Horrocks in February 1936, Dempsey returned to the 1st Battalion of his regiment, taking command of HQ Company. The 1st Battalion was now stationed in Shorncliffe, Kent, as part of the 10th Brigade of the 4th Division. Shortly after Dempsey's return, Lieutenant Colonel Eric Miles assumed command. The following year Dempsey attended a brief course at the Senior Officers' School at Sheerness, before being posted to South Africa, where he served as a General Staff Officer Grade 2 (GSO2) with the Defence Forces of the Union of South Africa at the South African Army College at Roberts Heights near Pretoria, a posting which he enjoyed. Relinquishing that post in late January 1938, he returned to England soon after to succeed Miles as commanding officer (CO) of the 1st Battalion, Royal Berkshires, and received a promotion to lieutenant colonel on 11 February 1938. The battalion, still with the 10th Brigade, was both lacking in modern equipment and severely understrength, although, with the possibility of another war in Europe, the situation slowly changed and new equipment and reservists began arriving. In October 1938 Dempsey's battalion moved to Blackdown Army Camp in Surrey. It was transferred from Brigadier Evelyn Barker's 10th Brigade to Brigadier Noel Irwin's 6th Brigade and became part of the 2nd Division once more. Second World War Belgium and France Soon after the start of the Second World War in September 1939, Dempsey, with his battalion, was sent to France as part of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). In November Dempsey was promoted to the acting rank of brigadier, and assumed command of the 13th Infantry Brigade in place of Brigadier Henry Willcox, who had been one of Dempsey's instructors at the Staff College in the 1930s, and had been promoted. Aged just 42, Dempsey was one of the youngest brigadiers in the British Army. The brigade now formed part of Major-General Harold Franklyn's 5th Division, although the division was still not fully formed. The brigade was sent to France as an independent formation, and had spent most of its time on guard duties in the BEF's rear areas. Together with the 15th Infantry Brigade, under Brigadier Horatio Berney-Ficklin, and the 17th Infantry Brigade, under Brigadier Montagu Stopford, it re-joined the 5th Division when the division HQ arrived in late December. The 5th Division then became part of Lieutenant-General Alan Brooke's II Corps. The brigade saw action in May 1940