The British advance in early February 1941

General O'Connor ordered General Creagh to cut off the Italian retreat from Cyrenaica. Based on air reconnaissance, he ordered the composite force from 11th Hussars, 1st KDG, and artillery (perhaps a later name) to head southwest, rather than to the west.

The advance to Msus in February 1941

With the approval of General Wavell, General O'Connor ordered the advance to Msus. In order to hide their intentions of going across country, the force, partly composed of the 11th Hussars, left Mechili on February 4th, 1941, heading across terrain not previously scouted. The force consisted of the 11th Hussars HQ and C Squadron, along with B Squadron from the 1st King's Dragoon Guards from the 2nd Armoured Division. The rest of the 11th Hussars were detached to operate with the 6th Australian Division and the 7th Armoured Division Support Group. The advance was supported by a flight from the No.208 Army Cooperation squadron. This was a mixed flight of Lysanders and Hurricanes. They reached Msus by 3pm, and found that the Italian garrison had already left. Some armoured cars continued on "towards Antelat". They traveled 30 miles past Msus. The entired 7th Armoured Division moved up to the east of Msus by dawn on February 5th.

General O'Connor's plan in late January 1941

After it was clear that General Babini and the Italian armoured unit had escaped from Mechili, General O'Connor analyzed the situation and made a new plan. He believed that strong Italian forces were posted in the high ground in "the Jebel". There were reports that they were supported by German forces, possibly with 88mm AA guns. A direct assault on Benghazi no longer seemed like a reasonable plan. The indirect approach always was appealing. Send two brigades of the 6th Australian Division along the coast road towards Benghazi. Send the 7th Armoured Division, supported by one infantry brigade towards Msus, across desert in the south. The timing was now an issue. The 7th Armoured Brigade tanks were desperately in need of maintenance. Two 2nd Armoured Division regiments were due to arrive somewhere between February 7th and 9th, 1941. While he waited, he would put the best tanks (cruiser and light) into the 4th Armoured Brigade. Now, a move forward would not be until sometime between February 10th and 11th. This is based on the account in Vol.I of the Official History.

The situation in Western Cyrenaica in late January and early February 1941

General O'Connor had ordered that the 7th Armoured Division not let General Babini's force escape from Mechili, but they succeeded withdrawing to the north in the darkness. The 4th Armoured Brigade attempted to pursue, but rains, soft ground, and mechanical breakdowns, and lack of fuel thwarted that effort. The Italian armoured brigade was still intact, with 100 medium tanks and 200 light tanks. Of course, only slightly more than half were still runners. The British armour was in bad shape, with too many miles and only 50 running cruiser tanks. Marshal Graziani, Governor-General of Libya, decided to save what forces were remaining, and in early February, ordered a withdrawal from Cyrenaica. He left Benghazi on February 3rd. This is based on the account in Vol.I of the Official History.

An incident at Martuba on January 24th, 1941

The force that included elements of the 6th Australian Divisional Cavalry arrived in the area around Martuba at about 4pm. Major Onslow was in command. Suddenly, an Italian CR42 Falco biplane fighter swooped out of the sky, and landed. The pilot was dazed and was immediately captured. The pilot had not realized that his enemy was so far to the west. His aircraft was given to No.3 Squadron RAAF. When Major Onslow's force moved further forward towards the coastal road, he encountered a 1/RTR sqsuadron and "a troop of field guns". They were attacking a blockhouse at Siret el Chreiba, blocking the path to the coastal road. Another airfield was just to the west. This is based on the account in To Benghazi.

Next, Benghazi

Now that the General Staff put a priority on capturing Benghazi, their plans were now more closely aligned with those of General O'Connor. General Maitland Wilson was to be governor of Cyrenaica, which had yet to be totally captured from the Italians. Benghazi was a desirable objective, because the General Staff wanted the port for moving supplies westward in a manner that did not require road transport. While Tobruk was still being entered, elements of the 6th Australian Divisional Cavalry were sent towards Derna. This was on January 23rd, 1941, and the force was a combined arms team with A squadron of the 6th Divionsional Cavalry, a battery of the 2/1 Field Regiment, one troop belonging to J Battery of the RHA (probably anti-tank guns), one troop belonging to the 37th Light AA Regiment, one company of the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers, as well as service and ambulance detachaments. This is based on the account in Gavin Long's book To Benghazi.

