HISTORY OF 7th BATTALION THE ROYAL NORFOLK REGIMENT in World War No. 2 July 1940 – August 1944

Covering in good detail the activities of the Battalion from reformation after the evacuation of France till it was disbanded in August 1944. The 7th Battalion of the Royal Norfolk Regiment was a 2nd line Territorial Army unit formed on the outbreak of war in 1939. Originally part of the famous 51st (Highland) Infantry Division it served with them in France in 1940 stationed on the Maginot Line, thus escaping encirclement, and Dunkirk. But the reprieve was only temporary. The Battalion suffered heavy casualties when the 51st Division was surrounded and forced to surrender on 12th June. Just 31 members of the Battalion managed to escape to Britain. The battalion was re-formed in 1941 and transferred to the 176th Infantry Brigade, part of the 59th (Staffordshire) Infantry Division. It took part in the Normandy campaign after D-Day. On 7/8th August the battalion’s Captain David Jamieson of D Company was awarded the Victoria Cross for his heroic leadership in beating off enemy night attacks. Due to an acute shortage of infantrymen, the battalion was disbanded in late August and its men replaced losses in other British divisions of the 21st Army Group, who had suffered heavy losses in Normandy.