The British 7th Armored Division was an armored formation of the British Army that existed from 1938 to 1958. The division was nicknamed "the Desert Rats", and the division fought in most of the battles of the Western Desert Campaign in North Africa from 1940 to 1943. The division later took part in the invasion of Italy, Operation Overlord, and the advance into Germany. The division ended the war in Kiel and Hamburg in May 1945, and the division was disbanded in 1958.
Gallery[]
British 7th Armored Division troops during the Battle of Toujane, 1943.
The "Desert Rats" with their Light Tank Mk VIs and lorries of the 8th King's Royal Irish Hussars assembled ready to move off for an exercise in the desert, 5 June 1940.
British 7th Armoured Division Clearing Village Near Stadtlohn, Germany in March 1945.