7th Armoured Division (United Kingdom) consisted of the 1/5th, 1/6th and 1/7th Territorial battalions of the Queen's Royal Regiment) relieved its 'sister' duplicate, the 169th (Queen's) Infantry Brigade, (consisting of 2/5th, 2/6th and 2/7th Queen's, all formed in 1939), which was part of the 56th (London) Infantry Division, and had been in continuous combat since 9 September. The assembley of six battalions of a single regiment has since been considered a unique moment in the regiment's history. The 169th Brigade was commanded at the time by Brigadier Lewis Lyne, who would later command the 7th Armoured Division from November 1944 onwards. Then, as part of
2/7th Armoured Regiment (Australia) Wales, at this time. The delay in equipping the units of the 1st Armoured Division meant that their deployment was set back. Initially it had been planned to deploy the 2/7th Armoured Regiment, along with the rest of the 1st Armoured Brigade, in December 1941, however, this was not possible. Shortly thereafter, the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor and invasion Malaya meant that the decision was made not to send the 1st Armoured Division to the Middle East as the situation in the Pacific had the potential to directly threaten the Australian mainland. In June 1942 the regiment was re-equipped