Glückstadt, a town in Schleswig-Holstein, situated on the right bank of the river Elbe. Now part of the Hamburg Metropolitan District, it is about 62km NW from the City. It is about 23km from Itzehoe, 27km from Uetersen, and 32km from Brunsbüttel, all locations used by British units around the end of WW2.

Updated 4 July 2024

Glückstadt was the responsibility of the following higher formations:
7th Armoured Division 7 May 45
Royal Artillery Brigade Guards Division 15 Jul 46
Hamburg District 31 Dec 46

Requisitioned civilian accommodation

1st Battalion Royal Tank Regiment RAC 1945 (1)
1st Battalion Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort’s Own) 1945 (2)
15th (Isle of Man) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment RA 1946 (3)
1 Battery – 41 Battery – 42 Battery
2nd Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment RA 1946 (4)
1 Battery – 5 Battery – 6 Battery
3 (Independent) Company of 4th Battalion Royal Northumberland Fusiliers (Machine Gun) (5)

Kriegsmarine Kaserne later Peterborough Barracks

Home to:
1st Battalion Rifle Brigade (Prince Consort’s Own) (2)
1st Special Wireless Group (6)
1st Special Wireless Regiment (6)

(1) arrived from Meldorf south of Heide 22 May 45 – Am Kirchplatz – moved to Belgium for conversion to Comet tanks 22 Jun 45
(2) arrived from Hanerau-Hademarschen south-east of Albersdorf 5 Sep 45 – Am Kirchplatz – Kriegsmarine Kaserne 15 Sep 45 – moved to Osnabrück 14 Jul 46
(3) arrived from Krempe north-east of Glückstadt 2 Jan 46 – area Glückstadt – suspended animation 7 Feb 46
(4) forms 4 Feb 46 – area Glückstadt – moved to Wilhelmshaven 30 Jun 46
(5) arrived from Berlin 23 Mar 46 – area Glückstadt – moved to Reinbek east of Hamburg 27 Mar 46
(6) arrived from Schacht-Audorf north-east of Rendsburg 11 Jul 46 – redesignated 1st Special Wireless Regiment 15 Jul 46 – moved to Münster Apr 50 redesignated 1 Wireless Regiment

More to follow
Source: 21st Army Group later British Army of the Rhine to 1 Mar 49

After the fall of Hamburg, the 7th Armoured Division moved northwards through Schleswig-Holstein reaching the gates of the City of Glückstadt. The images below will tell the rest of the story.

Images courtesy of “Tank” the RTR Journal