2nd Armoured Brigade (United Kingdom) in the Tunisia Campaign and Italian Campaign. 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
7th Panzer Division (Wehrmacht) to the west and 7th Panzer Division to the east, flanked by the SS Division Totenkopf. The following day the British launched a counterattack, deploying two infantry battalions supported by heavily armoured Matilda Mk I and Matilda II tanks in the Battle of Arras. The German 37 mm anti-tank gun proved ineffective against the heavily armoured Matildas. The 25th Panzer Regiment and a battery of anti-aircraft guns were called in to support, and the British withdrew. On 24 May, Hitler issued a halt order. The reason for this decision is still a matter of debate. He may have overestimated the