 Despite the rivalry between regular and reserve officers , the 6th Division staff was an effective organisation . Brigadier John Harding , the chief of staff of XIII Corps , as the Western Desert Force was renamed on 1 January 1941 , had been a student at Staff College , Camberley along with Mackay 's chief of staff , Colonel Frank Berryman , at a time when O 'Connor had been an instructor there . Harding later considered the 6th Division staff " as good as any that I came across in that war , and highly efficient . " Australian doctrine emphasised the importance of initiative in its junior leaders and small units were trained in aggressive patrolling , particularly at night . 
