A superb 3rd Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division formation patch

This is a great example of a superb 3rd Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division formation patch. The Division was a First Line Territorial Army formation in September 1939 comprising Territorial Battalions of the Welch Regiment, the RWF, KSLI and the Monmouths and Herefordshires. The Division moved to Northern Ireland in July 1940 where it was designated for the active counter-attack role in the event of a German invasion of Eire. It returned to the UK at the end of April 1941. In May 1942 it reorganized as a mixed division (ie: two infantry and one tank brigades - 158 & 160 Infantry with 31 Tank Bdes.) and reorganized again as an infantry division in October 1943. It became part of 21 Army Group for the invasion of Europe and landed in Normandy on 21 June. It fought in the bridgehead and the breakout battles and later in the Ardennes and the Reichswald before taking part in the invasion of Germany. At the end of the War it formed part of the occupation forces under I Corps District. The Division was broken up when the TA was disbanded at the end of 1946 but was reformed in May 1947 with the reconstitution of the TA.

Code: 52421