The 6th and 7th Battalions were both part of the 36th Infantry Brigade, which included the 2/6th East Surrey Regiment (later replaced by the 5th Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment)), itself assigned to the 12th (Eastern) Infantry Division, a 2nd Line TA duplicate of the 44th (Home Counties) Division. They were sent to France in April 1940 to join the rest of the BEF. The division suffered very heavy casualties in the Battle of Dunkirk, mainly due to most of the men being poorly trained and equipped and with little in the way of supporting units, and was disbanded in July 1940 and the 36th Brigade became an independent brigade. In June 1942, the 36th Brigade was assigned to the 78th "Battleaxe" Infantry Division. On 20 August 1942, however, the 7th Battalion left the brigade and was reassigned elsewhere, being replaced in the brigade by the 8th Battalion, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. With the division, the 6th Royal West Kents landed in North Africa during Operation Torch and were involved in the Run for Tunis. The battalion fought throughout the Tunisian Campaign, notably helping to capture Longstop Hill in April 1943, and later fought in the Allied invasion of Sicily from July to August 1943. The 6th Battalion was serving with the 78th Division throughout the war. Shortly Afterwards, the 6th Battalion, commanded by a future politician for the Conservative Party, Lieutenant Colonel Paul Bryan, landed in Italy on 24 September 1943. Like the 5th Battalion, the 6th Royal West Kents was engaged in combat throughout most of the Italian Campaign, seeing action in the Moro River Campaign, the Battle of Monte Cassino, the fighting around the Gothic Line, and the final offensive in Italy in April 1945, followed shortly after by Germany's surrender and the European war over.