The 50th (Holding) Battalion, Royal Berkshire Regiment was another war-formed unit of the regiment raised in May 1940 in Reading, Berkshire. The 50th (Holding) Battalion's job was to 'hold' men who were homeless, medically unfit or those awaiting orders, on courses or returning from abroad. In late 1940 it was renumbered the 10th Battalion and, in early 1941, joined the 168th (London) Infantry Brigade, 56th (London) Infantry Division. In late 1942 the division was sent to the Middle East. The 168th Brigade was detached to fight with the 50th Division which was understrength after heavy fighting and casualties at Gazala in North Africa. The 168th Brigade took part in Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily, and then fought in the Italian Campaign back with the 56th Division. The division came under the command of the US Fifth Army under Mark W. Clark for the landings at Anzio, where the battalion endured some of the bitterest fighting of the war so far. Fighting at Anzio was similar to the trench warfare of the Great War. However, due to the severe shortage of manpower in the British Army at the time, and the battalion being the most junior in 56th Division, the battalion was broken up in March 1944 and the men were used as replacements for other infantry units of 56th Division.