The 7th Armoured Division in January 1941

The 7th Armoured Division had lost considerable strength in the course of a month. In any case, they could not take Tobruk, unaided. They had 69 cruiser tanks and 126 light tanks. The 8th Hussars and 6th RTR were withdrawn from the field and their tanks were distributed among the remaining units. At the same time, the 2nd Armoured Division was arriving in the Middle East. It was equipped with two cruiser regiments and two light tank regiments. Their tanks were in poor condition, but they were moved up to Cyrenaica (Eastern Libya) in early February 1941. General Mackay planned the attack on Tobruk with the 6th Australian Division and the remnants of the 7th RTR playing a prominent part.