2nd Armoured Brigade (United Kingdom) 2nd Armoured Brigade (United Kingdom) The 2nd Armoured Brigade was an armoured brigade of the British Army, part of the pre-war Regular Army, during the Second World War, originally titled 2nd Light Armoured Brigade. The 2nd Armoured Brigade was part of the 1st Armoured Division when it was sent as part of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) to France in 1940. It was evacuated from Brest without its heavy equipment. After being reformed it was sent in November 1941 to North Africa where it served with the 7th Armoured Division at Gazala, El Alamein and with the 1st Armoured Division
7th Armoured Division (United Kingdom) Cairo and temporarily ceased to be available as a fighting formation being replaced in the line by the 2nd Armoured Division. The Italians had proven so weak that Hitler was forced to send the Afrika Korps, under Erwin Rommel, as reinforcements. In April 1941, the Allied troops in Tobruk were cut off by the Germans and Italians. On 7 June, the division was again prepared for battle as part of Operation Battleaxe, having received new tanks and additional personnel. In the attack plan for Operation Battleaxe, the 7th force was divided between the Coast Force and Escarpment Force. However, this