The 1st Battalion The Hampshire Regiment having served abroad since the outbreak of the War, came back to England in January of 1944 to train for the Normandy landings; codenamed 'Operation Overlord'. The 1st Battalion along with 2nd Battalion The Devonshire Regiment and 1st Battalion The Dorsetshire Regiment constituted the now famous 231st Brigade of the 50th Northumbrian Division, sometimes known as the 1st Malta Brigade, having served on that island during the period in which Hitler and Mussolini attempted to bomb the island into submission.

For the Hampshires the Normandy landings were to be their third D-Day, the Regiment having served as assault troops in the landings in Sicilly and Italy; with 5 of the 6 battalions put into the field being used as assault troops.