Formation badge, Headquarters 21st Army Group, 1943 (c)

Shield-shaped, cloth badge with yellow crossed swords on a blue cross on a red ground.

21st Army Group was the primary British war fighting organisation in Northwest Europe in the closing stages of the Second World War. It was established in London during July 1943 under the command of General Bernard Paget, but General Bernard Montgomery took command in December 1943. From there, he led 21st Army Group in Northern France, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany from June 1944 until August 1945, when it was renamed the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR). BAOR retained the crossed swords for its emblem.

The main fighting components of 21st Army Group were the British Second Army and the First Canadian Army. At its peak, there were more than 1 million soldiers under its command. At various times during its existence, the 21st Army Group had additional British, Canadian, American and Polish field armies or corps attached to it, and smaller contingents of Dutch, Czech, Belgian and Luxembourg soldiers.

From a collection of badges relating to Brigadier Dame Jean Rivett Drake, Director of the Women's Royal Army Corps, 1961-1964.