The 7th Battalion was formed by re-designation of 1st Battalion the London Rifle Brigade in January 1941. The battalion became part of the 23rd Armoured Brigade, then serving under the 8th Armoured Division, and was sent with the division to Egypt in July 1942 where it played a role in the First Battle of El Alamein before, the following month, becoming a part of the 7th Motor Brigade, part of the 1st Armoured Division. It later transferred to the independent 9th Armoured Brigade and finally to the 61st Lorried Infantry Brigade and was engaged throughout the Italian Campaign from May 1944 onwards, commanded throughout by Lieutenant Colonel Douglas Darling.