In December 1939, three months after the invasion of Poland, the Polish Commander-in-chief, General Władysław Sikorski, decided that a Polish unit in the French territory of Levant be created. On 12 April 1940 the brigade was officially formed in Syria, with Colonel Kopański as its commander. The main base of the brigade was established in Homs and the new unit instantly entered the ranks of the French Armée du Levant. As a unit specializing in mountain warfare, the brigade was thought of as a Polish addition to Allied plans for landings in the Balkans. It was modelled after the standard French mountain infantry brigade, with 2 infantry regiments (of 2 battalions each), artillery regiment, reconnaissance regiment (mounted and motorized), signals, engineers and a staff. Although new recruits arrived on a daily basis (mostly evacuated from Poland through Romania, Hungary, Greece and Yugoslavia), the brigade did not reach the planned numbers of 208 officers and 6840 soldiers and NCO's.