Chauvel assumed command of the newly formed Anzac Mounted Division on 16 March 1916, the day after it relieved the 1st Division on the Suez Canal defences. Chauvel was again mentioned in despatches for his part in the defence of the Canal. His division was committed to No. 3 Section of the Suez Canal Defences, the northern part of the Canal, under Major General H. A. Lawrence. Arrangements were far from ideal. The mounted troops were parcelled out so that only two brigades of the Anzac Mounted Division remained under Chauvel's command. The 3rd Light Horse Brigade had been placed under No. 2 Section by General Sir Archibald Murray GHQ Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF). Lawrence was too far away to control the battle, especially once the telephone lines were cut. Murray, in Ismailia, was even further back.