78th Infantry Division Formation Badge

The formation badge of the 78th Infantry Division depicts a yellow battle axe on a black ground, which represents a Crusader’s battle axe and was selected by the Division’s first commander, Major General V. Evelegh. A variant form of the badge also exists with a circular background.

The Division was formed in Scotland on 25 May 1942, which took part in the Allied invasion of North West Africa (Operation ‘Torch’).  This remarkable achievement was made possible by the fact that many of 78th Division’s constituent units had been training together for some time and were simply brought together under a single command. Notably, training had concentrated on amphibious assaults, under Amphibious Force 110, and the Division was thus particularly well prepared for the ‘Torch’ operations. In the event the Division landed unopposed at Algiers on 8 and 9 November 1942 in company with ‘Blade Force’, a regimental group from 6th Armoured Division.