7th Armoured Division (United Kingdom) November 1943, the division left Italy for the United Kingdom; with the last units arriving on 7 January 1944. The division was re-equipped with the new Cromwell cruiser tanks and in April and May received 36 Sherman Vc Fireflies; enough to organise each troop so that they had a complement of three 75 mm gun Cromwell tanks and a 17 pounder gun Firefly. The Desert Rats were the only British armoured division to use the Cromwell as their main battle tank. The 7th Armoured Division was one of the three British follow-up divisions of the two British assault corps earmarked
7th Armoured Division (France) being the first large unit equipped with the new, light-weight Panhard EBR armoured cars and AMX-13 tanks. In early 1956 the division was transferred to French North Africa, where its soldiers served as infantry supporting French operations in the Algerian War. In late 1956 the division was hurriedly reunited with its tanks and armoured cars to take part in Operation Musketeer, the invasion of Egypt by Franco-British forces. It then returned to Algeria where it remained until 1961. The division was transferred to Metropolitan France, with its headquarters at Besançon, forming part of I Corps. The division was renamed, becoming