Description
Physical description
badge
crossed white keys on a black background, printed
History note
The badge was chosen in 1940 by the then GOC, Lieutenant-General H C Lloyd. It is said to derive from the arms of the Archbishop of York and to be a reference to the time long past when Britain would raise two armies, one in the south under the auspices of the Archbishop of Canterbury and one from the north under the Archbishop of York.
2nd Division was a regular division at the outbreak of the Second World War and formed part of the BEF in France and Belgium during 1940. After home-defence duties in the UK the Division was transferred to India, arriving in June 1942. It went into action in March 1944 on the Indo-Burmese border and as part of 14th Army, took part in the offensive against the Japanese in the liberation of Burma.
When 2nd Division moved to Malaya from India late in 1945, 5th Brigade was sent to Japan as part of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF) and continued to wear the parent Divisional sign. In fact for a time from June 1946, the Brigade wore three formation signs simultaneously, the BCOF sign on the right arm, the 'Brindiv' Union flag on the left with, below, the Brigade sign.
At the end of 1946 2nd Division was ordered back to Europe to reform as part of the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR). As such it took command of the formations previously commanded by 53rd Division, the brigades adopting the old 2nd Divisional numbers. The original 5th Brigade units, together with those of the 4th and 6th Brigades, remained in the Far East and were renumbered 24th, 25th and 26th Independent Infantry Brigades. At this time 5th / 25th Brigade, by now back in Malaya, adopted a new badge, two white crossed keys frames by a white Japanese Tori on a black ground.