The tentative plan for Greece

The tentative plan was that the experienced 6th Australian Division would be withdrawn from the desert and sent to Greece. They would be replaced in the desert by the 9th Australian Division. The 9th was poorly equipped and lacked combat experience. They gamble was that the Italians were beaten, so the British could afford to strip the desert of experienced troops and the best equipment and they could send them to Greece. The 2nd Armoured Division had just arrived in the desert in January 1941, but they had tanks with worn tracks that could not be replaced with what was available in the desert. Wavell's plan was to send half of the division to Greece and keep half in North Africa. This was a period where an armoured division had two armoured brigades and a support group with infantry and artillery. This is based on the account in Vol.II of the Australian Official History.