAUREG II". They presumably had the white star in a circle on the turret roof. Only a few seem to have carried squadron markings.

Divisional HQ vehicles were similarly marked, but the formation sign was a black square with a white "40".

As with 7th Armoured, many of 11th Armoured's tanks carried a lot of shipping instructions either stencilled or scribbled on them. The overall colour was the same. As 11th Armoured was held back for a couple of weeks after the D-Day landings (due to a lack of ammo and fuel), the crews had time to properly remove all the waterprooofing. This means their tanks don't have the dark stains and patches that you see on 4th CLY's tanks.

11th Armoured would have the distinction of liberating Bergen-Belsen later in the war.

Thanks again guys. I'll get the WLG decal sheet ordered and then get them done up. I personally prefer to avoid specific tanks, but with that little bit of info I might give a nod to the MK1 I visited up at Puckapunyal with a "NOT TO BE STOWED ON DECK" on the turret of one of my models.

Let me know if you want any more info. I have some good photos of Cromwells from both units (the choice available on the net is quite limited).

I've looked at your earlier T-34 models, and they've very good. Looking forward to seeing how your Cromwells turn out. Remember Rubicon have a 1/56 scale Achilles and Stuart IV/Recce coming out soon - they'll compliment your Cromwells nicely.

Any good reference photos would be fantastic. My painting has been put off for a week and a bit since I lost one of my main down lights over my lamp that provides fill light. I've got today off work and the sparky is coming to replace the transformer and do some other work, so the Cromwells (and all painting, actually, except for simple things like undercoating and basing) got deferred for a week, so all I've really been able to do is post new pictures of old models.

Hopefully Rubicon gets their kits out sooner rather than later. The Aussie $ is dropping like a turnip, so I'm wanting to buy as much stuff as I can now over the next few weeks in preparation for a long fast from most new stuff. Probably a good thing. I'll finally paint more than I buy...

 Azazelx wrote:
Any good reference photos would be fantastic.

Tell me what you need precisely - whether it's 7th or 11th Armoured, and what points you're particularly interested in. Do you want colour plates? I might need to PM you since I shouldn't post lots of scans from books.

Hopefully Rubicon gets their kits out sooner rather than later. The Aussie $ is dropping like a turnip, so I'm wanting to buy as much stuff as I can now over the next few weeks in preparation for a long fast from most new stuff. Probably a good thing. I'll finally paint more than I buy...

The Stuart VI/Recce kit is out in a week or so. The Achilles won't be out till late this year.