Metal formation badge of the 7th Armoured Division
(LOUWM:1987.260)

Formation Insignia


The British Army introduced formation insignia on its vehicles and signage in World War One as a way of easy identification without revealing the full military designation of each constituent unit of the formation. These emblems began to spread to uniforms during the war, but were largely dropped when war ended, only to be reintroduced in World War Two.

The War in North Africa

Throughout the first half of the twentieth century, Britain had maintained forces in Egypt chiefly to ensure British access to the Suez Canal. Some of these forces were reconstituted in 1938 as the "Matruh Mobile Force", following an increase of tension in the area brought about by concern over German and Italian expansionist policies. In 1939, Italy, under Benito Mussolini, joined Germany in the so-called "Pact of Steel".

In February 1940, part of the Mobile Force became the 7th Armoured Brigade, famed as the "Desert Rats".

In June 1940, Italy declared war on Britain and France, and in September, invaded Egypt from the adjacent Italian colony of Libya. By February 1941, the Italian invasion had largely been defeated, but the Germans sent their own troops in as what was to become the Afrika Korps under Erwin Rommel, and fought back. They retook the port of Tobruk in June 1942 with the mass capture of British and Commonwealth troops, but it was again in Allied hands by November.

Fighting continued in North Africa up until May 1943.