This was not the chivalrous campaign that it is often said to be, but hard and brutal fighting in a very inhospitable environment. 22 Guards Brigade fought alongside other allied units to halt Rommel’s advance on Egypt. When Rommel’s Africa Corps joined the Italians the fighting began a period in which it swept back and forth across North Africa with first one side then the other having the upper hand. While Britain braced itself for invasion, Mussolini’s Italian forces attacked towards Egypt but were soon pushed back by the British. The Guards had mounted spirited defences at Boulogne, Arras and Dunkirk upholding their tradition of discipline under fire in the face of tanks and air attack. Within three weeks of the German invasion of Holland in May 1940 the British Expeditionary Force was evacuated from the beaches of France and Belgium. This first taste of fighting against the Germans showed how unprepared the allies were for the new tactics being used against them. However in April 1940 a Guards Brigade went into action in the ill-fated Norway campaign, which failed to prevent German invasion. During the so called ‘Phoney War’ they defended the French borders but there was no major fighting. Image: American paratroops riding Guards Churchill tanks of the 6th Tank Brigade during the final advance into Germanyįollowing the declaration of war against Germany a British Expeditionary Force including Guards Battalions headed to France.
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