The 5th Armoured Division spent two years of the war uneventfully in the United Kingdom, finally transferring to the Mediterranean theatre in November 1943 to join the 1st Canadian Infantry Division as part of I Canadian Corps, under command of the British Eighth Army.
In January 1945, the division, together with the 1st Canadian Infantry Division, as part of Operation Goldflake, moved by truck, train, and naval transport to Belgium via Livorno and Marseille.