Tank vs. tank on January 24th, 1941

On January 24th, a tank-vs-tank battle was fought between a force with about 50 Italian medium tanks (probably mostly M13/40s) against the 4th Armoured Brigade. The battle was fought north of Mechili in Western Cyrenaica. The Italian losses were 8 medium tanks knocked out and one captured. The 4th Armoured Brigade lost one cruiser (possibly an A13 Cru.Mk.IV) and 6 light tanks (probably Lt.Mk.VIB). Sadly, the Italians escaped from Mechili, and the 4th Armoured division was left behind in the pursuit. This is based on the account in Vol.I of the Official History.

The Italian airforce in western Cyrenaica in January 1941

Both the RAF and the Regia Aeronautica (Italian Royal Airforce) were stretched thin in Western Cyrenaica in late January 1941. The Regia Aeronautica was down to about 46 bombers and 34 fighters. Almost none of its ground attack planes were flyable. The RAF was partly suffering from the British success and being at the far end of a long supply line. The RAF was fortunate to have captured large stocks of Italian bombs and aviation gas. Two RAF fighter squadrons were brought forward to Gazala to support the offensive. The Army Cooperation squadrons, usually equipped with Lysanders, were moved to Tmimi. The RAF also carried out a bombing campaign against Italian airfields, and this helped to reduce the Italian airforce to impotence.

By late January 1941, the British focused on Benghazi

The capture of Benghazi had increased priority, even on January 21st, 1941, the day that the Tobruk assault commenced. General O'Connor had plans to send the 7th Armoured Division westward. The 7th Armoured Brigade was to drive towards Derna while the 4th Armoured Brigade would move to Mechili. The move into the western portion of Cyrenaica brought the British out of the desert and into a more fertile land. Benghazi was a substantial port city of 65,000 with a rail connection to the north to Barce and to the south to Soluch. In this region, rain could turn roads and airfields into mud, unlike the desert surface to the east.

The German army moves towards Greece

The German plan was for the 12th Army to move into Bulgaria starting on February 7th, 1941, but the bad weather and ice on the Danube slowed the process. Now, the attack on Greece would happen in early April. The attack on Russia, Barbarossa, was already in preparation. Hitler had wanted to be ready to attack Russia by May 15th, but the coup d'etat in Yugoslavia on March 27th, 1941, roiled the waters. Barbarrosa would now be delayed about a month, into at least mid-June. The situation in Greece actually aided General O'Connor, and gained him time to push the Italians out of eastern Libya (Cyrenaica).

The Germans prepared to attack Greece in early 1941

After the beginning of 1941, German forces moved into Rumania through Hungary. The attack on Greece had been authorized by Hitler on December 13th, 1940. Ostensibly, the reason was to keep Britain out of the Balkans, where they would be a threat to both Italy and Rumania, a major source of oil for the Germans. The Germans would use the 12th Army and Fliegerkorps VIII. Fliegerkorps VIII would be equipped with 39-Ju88, 114 Ju87, 83 Me109, and 38 Me110. That was not a huge force, but the opposition that they would face would be weak, as well. One component of the 12th Army would have four panzer divisions. This is based on the account in Vol.I of the Official History.

Given Wavell's paltry offer, we can understand why the Greeks declined

On Wavell's trip to Athens, starting on January 13th, 1941, he could only offer paltry forces:

• two field artillery regiments
• one or two medium regiments
• one anti-tank regiment
• one cruiser tank regiment
• one or two batteries of AA artillery

Since Germany had not yet intervened, General Metaxas thought that such a small British contingent would only give the Germans further pretext to act. The British assumed that their presence would reassure the Yugoslavs, but General Metaxas had information that they would resist German attack only if they thought that the attack had not been provoked by a British presence at Salonika. The priority for General Metaxas was to resolve the situation in Albania. Not only was the British army not welcome, but the RAF should also wait for events to develop. This suited Air Chief Marshal Longmore, as it bought time to develop airfields, before he was forced to deploy aircraft.

Initially, the Germans were providing support to the Italians in Greece

When the Italian attack on Greece, from Albania, went badly, the Germans made a small effort to give support. They initially provided air transport, starting on December 9, 1940. The next German response was to send troops to Albania. The Italians were not enthusiastic about this prospect. When the Italians demurred, the Germans withdrew the troop offer. By January 1941, the Italian situation had deteriorated in both Albania and Libya. Bardia had fallen and the prospect was that the British would advance further. The Germans were obviously preparing to intervene in Greece and were known to be gathering troops in Rumania. The expected attack would be through Bulgaria, whose government seemed to be increasingly under German influence. The British commanders, above General O'Connor's level, intended to pull troops out of Libya and send them to Greece as soon as Tobruk was taken.

