In December, however, he returned to the command of troops when he was promoted to the acting rank of brigadier and was given command of the 3rd Parachute Brigade, taking over from Brigadier Alexander Stanier. The brigade, part of the 1st Airborne Division, still under Browning, was a recent creation, comprising the 7th, 8th and 9th Parachute Battalions, all of which had formerly been infantry battalions converted into parachute battalions, along with supporting units. Created to replace the 1st Parachute Brigade after it was detached to fight in North Africa (see British airborne operations in North Africa), Lathbury, as he had done with the 3rd Para Battalion the previous year, put the 3rd Para Brigade through a series of gruelling training exercises, before, in mid-April 1943, he was selected to command the 1st Para Brigade in North Africa, in succession to Brigadier Edwin Flavell, handing over the 3rd Para Brigade to Brigadier James Hill.