island's governor surrendered without a fight. As the wartime buildup began in earnest in 1942, the battalion underwent considerable turbulence. In February 1942 Company C was detached, redesignated as the 10th Light Tank Company and sent for garrison duty in Iceland, with a new Company C being formed in May. In August, six officers and 135 men were reassigned to form the cadre of the 746th Tank Battalion. And finally as preparations for combat became earnest, Company A was detached on 17 September and sent to Camp Dix, New Jersey. On 26 September, the company sailed from New York. With stops at Belfast, Northern Ireland, Greenock, Scotland, and Inverary, Scotland, the company was preparing to land with the 39th Regimental Combat Team, 9th Infantry Division at Algiers as part of Operation Torch. North Africa The 70th Tank Battalion landed in North Africa not as a battalion, but as three widely dispersed companies, each attached to a separate assault element and all landing on 8 November 1942. The battalion headquarters and "residue" initially remained in the United States. Company A landed with the 2nd Battalion, 39th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division at Algiers, part of the Eastern Task Force of Operation Torch. Initial ground combat was light, but the company faced repeated air raids when it began guarding the Glida airport. Company A had light duties in Algiers until they reported to Col. Edson Raff and the 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment at Fériana, Tunisia. The attachment to the 509th was brief, and Company A soon found itself primarily attached to French combat units, and occasionally British, in the vicinity of the Ousseltia Valley for the remainder of the North African campaign. Along with Company A, 601st Tank Destroyer Battalion, the company was the only American unit in the sector. As Allied units closed on Bizerte and Tunis in the final stages of the campaign, German and Italian troops preferred to surrender to the company of American light tanks rather than the British or French. The estimate of prisoners taken by Company A between 11–13 May 1943 tallied between 17–20,000. Company A had clearly impressed their French allies: 25 men received the Croix de Guerre and the company was selected as the honor guard for the international victory parade in Tunis on 20 May. Finally in June 1942, Company A rejoined the rest of the 70th Tank Battalion at Arzew, Algeria. Company