7th Armoured Division (United Kingdom) had fallen foul of his superiors. The division was meant to be equipped with 220 tanks. However, at the outbreak of the Second World War, in September 1939, the 'Mobile Force' only had 65. Most of the unit's troops had already been deployed for two years by 1940 and it took as long as three months for mail to arrive. On 16 February 1940, the Mobile Division, which had changed names during the middle of 1939 to be called the Armoured Division, became the 7th Armoured Division. After the Italian declaration of war, the Western Desert Force, under the command
8th Armoured Division (South Africa) 8th Armoured Division (South Africa) 8 South African Armoured Division was a formation of the South African Army, active from the 1970s to 1999. 8 South African Division was established as an Armoured Formation on August 1, 1974, consisting of 81 Armoured Brigade, 82 Mechanised Brigade and 84 Motorised Brigade. It was, in many respects, a mirror of 7th South African Infantry Division. A provisional 1977 order of battle had 8 Armoured Division organised as follows: Headquartered in Pretoria, 81 Armoured Brigade consisted of the following units: Headquartered in Potchefstroom, 82 Mechanised Brigade consisted of the following units: During Operation