Seventh and Three Enemies

The first of the three enemies referred to in the title of this history of the 7th Queen ‘s Own Hussars in the Second World War were the Italians, against whom they were deployed in north-west Africa in June 1940. Their first action was the capture of Fort Capuzzo and Maddalena. In January 1941 the 7th took part in the battles of Bardia and Sidi Barrani and the attack on the port of Tobruk. The destruction of the Italians was completed at Beda Fomm when the 7th fought continuously for 36 hours, helping in the capture of 20,000 prisoners and 112 tanks.'The second enemy was Rommel’s Afrika Korps which began to push back the Allies into Egypt. The 7th’s first encounter with the new enemy was when they met 50 panzers, whose armament totally outclassed the 7th’s Mark VI tanks. Nonetheless, the Regiment held off the German armoured division’s attacks for four days until they only had two working tanks left and had their CO killed.'After refitting, they embarked in January 1942 for Rangoon in Burma where they met their third enemy: the Japanese. The 7th covered the retreat of the Army from Burma, using their Stuart tanks to smash roadblocks, and earning the praise of Field-Marshal Alexander who said that without them ‘we would never have got the Army out of Burma’.'Before crossing the Chindwin river, the Regiment had to destroy their tanks and only their remnants staggered into Imphal where a famous stand would be made. In three months the regiment had covered a thousand miles, losing 46 killed and fifty wounded.'Returning to Egypt, the 7th were re-equipped with Sherman tanks. In 1944 they joined the advance up Italy attached to the 2nd Polish Corps. They took part in the battles for Ancona and the piercing of the Gothic Line.