In 1941 the Royal Scots Greys accompanied Australian troops to fight Vichy forces in Syria. The regiment was involved in the Allied retreat from Libya after the fall of Tobruk. As the British ‘Desert Rats’ went on the offensive in Egypt, the Greys' new tanks saw action at the second battle of El Alamein in October 1942.
The Greys joined the Allied invasion of Italy in 1943, landing at Salerno. Following the liberation of Naples, they returned to England to prepare for D-Day in June 1944. Fierce tank battles were fought around Caen before the German defence of Normandy crumbled. The Greys traversed Belgium and Holland, advancing into Germany as part of Operation Veritable. After heavy fighting in the Reichswald, they crossed the Rhine in March 1945. The Greys' war ended at Wismar on the Baltic where they were the first British troops to meet the Soviets in May.
