At the time there was fear that the German Army, then fighting the Soviet Red Army on the Eastern Front where it recently launched an offensive, carrying it across the Don and threatening the Caucasus, and there were not enough British or Indian troops to prevent a German breakthrough if Soviet resistance collapsed. Arriving there in late September 1942, the division formed part of III Corps, still under Desmond Anderson, itself part of the Tenth Army, commanded by General Sir Edward Quinan, itself part of Paiforce (formerly Iraqforce) under the newly created Persia and Iraq Command. In early October the division concentrated in Kermanshah before moving to Qum for the winter, where training continued, although it was made difficult by the severe weather. However, the German defeat at Stalingrad in February 1943 removed the threat of invasion and the division was available for service elsewhere. Travelling and training in both amphibious landings and mountain warfare in the Lebanon, Egypt and Syria, the division became part of Lieutenant General Miles Dempsey's XIII Corps, itself part of the British Eighth Army, under General Sir Bernard Montgomery. Berney-Ficklin, promoted on 5 May 1943 to permanent major general (with seniority backdated to 17 November 1941), knew Dempsey well, as the latter had commanded the 13th Brigade while the former commanded the 15th Brigade in France.