The 2/16th served as part of 179th (2/4th London) Brigade in the Middle East. On 31 December 1921 the battalion amalgamated with the 15th (County of London) Battalion, The London Regiment (Prince of Wales's Own, Civil Service Rifles) to form the 16th (County of London) Battalion, The London Regiment (Queen's Westminster and Civil Service Rifles). It evolved to become the 16th London Regiment (Queen's Westminster and Civil Service Rifles) in 1922. Then, on the break-up of the London Regiment in 1937, it became the Queen's Westminsters, The King's Royal Rifle Corps. The original Westminsters became the 1st Battalion after a duplicate battalion was raised in 1939. The following year, it was converted to a motor battalion. In 1941, the 1st Battalion was re-titled as the 11th (Queen's Westminsters) Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps, and the 2nd, the 12th (Queen's Westminsters) Battalion, King's Royal Rifle Corps. Both units saw extensive service during the war. The 11th Westminsters, as part of the 24th Armoured Brigade, saw service in the North African Campaign in mid-1942, taking part in the Allied offensive during the Second Battle of El Alamein against Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps. The battalion took part in the subsequent advance after the Germans and Italians went into full-retreat in North Africa, seeing action in the Tunisia Campaign as part of the 23rd Armoured Brigade after the 24th Armoured Brigade was disbanded. The 11th Westminsters moved to Sicily the following year, taking part in the campaign on the Italian island, which began on 10 July 1943. It later moved to the Italian Front, remaining there into 1944. In December 1944, the Westminsters took part in the operations to quell a Communist uprising in the Greek capital of Athens; this mission was successful and a cease-fire was signed on 11 January 1945. The 12th Westminsters, having remained in the United Kingdom since the war began, took part in the Battle of Normandy in 1944, forming part of the 8th Armoured Brigade. It saw extensive service in France, including action at Rauray on 26 June and at Mont Pincon in Operation Epsom and during the advance east to the Seine, which was crossed in late August. The battalion subsequently crossed the Somme river, a scene of carnage during the Great War, which the Westminsters predecessors had experienced.