Battalion Soldiers of the Leicestershire Regiment 147th Infantry Brigade (& Paratrooper) 49th West Riding Infantry Division

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During the Second World war the division saw action in 1940 in the short and ill-fated landings in Norway. The division withdrew from Norway a month after landing. The division's 146th Infantry Brigade and 147th Infantry Brigade (including the Leicestershire Regiment) were then stationed in Iceland with creation of a new divisional insignia of a Polar Bear on an ice floe - see shoulder flashes in the image. In 1942, the division was transferred back to the United Kingdom and in June 1944 on to Normandy with XXX Corps. During the fierce fighting in Normandy, the Nazi propaganda broadcaster Lord Haw-Haw referred to the division as "the Polar Bear Butchers". It made a major contribution to the Liberation of Arnhem. The cap badge shows a Bengal Tiger.

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Size: 4896px × 3264px
Location: England United Kingdom Great Britain
Photo credit: © wyrdlight / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

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