The 4th Battalion was a Territorial Army (TA) unit that recruited primarily from Royal Tunbridge Wells and formed part of the 132nd Infantry Brigade, serving alongside the 5th West Kents and the 4th Battalion, Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment). The 132nd Brigade was an integral part of the 44th (Home Counties) Division and, with the rest of the division, was sent to France in April 1940 where it became part of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) stationed on the Franco-Belgian border. About a month after arriving, it was involved in the battles of France and Dunkirk and was evacuated to England. After returning to England, the battalion spent almost the next two years on home defence against a German invasion. The division left the United Kingdom in May 1942 and went on to serve in the North African Campaign, at Alam el Halfa and El Alamein, until the 44th Division was disbanded in early 1943. The 4th Battalion was then transferred to the 161st Indian Infantry Brigade (alongside 1/1st Punjab Regiment and 4/7th Rajput Regiment), part of the 5th Indian Infantry Division, and fought in the 1944 Burma Campaign, where the battalion played a major role in the Battle of the Tennis Court, part of the larger Battle of Kohima, against the Imperial Japanese Army. During the battle, Lance Corporal John Harman of the 4th Battalion was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross, the first and only to be awarded to the regiment during the Second World War.