The Battle of El Alamein was the last engagement of the 44th Division; it was disbanded on 31 January 1943. The 132nd and 133rd Brigade were dispersed, with the battalions ending up as British battalions in British Indian Army brigades. The 131st Brigade remained in the 7th Armoured Division for the rest of the war, taking part in the rest of the North African Campaign, culminating in May 1943 with the surrender of almost 250,000 Axis soldiers as prisoners of war, the Allied invasion of Italy from September–November 1943 and in the North-West Europe campaign from June 1944 until Victory in Europe Day in May 1945.