formations overseas. 102nd (P&C) Field Rgt was one of the first units to leave, on 23 November 1941. Tunisia By October 1942, 102nd (P&C) Fd Rgt, accompanied by its own Light Aid Detachment of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers for mobile operations, had been assigned to First Army for the Allied invasion of North Africa (Operation Torch), operating once again as an Army Field Regiment. It landed at Algiers in February 1942, with one of the first self-propelled 25-pounder (Bishop) batteries to see action. On 26 February 1943 the Germans launched a series of counter-attacks (Operation Ochsenkopf) against First Army. There was hard fighting in the 'Hunt's Gap' area between Maj-Gen Friedrich Weber's Korpsgruppe Weber and 128th (Hampshire) Brigade of 46th Infantry Division, commanded by Brig Manley James, VC. As well as 46th Divisional Artillery, James's brigade group was supported by one battery of 102nd (P&C) Fd Rgt. On the first day Weber's Kampfgruppe Lang overran a patrol base at Sidi Nsir, about north-east of Hunt's Gap, then attempted to advance on the gap over the ext two days. However, Lang's casualties in tanks and infantry were heavy, and by the evening of 1 March Weber ordered him onto the defensive. The British Official History records that 'Lang's defeat was caused mainly by the excellent British artillery fire'. 102nd (Pembroke Yeomanry) Medium Regiment After the fall of Tunis and the end of the Tunisian Campaign 102nd (P&C) Fd Rgt was not required for the Allied invasion of Sicily. Instead it remained in North Africa and on 18 September 1943 was converted into 102nd (Pembroke Yeomanry) Medium Regiment (its title finally reflecting the departure of the Cardigan batteries). Medium regiments equipped with the 5.5-inch gun had only two batteries, so 473 Fd Bty was disbanded in North Africa; 405 and 406 (Pembroke Yeomanry) Btys retained their titles. Italy The regiment landed in Italy to join Eighth Army in December 1943 and fought in the Italian Campaign. It was attached to 5th Division for the crossing of the Garigliano in January 1944 during the First Battle of Monte Cassino. 5th Division's attack at 21.00 on the night of 17/18 January was silent, with no preliminary bombardment, in the hope of achieving surprise. The crossing was more successful than anyone hoped, and by daylight the assaulting battalions had formed up on the opposite side of the river and were attacking with heavy