"On the 21st November Brigadier Campbell was commanding the troops, including one regiment of tanks, in the area of Sidi Rezegh ridge and the aerodrome His small force holding this important ground was repeatedly attacked by large numbers of tanks and infantry. Wherever the situation was most difficult and the fighting hardest he was to be seen with his forward troops, either on his feet or in his open car In this car he carried out several reconnaissances for counter-attacks by his tanks, whose senior officers had all become casualties early in the day Standing in his car with a blue flag, this officer personally formed up tanks under close and intense fire from all natures of enemy weapons".

"On the following day the enemy attacks were intensified and again Brigadier Campbell was always in the forefront of the heaviest fighting, encouraging his troops, staging counter-attacks with his remaining tanks and personally controlling the fire of his guns On two occasions he himself manned a gun to replace casualties During the final enemy attack on the 22nd November he was wounded, but continued most actively in the foremost positions, controlling the fire of batteries which inflicted heavy losses on enemy tanks at point blank range, and finally acted as loader to one of the guns himself".
"Throughout these two days his magnificent example and his utter disregard of personal danger were an inspiration to his men and to all who saw him. His brilliant leadership was the direct cause of the very heavy casualties inflicted on the enemy In spite of his wound he refused to be evacuated and remained with his command, where his outstanding bravery and consistent determination had a marked effect in maintaining the splendid fighting spirit of those under him".
Brigadier Campbell was appointed Divisional Commander in February 1942, but was killed in a car crash a few weeks later.

"On the 21st November, 1941, at Sidi Rezegh, Second-Lieutenant Gunn was in command of a troop of four anti-tank guns which was part of a battery of twelve guns attached to the Rifle Brigade Column. At 10.00 hours a covering force of enemy tanks was engaged and driven off but an hour later the main attack developed by about sixty enemy tanks. Second-Lieutenant Gunn drove from gun to gun during this period in an unarmoured vehicle encouraging his men and reorganising his dispositions as first one gun and then another were knocked out. Finally only two guns remained in action and were subjected to very heavy fire. Immediately afterwards one of these guns was destroyed and the portee of another was set on fire and all the crew killed or wounded except the Sergeant, though the gun itself remained undamaged. The Battery Commander then arrived and started to fight the flames. When he saw this, Second-Lieutenant Gunn ran to his aid through intense fire and immediately got the one remaining anti-tank gun into action on the burning portee, himself sighting it while the Sergeant acted as loader. He continued to fight the gun, firing between forty and fifty rounds regardless alike of the enemy fire which was by then concentrated on this one vehicle, and of the flames which might at any moment have reached the ammunition with which the portee was loaded. In spite of this, Second-Lieutenant Gunn's shooting was so accurate at a range of about 800 yards that at least two enemy tanks were hit and set on fire and others were damaged before he fell dead, having been shot through the forehead."

"Second-Lieutenant Gunn showed the most conspicuous courage in attacking this large number of enemy tanks with a single unarmoured gun, and his utter disregard for extreme danger was an example which inspired all who saw it. He remained undismayed by intense fire and overwhelming odds, and his gallant resistance only ceased with his death."

"But for this very gallant action the enemy tanks would undoubtedly have over-run our position."

Major-General Sir Percy Cleghom Stanley Hobart KBE, CB, DSO, MC (or "Hobo" as he was known to one and all) was responsible for the initial training of the Mobile Division and thus the architect of much of its greatness. After being unfairly "retired" because he had fallen out with those in higher authority who knew nothing about tanks and armoured warfare, he was rescued from obscurity (being at that time a Lance Corporal in the Home Guard!) by Winston Churchill. He would then go on to form and train both 11th Armoured Division and 79th Armoured Division. As historian Sir Basil Liddell Hart said of him: 'To have moulded the best two British armoured divisions of the war was an outstanding achievement, but Hobart made it a "hat trick" by his subsequent training of the specialised 79th Armoured Division, the decisive factor on D-Day.

Lieutenant-General W. H. E. "Strafer" Gott CB, DSO, MC (below right) began his career in the division as its first wartime GSO and later commanded the Support Group. After commanding 7th Armoured Division he went on to become commander XIII Corps and in August 1942 was appointed to command the Eighth Army. Tragically, whilst flying back to Cairo from the battle area a few days later, his Bombay transport aircraft was shot down by a German fighter. He survived the crash, but was killed by machine gun fire during the second strafing with all but four of the other occupants. One account states this was whilst rescuing others from the wreckage, whereas the Pilot's account states that he never having made it out of the aircraft himself. Either way it was a lost to the Division and the 8th Army.

Lieutenant-General Sir Frank Walter Messervy CB, DSO took over the division after commanding 4th Indian Division. Known as the "Bearded Man" because he tended not to shave in battle. Knew little about tanks and was commanding when Div HQ was captured by the Germans at the start of the Gazala offensive, but managed to bluff them into believing he was a batman, escaped with other members of his staff and rejoined Div HQ the following day! He went on to command IV Corps in Burma.

Field Marshal, The Lord Harding of Petherton, GCB, CBE, DSO, MC took over command after serving as Chief of Staff to Gen Sir Richard O'Connor and his successors in the early days in the desert. Fearless and brilliant, he was responsible for the division's breakout at El Alamein in October 1942. Badly wounded near Tarhuna on 20th January 1943, he recovered and continued a distinguished career, becoming C-in-C Far East (1949- 51), C-in-C BAOR (1951-2), CIGS (1952-3), then Governor and C-in-C Cyprus (1955-7). Montgomery called him "that little tiger".

Major-General Lewis Owen Lyne CB, DSO took over command of the division on 22 November 1944, when Gen Verney went to Italy to command 6th Armoured Division. Gen Lyne had commanded 50th Northumbrian Division in Normandy, when Gen Graham was injured, until it became a training division in the UK. He would then command the "Desert Rats" on the final lap through the Siegfried Line, into Germany and on to the surrender of Hamburg and the end of the war. Postwar he was the first Military Governor of the British Zone of Berlin, then Director Staff Duties at the War Office, before retiring in 1949.

Frank Doe was in the 8th Army with the Desert Rats. He was a rifleman and radio operator in the KRRC in the North Africa campaigns in WWII under Montgomery.
His service medals include The Africa Star with a clasp marked 8th Army; The 1939-45 Star; The Italy Star; The France and Germany star; and The 1939-45 War Medal. He also earned some shards of shrapnel in his left arm, some slivers of which he carried all the way to his grave.

Samuel Bleakley joined the army and served as 1131598 Gunner Samuel Bleakley with the Royal Artillery. On the 15th of July 1942 Samuel left the UK and landed in Egypt were he served with 53rd Field Regiment, R.A. as part of 7th Armoured Division (The Desert Rats), Middle East Forces. Here his unit would take part in almost all the desert battles including Tripoli and the most famous one of the war, El Alemien At the start of 1943 he was sent to Italy, again his unit would take part in battle, this time Monte Cassino. Months later his unit was sent back to the Middle East, and later on to North Africa. In July of 1945 Samuel was transferred to 71st Field Regiment until his return to the UK a month later.

Fred Grayson joined the army aged 18, 50 / 24th Regiment R.A. also served in Sicily and Italy then in North Africa in 8th Army.