7th Armoured Division (United Kingdom) Lieutenant General Mark W. Clark's U.S. Fifth Army's British X Corps, commanded by Lieutenant-General Richard McCreery, and supported by the British 46th Infantry Division, it drove on and took Naples. The Desert Rats, used to fighting in the desert, had to adjust to the confined Italian roads. The division crossed the river Volturno in southern Italy, constructing a pontoon bridge. This paved the way for many divisions heading north. The 7th Armoured Division was then withdrawn from the front line and held in reserve. On the wishes of the British Eighth Army commander, General Sir Bernard Montgomery, the 7th Armoured
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