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Rat

Posted by Henry on July 18, 2003

In Reply to: Rat posted by ESC on July 18, 2003

: : hi..
: : what do we mean when we say..
: : 1.someone was nicknamed as a "desert rat". and...
: : 2.lambasted someone a "love rat".

: : thank you for your help.

: You are, no doubt, talking about the slime that did the tell-all book about Diana, Princess of Wales. He's a "rat" because he is a low vermin-like creature. "Desert" because, according to an article, he was "a tank commander in the 1991 Gulf War."

Originally the Desert rats was an affectionate name for the the 7th Armoured Division in the Second World War. "The Division started to come together in 1938 when Headquarters, British Troops Egypt, assembled a "Mobile Force" at Mersa Matruh as the war clouds gathered over Europe. The purpose of the force was to counter the threat from the Italian Army, who as close allies of Germany, were, expected to attack the Suez Canal. This "Mobile Force" was the nucleus of the future 7th Armoured Division (and indeed the 8th Army). Little could it be imagined at that time what a long hard road the men of the division were to tread on their way to Berlin some seven years later."

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