7th Armoured Division (France) the "7 Division Légère Blindée" (7th Light Armoured Division). It became simply the "7 Division Blindée" (7th Armoured Division) in 1963 when the 8th Motorised Infantry Brigade joined the division. In the 1970s the French Army returned to the idea of smaller, more flexible divisions, the idea which had originally led to the creation of the division. It was selected to test the new ideas, and its 7th Mechanised Brigade did much of the experimental work. With the adoption of the new divisional structure in 1977, the 7th Armoured Division was dissolved and the new 7th Armoured, as well as
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