and joined the 30th Infantry Brigade, while the 4th Battalion and Holding Battalion was also raised. North Africa In the North African Campaign, as part of the 22nd Guards Brigade, the 2nd Battalion took part in fighting against the Italians in Egypt before the following year when it saw tough fighting in Libya, then controlled by Italy. Engagements that the regiment took part in were many, and it fought valiantly against tough opposition. In May, the regiment saw action at the Battle of Halfaya Pass, which saw British and Commonwealth forces experiencing tough fighting against Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps. In June, the battalion was involved in Operation Battleaxe, a British/Commonwealth offensive push to relieve the besieged city of Tobruk, though the offensive saw stiff resistance from the enemy forces, and the Allies eventually had to withdraw in the face of numerically superior, and better armed Afrika Korps. The next British offensive did not come until November when Operation Crusader began, which was another attempt to break the siege of the Allied-held Tobruk, and unlike previous attempts, this operation succeeded, though it was a close-run thing which saw bitter heavy fighting and heavy losses, especially in tanks, with the operation ending in December. The Siege of Tobruk was finally lifted, with its defenders, mostly Australians, having held out since April. Back in the United Kingdom, the 3rd Battalion re-roled to an armoured battalion, being renamed 3rd (Tank) Battalion and joined the 6th Guards Armoured Brigade. Renamed 6th Guards Armoured Brigade when Artillery, Engineer & other units joined the brigade prior to crossing the Rhine on 24 March 1944. In early 1942, Rommel's Afrika Korps started a new offensive which caught the Allies by surprise, forcing them into retreat, though the German offensive came to a halt in early February at Gazala. Later that year, the battalion joined the 201st Guards Brigade and in May the Germans launched another offensive against the Allies. The 201st Guards Brigade were located at a position known as Knightsbridge Box, with other 'Boxes' being manned by other British, Commonwealth and Free French brigades which formed the 'Gazala Line'. The Guards at Knightbridge saw heavy fighting against the attacking German forces, and by 13 June, the Guards were cut off from Allied forces, and eventually a German attack, during terrible weather, overran the 2nd Battalion and at night, after an Allied counter-attack by armoured units, the Guards