first recruits did not reach the initial three battalions until April 1940, and by May 1940 it had already been decided to reform the outfit as two brigades, named the 101st RM Brigade and 102nd RM Brigade to avoid confusion with the 1st & 2nd Army Brigades then on service with the BEF. The 2nd & 3rd RM Battalions were to form the 102nd Brigade, whilst the 1st RM Battalion was to be joined by a new 5th RM Battalion to form the 101st RM Brigade (the 4th RM Battalion having been permanently disbanded as a mark of honour for their sacrifice at Zeebruge in 1918). Each brigade raised a medium machine gun company, a mobile (reconnaissance) company carrying anti-tank rifles in motorcycle side-car combinations, and a light howitzer battery of 6 mountain guns as support troops. All of this materiel was capable of being man-handled, thus avoiding the delay of hoisting heavier equipment into MLCs and thus losing the element of surprise. Nevertheless, discussions were held with the ISTDC to improve vehicle landing times. Royal Marine Brigade Operations Forces from the Royal Marine Brigade including 2nd RM Battalion formed the core of Force Sturges for the occupation of Iceland in May 1940. By June that force had been relieved and in the wake of the Dunkirk evacuation, the RM Brigade was placed on standby in Pembrokeshire to counter any threat of German occupation of neutral Ireland. By July the concern shifted to a potential German occupation of the neutral Portuguese islands of the Azores and Cape Verdes, with the RM Brigade relocating around Plymouth as a departure port, and undertaking coastal defence duties while they waited. The brigade had not expected to complete training until the end of July, so all of these tasks were accomplished whilst under-strength. The Royal Marine Division In August 1940 the decision was made to group the Royal Marine Brigades under a full Royal Marine Division. A key element of this plan was the raising of a third brigade, the 103rd RM Brigade consisting of the 7th & 8th RM Battalions (the 6th RM Battalion having been permanently disbanded as a mark of disgrace following the mutiny in Murmansk in 1919). However, the deteriorating situation in the Eastern Mediterranean resulted in the 103rd RM Brigade functioning as a holding unit for recruits for the RM Mobile Naval Base Defence Organisation in Alexandria, with both