The swap was between the 5th Canadian Armoured Division and the British 7th Armoured Division in late 1943. The Canadians left all of their vehicles behind in England and took over the old vehicles of the Desert Rats in Italy. To make things worst the Brits traded away all of their good vehicles with other British units, before they left for England. With the result that 5CAD was stuck with all of 8th Army’s junk. Most of the vehicles were only rear wheel drive, and many were non-runners.
In July, 1943, 1st Canadian Infantry Division lost 500 vehicles and 40 guns on their way to Sicily, when three ships of the slow assault convoy were sunk by U-Boats.
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