 At the conclusion of the Iranian operation, it returned to Iraq, where it underwent additional training and undertook security duties until May 1942.In March 1942, command of the division passed from Slim to Major General Thomas "Pete" Rees when Slim was ordered to India to take command of Burma Corps, the kernel that would eventually become the British Fourteenth Army.The division then moved on to North Africa, reaching Halfaya Pass on 4 June to take part in the Western Desert Campaign.