7th Armoured Division (United Kingdom)

Mobile Division (Egypt) / Mobile Division, Egypt Armoured Division (Egypt) 7th Armoured Division
A jerboa had been used on the divisional insignia since early 1940. This variant was adopted in late 1943. The Imperial War Museum stated that due to a miscommunication the design was more akin to a kangaroo rather than intended, and permission was refused to update it.[1]
Active	1937–1958
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	British Army
Type	Armour
Size	9,442–14,964 men c. 350 tanks[a]
Nickname(s)	The Desert Rats
Engagements	Western Desert campaign Tunisian campaign Italian campaign Invasion of Normandy Allied advance from Paris to the Rhine
Commanders
Notable commanders	Percy Hobart Michael O'Moore Creagh William Gott John Campbell Frank Messervy John Harding George Erskine Lewis Lyne
Insignia
First insignia to use a jerboa, adopted c.1940[1]
Second design, adopted prior to the division's deployment to Italy.[1]

The 7th Armoured Division was an armoured division of the British Army. It was formed as the Mobile Division (Egypt) on 27 September 1938, after increased tensions between Britain and the Axis powers. This was part of an effort to reinforce and maintain the British strategic presence in Egypt to defend the Suez Canal, which was seen as vital to the British Empire's interests. In February 1940, the formation was renamed as the 7th Armoured Division. During its early years, the jerboa was adopted as the mascot and divisional insignia giving rise to the nickname Desert Rats.

The division fought in most of the major battles of the Western Desert campaign, was then engaged in the Tunisian campaign, and this was followed by the participation in the Italian campaign. It was then withdrawn from Italy and dispatched to the United Kingdom, to prepare for Operation Overlord. In June 1944, it landed in France and subsequently fought across western Europe and ended the war in Kiel and Hamburg, Germany.

After the war it formed part of the British Army of the Rhine until it was disbanded in the 1950s. The division's history and insignia was carried on by the 7th Armoured Brigade, until the brigade was disbanded in 2014, and is now maintained by the 7th Light Mechanised Brigade Combat Team.

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