The Desert Rats

Now the picture above is of my father Arthur H. Ward. He served in the Second World War and was in R.E.M.E. as well as being a Desert Rat, as you can see on the photo he has the badges on his arm, one also shows that he was a qualified radio operator.

Missiles’ one of these being the ‘Bloodhound’ as well as others, and in his

spare time he used to work with Radio’s, and even built his own Stereo System, this was in the 1950’s.

The 1939 - 1945 War Medal was awarded to all full-time personnel of the armed forces and merchant marines. The medals were made of cupro-nickel. The ribbon consists of 7 coloured stripes: red, dark blue, white, narrow red.

The Defence Medal was for service on shore for 3 years, A circular, cupro-nickel medal, 36mm in diameter. The ribbon is 31.75mm wide, comprising a central stripe of orange and a narrow black stripe in the middle of each green stripe.

The British 7th Armoured Division is one of the most famous formations that ever served in the British Army. It was formed in the desert of North Africa just before the Second World War and fought in most of the major campaigns of the war, ending up in the heart of the Third Reich itself – Berlin.

On 16th February 1940, the Mobile Division became the 7th Armoured Division and at about the same time the famous Jerboa Divisional Sign appeared, which was drawn up by Trooper Ken Hill of RTR. The men took to the Jerboa and adopted the nickname of "The Desert Rats". It is worth pointing out that the term 'Desert Rats' is often used to describe any soldier of the Desert Army or men that fought in Tobruk. Indeed the Australians have a Rats of Tobruk Association, but the only true "Desert Rats" are the men who served in the 7th Armoured Division, whose shoulders or vehicles wore the Jerboa emblem.

The division's reputation was born in the desert. It first went into action against the Italians in 1940 and then, subsequently, fought Rommel's Afrika Korps in Montgomery's successful Western Desert campaign. It was during this period of intense fighting that the division won its affectionate nickname of 'Desert Rats'.

From there the division was transported to Italy and, later, Normandy and from then on was almost constantly in battle until the end of the war. The 7th Armoured Division started to land in Normandy late on D Day, 6th June itself, and quickly started to form ready for battle. On 12th June, it fought elements of the 2nd Panzer and the Panzer Lehr Divisions at Villers-Bocage.

After this it took part in the various British and Canadian assaults to break out and take Caen, such as Operation Goodwood, Operation Spring and Operation Bluecoat, before finally breaking out and racing to the River Seine.

Now out of the killing field that were Normandy, the Division now pushed on through Northern France into Belgium. Here the Division liberated Ghent and then continued to clear German forces from the rest of Belgium and Holland, up to the River Maas. Here the remained for November and December 1944, into January 1945, continuing to keep the pressure on the German forces on the Maas. Having successfully completed the clearance, the 7th Armoured Division now prepared to cross the Rhine into the heart of Germany, as part of Operation Plunder, which took place in March 1945, with the eventual goal of capturing Hamburg. By mid April 1945, the Division was poised to move on Hamburg, but it had to fight its way all the way to the suburbs of the city, but it did release several men that had served in the Division, from a POW camp at Fallingbostel and some elements of the Division became involved with the efforts to clear up the Concentration Camp at Belsen, which had been liberated by 11th Armoured Division, fighting on the 7th Armoured right flank. Finally, after fierce battles in the suburbs of

Hamburg, the Division accepted the surrender of the city on 3rd May 1945, moving into it the same afternoon.

Final accolade for this famous fight force was when in July 1945 it was ordered to Berlin, to join the British Garrison there and to also take place in the Victory Parade. This they did, parading past Winston Churchill himself, on Friday the 6th of July 1945. At 14.30 hrs a warrant officer of the British Guards hoisted the Union Jack over Berlin at the German victory column, near the Brandenburg Gate. The ceremony took place in the presence of officers and troops of the American, British, French and Soviet armies.

By now the 7th Armoured Division had been fighting for five years. Many good men had died in the process and many more wounded, but it had fought through adversity and success, from the heat of the Western Desert, through the mud of Italy, the killing fields of Normandy, through Belgium and Holland. It then had to fight its way right across Germany in the final bloody battles of the war, to Hamburg. Its men had proved themselves worthy of the hardy desert animal on their shoulders and vehicles and had been rewarded by parading through the enemy's capital in triumph!

After the war the Division continued to serve in Germany, but in 1947 it was disbanded. In its entire history it had only been in the United Kingdom for about six months. Some of the regiments that served have been disbanded or merged over the years, but the Jerboa emblem is still worn proudly by the men of the 7th Armoured Brigade.

Western Desert Battlefield Tours

Many Excellent Tours

Please make a visit to this very informative website

The intention on this site is to answer some "frequently asked questions" and to give an insight into certain aspects of World War One that are difficult or impossible to find elsewhere.