the II Tank Battalion "M" (Major Eugenio Campanile) landed their M11/39 tanks in Libya on 8 July 1940 and transferred from the 32nd Tank Infantry Regiment to the command of the 4th Tank Infantry Regiment. The two battalions had an establishment of and The medium tanks reinforced the three hundred and twenty-four L3/35 tankettes already in Libya. On 29 August 1940 the commander of the Northern Africa High Command Marshal Rodolfo Graziani ordered, on advice of General Valentino Babini, that the Libyan Tank Command (), entrusted to General Valentino Babini, be constituted under his direct control. All tanks in Italian Libya were to come under the new arrangements laid down in Graziani's . Libyan Tank Command, General Valentino Babini 1st Tank Group (), Colonel Pietro Aresca (4th Tank Infantry Regiment), destined to operate with the XXIII Corps Command of the 4th Tank Infantry Regiment I Tank Battalion "M" (M11/39 tanks) XXI Tank Battalion "L" (L3/35 tankettes) LXII Tank Battalion "L" (L3/35 tankettes) LXIII Tank Battalion "L" (L3/35 tankettes) 2nd Tank Group (), Colonel Antonio Trivioli, destined to operate with the Libyan Divisions Group II Tank Battalion "M" (minus one company; M11/39 tanks) IX Tank Battalion "L" (L3/35 tankettes) XX Tank Battalion "L" (L3/35 tankettes) LXI Tank Battalion "L" (L3/35 tankettes) Mixed Tank Battalion, destined to operate with the Maletti Group 1x Medium company (from the II Tank Battalion "M") 1x Light company (from the LX Tank Battalion "L") LX Tank Battalion "L" (minus one company; L3/35 tankettes), destined to operate with the XXI Corps When Operation Compass began on 9 December 1940, the IX Tank Battalion "L" was still with the 2nd Libyan Division, the II Tank Battalion "M" was with the Maletti Group and the LXIII and XX Tank Battalion "L"s were in reserve with the XXI Corps HQ east of the Frontier Wire in Egypt. The III Tank Battalion "M" (Lieutenant-Colonel Carlo Ghioldi) from the 32nd Tank Infantry Regiment, equipped with thirty-seven M13/40 tanks in two companies, arrived in Benghazi in late September and joined the of various types in the Libyan Tank Command to begin training. In November, the III Tank Battalion "M" was sent to Mechili and on 9 December, Operation Compass began to push back the 10th Army from Sidi Barrani, inside Egypt. The III Tank Battalion "M" was sent forward to Sollum and the Halfaya Pass. On 22 January, the VI Tank Battalion "M"