Desert Rats

Mobile Division (Egypt) 7th Armoured Division
7th Armoured Division insignia, from 1944 onwards.
Active	1938–1958
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	British Army
Type	Armoured Division
Size	Second World War: 14,964 men
Nickname(s)	The Desert Rats
Mascot(s)	Jerboa
Engagements	Second World War North African Campaign Tunisia Campaign Allied invasion of Italy North West Europe
Commanders
Notable commanders	Percy Hobart William Gott Jock Campbell VC John Harding

The 7th Armoured Division was an armoured division of the British Army that saw distinguished active service during World War II, where its exploits in the Western Desert Campaign made it famous as the Desert Rats.

After the Munich Agreement, 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. In February 1940, the name of the unit was changed to the 7th Armoured Division.

The division fought in most major battles during the North African Campaign; later it would land and fight in the Italian Campaign during the early stages of the invasion of Italy before being withdrawn to the United Kingdom where it prepared to fight in North-west Europe.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 D-Day, 6 June 1944, 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 the early stages of the Burma Campaign, it then returned to the Mediterranean Theatre and fought in the Italian theatre.