Cap badge Highland light Infantry of Canada, 3rd Canadian Division

The 1st Battalion landed in France in September 1939 as part of the 127th (Manchester) Brigade in the 42nd (East Lancashire) Division for service with the British Expeditionary Force and then took part in the Dunkirk evacuation in June 1940.^[10] As part of the 71st Infantry Brigade in the 53rd (Welsh) Division, it later took part in the Normandy landings in June 1944 and saw action at the Battle of the Bulge in January 1945, the Battle of the Reichswald in March 1945 and the final advance into Germany.

The 2nd Battalion moved to Egypt early in the war and saw action at the Battle of Keren in March 1941. It then transferred to the Western Desert and saw combat at the Battle of Knightsbridge in June 1942 and the Battle of Fuka in July 1942. It took part in the Allied invasion of Sicily in July 1943 and, after a period in Yugoslavia, Albania and Greece, took part in the final advance into Northern Italy.

The 5th and 6th Battalions landed in France as part of the 157th Brigade in the 52nd (Lowland) Division in June 1940; after evacuation from Cherbourg later in the month, they landed in Belgium in October 1944 and took part in Operation Infatuate in November 1944 and the subsequent capture of Bremen in April 1945.

The 11th Battalion was converted to armour in 1942, becoming the 156th Regiment in the Royal Armoured Corps, but with the men retaining their Highland Light Infantry cap badges on the black beret of the RAC

The Second World War