 At the start of the offensive, there were 252 tanks fit for action.These equipped the British 9th Armoured Brigade (with the New Zealand Division), 2nd Armoured Brigade (1st Armoured Division) and 8th and 20th Armoured Brigades (10th Armoured Division).Their first encounter with tanks was against German Panzer III and IV tanks with long 50 mm and 75 mm guns engaging them at .