7th Armoured Division

The 7th Armoured Division was a British armoured division which saw service during the Second World War where its exploits made it famous as the Desert Rats.

After the Munich Crisis, the division was formed in Egypt during 1938 as the Mobile Division (Egypt) and its first divisional commander was the acclaimed tank theorist Major-General Sir Percy Hobart. During January 1940, the name of the unit was changed to the 7th Armoured Division. It was during this period that the nickname "Desert Rats" was coined.

The division fought in every major battle during the North African Campaign; later it would land and fight in Sicily and Italy before being withdrawn to the United Kingdom where it prepared to fight in North West Europe. It began landing in Normandy during the afternoon of June 6 and fought its way across Europe ending the war in Kiel and Hamburg, Germany. The 7th Armoured Brigade was detached from the division during early 1942 and fought the Japanese during the fighting in Burma before it returned to the Mediterranean Theatre and fought in Italy.

Although the division was disbanded during the 1950s, the history, name and the famous 'Desert Rat' flash is carried on by the 7th Armoured Brigade.

North Africa

In December 1939, Major-General Sir Michael O'Moore Creagh succeeded Hobart who had fallen afoul of his superiors.The unit was meant to be equipped with 220 tanks. However, at the outbreak of war the 'Mobile Force' had only 65. Most of the unit's troops had already been deployed for two years by 1940 and it took as long as three months for mail to arrive.On 16 February 1940, the Mobile Division became the 7th Armoured Division.The Desert Rat divisional flash was adopted about the same time. It originated from a sketch of a jerboa drawn by the divisional commander's wife after a visit to the Cairo Zoo.

After the Italian declaration of war, the Western Desert Force was massively outnumbered. However, the Italians proved to be no match for the British. The Western Desert Force captured 250,000 Italians in the early engagements in 1940.During the 1941 Italian retreat, Major-General Richard O'Connor, the Western Desert Force commander, ordered the Desert Rats to travel south of the Jebel Akhdar and cut off the Italian forces at Beda Fomm, while Australian forces pushed the Italians west. As the tanks were unable to travel fast enough, the manoeuvre was led by an ad hoc brigade of armoured cars, towed artillery and infantry which completed the trip in 30 hours, cutting off the Italian retreat and destroying the Italian Tenth Army. Lieutenant-Colonel John Combe led this ad hoc group which was known as "Combe Force" after him.The Italians proved so weak that German dictator Adolf Hitler was forced to send reinforcements (Afrika Korps) to stiffen them under the command of General Erwin Rommel.The Western Desert Force later became HQ XIII Corps, one of the major parts of Eighth Army. The 7th Armoured Division took part in most of the major battles of the North African Campaign, including both Battles of El Alamein (see First Battle of El Alamein and Second Battle of El Alamein for details). It also participated in the destruction of Axis forces in North Africa in Tunisia in 1943.

Northern Europe

The division formed one of the follow up formations in Normandy. After the invasion the 7th Armoured Division was assigned to clear routes to and then attacking Caen. Its performances in Normandy and the rest of France did not match those of its earlier campaigns. Due to these performances, which were deemed poor by higher command, Major-General Erskine was relieved of command in early August along with Brigadier Hinde, Commander, Royal Artillery Mews and over 100 other men and officers. The division's lackluster performance continued after the change of command, and three months later, in November 1944, Erskine's replacement, Major-General G.L. Verney, was himself relieved after he "was unable to cure the division's bad habits well enough to satisfy Montgomery and [Lieutenant-General Miles] Dempsey."

No doubt the division suffered from collective and cumulative battle fatigue. As Verney put it, with some prescience: "There is no doubt that familiarity with war does not make one more courageous. One becomes cunning, and from cunning to cowardice is but a short step."

Within 21st Army Group it took part in the liberation of Belgium, the Netherlands and northern Germany. In January 1945 it took part in Operation Blackcock to clear the Roer Triangle.

Post war

The Division remained in Germany as part of the occupation forces and then into the 1950s as part of the British Army of the Rhine standing watch against the Warsaw Pact. As the British Army became smaller, its higher numbered divisions were removed from the order of battle. The Division's long and illustrious career finally came to an end in this fashion, in April 1958, when it was converted into 5th Division. However, the traditions of 7th Armoured Division are maintained by 7th Armoured Brigade, which forms part of 1 (UK) Division.