A Free French Bren Carrier patrol led by Captain Lamaze and accompanied, in person, by Colonel Mitakvari of the Foreign Legion, was surprised while patrolling in the open desert by a section of Italian M13 tanks which managed to get between the patrol and its perimeter defences. They were only rescued by the timely intervention of Captain Messmer (9th company 3/13th battalion) who would later become the Minister of Defence in the Charles de Gaulle regime in the 1960s.
