Following a re-organisation of the structure of the Australian Army, which saw each infantry brigade reduced from four infantry battalions to three, the battalion was re-allocated to the 19th Brigade. This change occurred while the 2/4th was at sea, and after arriving in the Middle East, it concentrated at a camp at Kilo 89, near Gaza, in Palestine where it joined the &lt;a href="2/8th%20Battalion%20%28Australia%29"&gt;2/8th&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href="2/11th%20Battalion%20%28Australia%29"&gt;2/11th Battalion&lt;/a&gt;s. For a brief period, following Italy's entry into the war, the battalion was converted to an anti-aircraft regiment and employed in the defence of Haifa, before it was converted back into an infantry battalion in August 1940. After rejoining the 19th Brigade, the 2/4th undertook further exercises and training in Egypt and Palestine prior to the Australians being committed to the fighting against the Italians in the Libyan desert in January 1941 during Operation Compass. A series of actions were fought by the Australians around Bardia, Tobruk and Derna, before the 2/4th entered Benghazi in February. In reserve at Bardia, the battalion's main action came around Derna. During this action, a deception plan was executed by the battalion second-in-command, Major Robert Winning, drawing Italian artillery fire into no man's land. The battalion subsequently occupied Benghazi in early February.