7th Armoured Brigade (United Kingdom) 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 Brigade which was part of the Mobile Division in Egypt. When the Mobile Division became 7th Armoured Division, the Light Armoured Brigade became the 7th Armoured Brigade
1st Armoured Division (Australia) in Europe during the early stages of World War II. The Australian War Cabinet approved the formation of an armoured division in July 1940, and 1st Armoured Division was established on 1 July 1941, under the command of Major General John Northcott. The Australian Armoured Corps was established at the same time, with the corps being formally gazetted on 9 July 1941. The Division was established with two armoured brigades, 1st and 2nd, each of three armoured regiments. These were supported by various corps troops including an armoured car regiment, a motor regiment (converted from a light horse formation), engineers,