After Italy's entry into the war against France and England in 1940, it became obvious that the next confrontation between the adversaries was most likely to happen in North Africa. Everybody was aware that the dominion of the Mediterranean was of utmost importance, and even decisive for a successful conclusion of hostilities. The British Army was responsible for the defense of Egypt, while strong Italian forces were concentrated in Libya. After considerable preparations, Italian troops under General Grazi-ani crossed the border into Egypt on September 9, 1940. After some initial successes, they were halted and driven back deep into their own territory. This first confrontation of armored forces revealed rather quickly the poor condition of the Italian armored vehicles. Used mainly in small numbers for direct infantry support, these L/3 and M/l 1 tanks proved to be an almost total failure. By February, 1941, an improved version of the M/l 1, the M/13, appeared, having finally the main armament, a 47 mm gun, in a fully-rotating turret. During this time, the British forces were equipped with Valentine and Matilda infantry tanks, some Mark I (A.9) and Mark II(A.IO) cruiser tanks which were supposed to be replaced by Mk. IV, the Govenanter. This vehicle, however, proved to be mos' unreliable; thus, the main equipment within the cruiser series became the Mk. VI, or Crusader, which was used in numbers until the end of the campaign in 1943.