7th Armoured Division (United Kingdom) Egypt in case the war spread. When rain and sandstorms led to vehicles being bogged down, it became known as the "Immobile Farce" within the ranks. After the Munich Crisis, elements of what would become the 7th Armoured Division arrived in the Middle East in 1938 to increase British strength in Egypt and form a Mobile Division. The 'Mobile Force' – initially the "Matruh Mobile Force" – was established on the coast some west of Alexandria. It was formed from the Cairo Cavalry Brigade (three armoured regiments: the 7th Queen's Own Hussars, the 8th King's Royal Irish Hussars and the
2/7th Armoured Regiment (Australia) Wales, at this time. The delay in equipping the units of the 1st Armoured Division meant that their deployment was set back. Initially it had been planned to deploy the 2/7th Armoured Regiment, along with the rest of the 1st Armoured Brigade, in December 1941, however, this was not possible. Shortly thereafter, the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor and invasion Malaya meant that the decision was made not to send the 1st Armoured Division to the Middle East as the situation in the Pacific had the potential to directly threaten the Australian mainland. In June 1942 the regiment was re-equipped