The Babini Group (, also known as the Special Armoured Brigade ) was an armoured unit. The group was formed by the Italian Royal Army () in Italian North Africa (Libya) at the start of the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War. The group was formed in Libya, to be part of an armoured division assembled from tanks in the colony and from units sent from Italy. The new division was incomplete when the British began Operation Compass in December but the Babini Group fought in defence of the area between Mechili and Derna in late January. On 23 January, the group managed to inflict tank losses during a counter-attack on the 11th Hussars and force a delay in the Australian advance on Derna. The group then formed a rearguard for the 10th Army as it retreated from Derna and Mechili round the Jebel Akhdar towards the port of Benghazi. The Babini Group was destroyed south of the port at the Battle of Beda Fomm when the () was cut by Combeforce. The Italians failed to concentrate their remaining tanks at the head of the column before Combeforce was reinforced and were defeated in detail, with possibly only nine tanks escaping to the south. Background 32nd Tank Infantry Regiment The 32nd Tank Infantry Regiment was formed on 1 December 1938 and on 1 February 1939 became part of the 132nd Armored Division "Ariete", the second armoured division of the Royal Italian Army (). After the Italian declaration of war on 11 June 1940, the 32nd Tank Infantry Regiment moved with the Ariete Division from Veneto to the border with France, as part of the Army of the Po (), ready to exploit a breakthrough but the war ended so quickly that the division did not participate. On 28 July 1939, the I and II Tank Battalion "M"s received 96 Fiat M11/39 tanks to replace their Fiat 3000s. The inadequacies of the M11/39 tanks led to a decision on 26 October 1939, to replace them with M13/40 tanks and the first batch, built by Ansaldo at Genoa in October 1940, were used to equip the III Tank Battalion "M" with 37 new M13/40s. Libyan Tank Command In 1940, the Italian army had three armoured divisions in Europe, which were needed for the occupation of Albania and the invasion of Greece. The I Tank Battalion "M" (Major Victor Ceva) and