History
The division was sent to North Africa but never saw active service as a complete formation. As the division could not be provided with a lorried infantry brigade, it was broken up and was finally disbanded in Egypt on 1 January 1943.
Following the Second Battle of El Alamein a plan was put forth to use the remains of the division as a self-contained pursuit force to dart forward into the German-Italian rear as far as possibly Tobruk, however the plan to use the division was shelfed and units in the forward area were used instead. Afterwards, the name of the division was used for the purpose of military deception.
Read more about this topic: 8th Armoured Division (United Kingdom)
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