Overseas, bomb disposal companies were unavailable for Operation Torch, the invasion of North Africa in November 1942. By the invasion of Sicily in July 1943, bomb disposal soldiers were busy dealing with both Allied and Axis UXB and teaching troops the details of bomb reconnaissance. The issue of teaching troops was so important that a school for that purpose was established at Bristol, England. The school included a miniature village and a museum of UXB. Initially, instructors from the Royal Engineer School at Ripon handled the instruction, but upon their arrival in the fall of 1943, the 234th Bomb Disposal Company assumed responsibility for the school.