The 25th Tank Brigade came under the command of Brigadier James Noel Tetley of the Leeds Rifles at the end of the Tunisia campaign. He was the only Territorial Army officer of the Royal Tank Regiment to command a brigade on active service. The brigade, including 51 RTR, remained training in North Africa for almost a year, before they were required for service on the Italian Front. The regiment celebrated Cambrai Day (20 November, commemorating the tank Battle of Cambrai) in Algeria. 51 RTR embarked on 16 April 1944 and landed at Naples, where it was equipped with Churchill tanks, with a few Shermans and Stuarts.