Breakdowns

The 2nd Armoured Brigade, part of the 1st Armoured Division, had been brought to Mersa Matruh by rail. From there, they traveled about 450 miles "on their own tracks". They lost about 20 cruiser tanks to mechanical breakdown on that trip. We would suppose that the "cruiser tanks" were probably all Crusaders. By this time, they were most likely Mk.II's. They were unlikely to have earlier cruisers. If they did, they would have been Cru. Mk.IVA tanks. Most likely, all remaining Cru. Mk.IVA's were expended in the Crusader Battle at Sidi Rezegh. We believe that they were all assigned to the 7th Armoured Brigade. This is based on the account in Vol.III of the Official History.