7th Armoured Division - the famous Desert Rats.

Formed in North Africa just before the start of WW2 they are not only famous for their actions as part of the Eighth Army, but also for landing on the Normandy beaches and then fighting all the way across NWE ending the war at Hamburg whose surrender they accepted on 3rd of May 1945. Every schoolboy in the UK of a certain age knows this story and of the famous red Jerboa.

Alongside the armoured units a key element of 7th AD was 131st Infantry Brigade which served with the division from late 1942 until the end of war. Also known as the 131st (Queen's) Lorried Infantry Brigade this unit comprised of three battalions from the Queens Royal Regiment -1/5 Queens, 1/6 Queens and 1/7 Queens. The latter two battalions were replaced in the Division in November 1944 by 2nd Bttn Devonshire Regiment and 9th Bttn Durham Light Infantry respectively. 1/5 Queens Royal Regiment however continued to serve with the Division through to the end of the war.

Back in the Eighties I served ten years as a Territorial Army infantry soldier as a member of 5th Battalion the Queens Regiment - 5 Queens - a successor to 1/5 Queens Royal Regiment when the Queens Regiment was established in 1966. For most of my time with the battalion it was NATO roled, meaning we trained to fight in West Germany against the Soviet Army should they every cross the Inner German Border. While I never served in 7th Armoured and so am not a Desert Rat, I was a proud Queensman and for this reason my British units in game, where possible, all wear the markings of 7th Armoured Division.