7th Armoured Brigade (United Kingdom) 14 November 2014, the brigade formally stepped out of its armour role into that of an infantry brigade. The composition was as follows: Recent commanders have included: 7th Armoured Brigade (United Kingdom) The 7th Armoured Brigade was an armoured brigade formation of the British Army. The brigade is also known as the 'Desert Rats', a nickname formerly held by the 7th Armoured Division, of which the brigade formed a part of during the Second World War until late 1941. The brigade was raised from garrison troops stationed in North Africa in 1938. It was initially known as the Light Armoured
Guards Armoured Division casualties and were struggling to find replacements. As a result, the attack was changed to one largely of armoured divisions, as lost tanks would be easier to replace. The Guards Armoured Division joined with the 7th and 11th Armoured Divisions for this attack. The aim was to strike south out of the Orne bridgehead on 18 July. The Guards Armoured Division was to advance south-east to capture Vimont and Argences. Prior to this attack the German defences were heavily bombed be the Royal Air Force. Unfortunately this was less effective than hoped against the dug-in defenders, both in the south