In early 1941, the "Oberkommando der Wehrmacht" (OKW—Supreme Command of the Armed Forces) had sent an expeditionary force, to North Africa to support the "Regio Esercito Italiano" (Royal Italian Army) fighting in the North African Campaign. As intensity of combat increased, the OKW committed additional military forces to the Mediterranean theatre. First elements of JG 77 had already been committed to this theatre in February 1942. The Axis defeat at the Second Battle of El Alamein (23 October—4 November 1942) and the 8 November 1942 Operation Torch landings had pushed the Axis out of Morocco, Algeria, Egypt and Libya into Tunisia. On 10 November 1942, Reinert's II. "Gruppe" was also withdrawn from the Eastern Front and began relocating to North Africa. On 5 December 1942, the "Gruppenstab" (headquarters unit), 4. and 6. "Staffel" arrived at Zazur, west of Tripoli, Libya. During the relocation, II. "Gruppe" stopped at Munich for two weeks. There, Reinert got in trouble with the authorities and was briefly confined to quarters for not properly saluting an elderly senior officer.