7th Armoured Division (United Kingdom) Division was recalled to the United Kingdom, along with the 4th and 8th Armoured Brigades, and the 50th (Northumbrian) and 51st (Highland) Infantry Divisions, all of which had seen extensive service alongside the 7th Armoured Division in the Mediterranean and Middle East, to participate in the invasion of North Western Europe with the British Second Army. The 7th Armoured, handing over its battered vehicles and equipment to the recently arrived 5th Canadian (Armoured) Division, left Italy in late December 1943, arriving in Glasgow, Scotland in early January 1944. Many of the men had been overseas for over five years. In
11th Armoured Division (United Kingdom) later invaded Germany. It was disbanded in January 1946 and reformed towards the end of 1950. In 1956, it was converted into the 4th Infantry Division. During the German invasion of Poland in September 1939 and in operations against the Western Allies on the Western Front in May−June 1940, the German armoured formations demonstrated what some observers felt were dramatically improved new tactics, leaving the Allied forces with a perceived need to address these developments. The continued evolution of the Royal Armoured Corps was the answer for the British Army. The 11th Armoured Division was organized in March 1941, in