7TH ARMORED DIVISION "DESERT RATS": HELMET, DESERT SMOCK, MEDALS, DOGTAGS AND PERSONAL EFFECTS, 1940-1943
Comprising;
1. A Mk. II Brodie steel helmet with exterior painted yellow for desert camouflage, with rubber internal webbing and tan rayon chinstrap.
2. A white discolored light pink desert camouflage smock with brass buttons and tan rayon internal straps marked "1943" on internal neckline.
3. A pair of linked fiber dogtags with hand inscribed name, service number, religion.
4. Two felt Desert Rats patches; together with a steel ring hand inscribed "Anzio."
5. Two Kings Own Yorkshire Light Infantry (KOYLI) brass pins and one collar badge in the shape of a horn with a silver painted Tudor rose, and two green felt KOYLI patches and one "K.O.Y.L.I." brass pin.
6. Various British medals with bar, including the War Medal, the Defense Medal, the 1939-1945 Star, the Italy Star and the France and Germany Star.
Provenance: The Mountfitchet Castle Museum, Essex.
A fine "Desert Rats" ensemble, including the rare smock, from an anonymous soldier. The famous Desert Rats under noted tank theorist Major-General Sir Percy Hobart played a central role in the many battles with the German Afrika Korps in the North African theater of World War II. Following their victory at the Second Battle of El Alamein, the Desert Rats went on to fight in Italy (hence Anzio ring),then landing in the afternoon of D-Day in Normandy, and fighting through to Hamburg in Germany by 1945. They were a ferocious and acclaimed fighting force, equipped as armored units.
Helmet: 12 x 11.5 x 5.5in (30 x 29 x 14cm); smock: 48 x 20in (122 x 51cm)
