During World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, "Jock columns" were small combined arms

Combined arms

Combined arms is an approach to warfare which seeks to integrate different branches of a military to achieve mutually complementary effects...

 groups of armoured cars, artillery

Artillery

Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...

, and motorised infantry

Motorised infantry

In NATO and most other western countries, motorised infantry is infantry which is transported by trucks or other motor vehicles. It is distinguished from mechanized infantry, which is carried in armoured personnel carriers, infantry combat vehicles, or infantry fighting vehicles...

, generally drawn from the 7th Armoured Division. They were used in the North Africa campaign by the British Army

British Army

The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...

's Western Desert Force

Western Desert Force

The Western Desert Force, during World War II, was a British Commonwealth army formation stationed in Egypt.On 17 June 1940, the headquarters of the British 6th Infantry Division was designated as the Western Desert Force. The unit consisted of the 7th Armoured Division and the Indian 4th Infantry...

 to harass Italian forces.

They were named after an officer who was a superb exponent of the tactic and may possibly have conceived it originally, Lieutenant Colonel "Jock" Campbell

John Charles Campbell

Major-General John Charles "Jock" Campbell VC, DSO & Bar, MC was a Scottish officer in the British Army, recipient of the Victoria Cross.-History:Campbell was born in Thurso...

.