traveling through Bucharest and Constanţa to reach France in late October 1939. Formation of the Carpathian Brigade In France, Kopański applied for a post in one of the Polish units being formed in France and Great Britain at that time. Initially, however, the Polish government in exile of Władysław Sikorski held most of the high-ranking officers of the pre-war Polish Army in reserve and instead gave command of newly formed units to officers who had actively opposed the Sanacja authorities before the lost campaign. It was not until 5 April 1940 that Kopański was finally given command of the Polish Carpathian Brigade, being formed in Homs on the border between French-held Syria and Lebanon. The unit was composed mostly of Polish soldiers who were able to escape prisoner of war camps in Hungary and Romania and make it to Allied-controlled territory, much like Kopański himself. On 12 April 1940 the brigade was officially formed and the new unit joined the French Armée du Levant. As a unit specializing in mountain warfare, the brigade was thought of as a Polish contribution to the Allied plan of landing in the Balkans. It was modelled after a standard French mountain infantry brigade. Although new recruits arrived on a daily basis, the brigade did not reach the planned strength of 208 officers and 6840 soldiers and NCOs. Carpathian Brigade joins the British Army After the capitulation of France nullified all pacts that country had with Poland and the United Kingdom, the commander of the Armee de Levant, General Eugène Mittelhauser, decided to support the new government of Philippe Pétain and Vichy France. He ordered the brigade to be disarmed and took Kopański as a hostage. However, due to strong opposition within Mittelhauser's own staff, he had to set Kopański free the following day. Kopański then followed the orders of General Sikorski and left French-controlled territory. On 30 June 1940 the brigade defected to the British Mandate of Palestine, where it joined the British forces stationed there. It was the only large military unit of the Armee de Levant to defect as a complete unit, with all of its equipment. Western Desert Campaign Initially composed of 319 officers and 3,437 soldiers, Kopański's brigade soon grew to roughly 5,000 men. Among the distinctive features of the unit was the high morale of the soldiers, all volunteers. In addition, roughly 25 percent were educated, a thing uncommon