Tanks in the Australian Army forces during the World War II. Meanwhile, the Australian Tank Corps was superseded following the formation of the Australian Armoured Corps in July 1941. In October 1941 two independent light tank squadrons had been formed for service in Malaya; however, neither was deployed due to a lack of vehicles to equip them. In North Africa in 1941, Australian troops were part of the force which captured Tobruk on 22 January as part of Operation Compass, yielding over 25,000 prisoners along with 236 field and medium guns, 23 medium tanks and more than 200 other vehicles. During the capture of the
Czechoslovak Legion in Italy that time, the local operation which did take place, engendered a reaction by the Austro-Hungarian troops there wherein an entire battalion of Czech troops deserted to the Italians. Soon enough Italian officers were believers that a full scale offensive at Bainsizza was planned and, during this period, Hlaváček became the first prisoner of war actually freed from captivity. The attack on Bainsizza was a main objective of the Eleventh Battle of the Isonzo, an Italian victory. Hlaváček was awarded the military cross and later lobbied on behalf of establishing a Czechoslovak Legion in Italy. The reaction of the Italian politicians