the Italian Campaign, in September 1943, returning to England in January 1944 and took part in the invasion of Normandy in June 1944, going on to fight throughout the North West Europe Campaign until Victory in Europe Day in May 1945, ending the war in Hamburg, Germany, and commanded throughout by Lieutenant Colonel A. G. V. Paley. On the outbreak of war the 2nd Battalion, commanded since July 1938 by Lieutenant Colonel Edward Williams, was stationed in Palestine as part of the 14th Infantry Brigade of the 8th Infantry Division. The battalion, then commanded by Lieutenant Colonel James Renton, later fought with distinction as part of the 7th Motor Brigade in the 1st Armoured Division in the Western Desert Campaign, especially in the "Snipe" action during the Second Battle of El Alamein in October 1942, when the four 6-pounders of the battalion, supported by a 6-pounder Anti-Tank battery of the Royal Artillery, knocked out over 50 German and Italian tanks in a lengthy battle. Lieutenant Colonel Victor Buller Turner, commanding the battalion, received the Victoria Cross for his actions fighting with the guns. Commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Pearson, the battalion, alongside the 1st Battalion, continued to play a prominent role in the final stages of the Tunisian Campaign. In September 1943 the battalion transferred to the 7th Armoured Brigade in the 10th Armoured Division, remaining with that formation in North Africa until May 1944, when it transferred to the 61st Lorried Infantry Brigade in the 6th Armoured Division for service in the Italian Campaign, seeing action in the Fourth Battle of Monte Cassino, the Gothic Line and the Spring 1945 offensive in Italy, which brought an end to the war in Italy in early May 1945. The 7th Battalion was formed by re-naming the 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. The 8th Battalion, Rifle