to Melbourne, when the decision was made to divert this convoy to the United Kingdom, rather than the main corps-area in the Middle East. The personnel who reached the UK were subsequently used to form HQ Australforce. Meanwhile, the main element of the corps headquarters, including Blamey, reached Palestine in mid-June 1940. They arrived amidst fighting in the Western Desert, and it was considered that the AIF troops could soon be committed to battle. Mediterranean and Middle Eastern theatres Initially, when I Corps headquarters arrived there was only one Australian infantry division in the Middle East – the 6th, which was completing its training – however between October and December the 7th arrived, followed by the 9th by January 1941. During this time, the brigades assigned to each division were shuffled between superior headquarters as a result of several reorganisations to provide the better trained brigades to the formations likely to see combat first. At this time, the main elements of the corps headquarters moved forward towards the combat zone, leaving the administrative staff in Gaza and establishing themselves in Ikingi Maryut, in Egypt. Here they began preparations for operations. The 6th Infantry Division was the first to go into action, capturing Bardia in early January 1941. This was followed by further actions at Tobruk, Derna, Barce, and Benghazi, as the Italians were forced to withdraw across Libya by the Allies. In February, I Corps took over control of Cyrenaica in Libya, replacing the British XIII Corps, and briefly adopting the designation of HQ Cyrenaica Force. This deployment lasted only a month, before I Corps headquarters was withdrawn back to Egypt to prepare for deployment to Greece for the campaign there, which began in April 1941. Initially, it had been planned for the 7th Division to deploy to Greece, but they were not considered fully trained, and as a result the 6th Division was dispatched. In their place, the newly arrived 9th Division replaced the 6th Division in the Western Desert, and they would subsequently take part in the Siege of Tobruk in mid- to late- 1941 when the Axis forces counter-attacked in the Western Desert. Meanwhile, in Greece, the corps controlled the Australian 6th Division, the New Zealand 2nd Division, and the British 1st Armoured Brigade, as well as several ad hoc forces charged with the defence of northern Greece. On 12 April, it was officially renamed the Anzac