and used the lessons learned in North Africa to fight their light tanks effectively against much heavier German armor, on one occasion destroying nine Mark IV tanks without losing a tank. Company C was detached from 1st Infantry Division on 17 July and attached to the 45th Infantry Division for the remainder of the Sicilian campaign. In exchange, the 1st Infantry Division received a company of M4 Shermans from the 753rd Tank Battalion. Due to the poor terrain for tank operations, the 70th was pulled out of the line on 27 July and Company C rejoined the battalion on 31 July, although the battle for the island lasted until 17 August. The battalion began to receive new tanks to replace ones lost in combat and continued training for the next campaign, and naturally assumed they would be part of the Italian mainland invasion force. However, the battalion loaded aboard the SS Monterey on 11 November 1943, bound for England. Operation Overlord and action in France Based on the impression made on General Omar Bradley, commander of II Corps and future commander of the American landing forces in Normandy, the 70th Tank Battalion was reassigned from the Mediterranean Theater of Operations and transferred to England to participate in the Normandy landings. Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., first as regimental commander of the 26th Infantry Regiment, then as assistant division commander of the 1st Infantry Division was also impressed by the performance of the 70th and worked successfully to have them attached for the landings to the 4th Infantry Division, where Roosevelt had been reassigned as assistant division commander. The SS Monterey docked at Liverpool, England on 28 November 1943 and the personnel of the 70th Tank Battalion were transported to Ogbourne St. George, where the battalion was met by members of the 10th Light Tank Company, which had departed Iceland and arrived in England a week before the 70th Tank Battalion. With this new addition, the first requirement of the battalion was to reorganize and re-equip the battalion as a de facto medium tank battalion. The personnel from the 10th Light Tank Company were partitioned among the companies of the 70th Tank Battalion as well as to the 743rd Tank Battalion. With the addition of these personnel, the battalion was reorganized with Companies A, B, and C as M4 Sherman medium tank companies and D Company as an M5 Stuart light