The Desert Rats was the nickname of the 7th Armoured Division of the British Eighth Army, which first fought in North Africa during the Second World War (1939-45). Fighting in the Western Desert Campaigns and the North Africa Campaign, the Desert Rats, so called because of their jerboa shoulder flash, participated in such famous victories as the battles of El Alamein.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original content at https://www.worldhistory.org/Desert_Rats/.