WW2 - Patriotic Czech League in London - 'Way to go to it'. Many of the Czech soldiers (and civilians) that had managed to escape from Czechoslovakia when Germany invaded in 1939, decided not to stay in Poland and made their way to France and Britain instead. The British reformed approximately 3,300 Czechs into the 1st Czechoslovak Mixed Brigade Group in July 1940. This brigade consisted of two infantry battalions, one artillery battalion, as well as smaller specialist units (communication, engineers etc). The British also organised the 200th Czechoslovak Light AA Regiment, with some 1,500 men. In September 1943, the two units were merged to become the 1st Czechoslovak Independent Armoured Brigade, with around 4,000 men operational strength.