O'Connor's plan for Tobruk and beyond in early 1941

General O'Connor intended to keep the 7th Armoured Division back from the Tobruk assault. He hoped to be able to push the 7th Armoured Division west, intially to Mechili. The 7th Armoured Division Support Group was deployed between Acroma and the coast. The 4th Armoured Brigade was stationed on the flanks of the 6th Australian Divsion. The 7th Armoured Brigade and the 11th Hussars (armoured cars) were sitting west of Tobruk as a blocking force, but ready to advance to the west. Scouts had found a great deal of unoccupied territory and towns to the west, from January 15, 1941 and later. They had gone almost to Mechili. General Mackay asked for the 7th Armoured Division to support his attack on Tobruk, so General O'Connor postponed the advance to Mechili, which he had apparently hoped to do prior to taking Tobruk. This is basee on the account in Gavin Long's To Benghazi.

Prior to the attack on Tobruk in January 1941

One side benefit of the attack on Tobruk being delayed was that the 7th RTR now had 18 running Inf.Mk.II's instead of only 13. The A Squadron of the 6th Australian Divisional Cavalry had been equipped with captured Italian medium tanks, at General O'Connor's orders. 16 tanks, mostly M11/39's but also a few M13/40's were put into running condition. The tanks were marked with big white kangaroos. A squadron was split into three squadrons and reinforced with men from infantry battalion carrier platoons. They were named Dingo, Rabbit, and Wombat. During the night of January 17th, a nasty incident occurred where the brigade major and other officers Brigadier Allen's 16th Brigade and several scouts from were wounded on Italian booby traps. They had gone out to mark the start line, when they ran into trouble. This is based on the account in Gavin Long's book To Benghazi.

Supplying the Greek war effort in early 1941

The initial Italian invasion of Greece was "on the Albanian front". If Germany invaded via Bulgaria, the Greek position would be very difficult. The Greek army had some additional issues. Much of their equipment was either French or German. Britain had no stocks of ammunition for any of the Greek weapons. The United States shipped to Greece what French ammunition that they had left from World War One. They really had very little left. The obvious solution would be to rearm the Greek army "with British weapons". The problem was that the British did not have any extra weapons to supply to Greece. The effort to supply Greece meant that more shipping would be diverted to the Eastern Mediterranean and to the Aegean Sea. Seven convoys with 63 ships were sent in December 1940 and January 1941. The British were diverting more aircraft to Greece. The RAF had lost 30 aircraft against 58 Italian aircraft lost. The RAF was sending more Wellingtons, Blenheim Is, and Hurricanes from their already low stocks.

British air reinforcements to the Middle East in early 1941

Air Chief Marshal Longmore commanded the RAF in the Mediterranean and Middle East. With the government directive to aid Greece, the forces available for North Africa were stripped further. They had hopes for air reinforcements from America, but they quickly found problems with the Curtis Mohawk fighters that meant that they couldn't be used until they had a major modification. Thirty of these had been promised to Greece. 500 Curtis Tomahawk fighters were purchased, but there was no ammunition for the American machine guns in the theater. It was unclear when these aircraft would arrive, as well. The British also had no experience with the aircraft to know its capabilities. Air Chief Marshal Longmore did learn that more aircraft would be sent through March 1941. By then, 100 Hurricanes, 120 Blenheim IVs, 45 Martin Marylands, and 35 Wellingtons would arrive. This is from the account in Vol.I of the Official History.

Everyone expected Germany to attack Greece through Bulgaria in January 1941

The British government was trying to tell what Greece would do in response to a German attack through Bulgaria. No one doubted that would be where the attack would come. Orders to the theater command in the Middle East were influenced by those anxieties. At a time when Bardia had just fallen and Tobruk was about to be attacked, there was less interest in pursuing success than there would have been under other circumstances.

The Balkans in January 1941

When General Wavell went to Athens on January 13th, 1941, everyone expected that the Germans were poised to intervene in Greece. The Greek army was short of transport, AA and anti-tank guns, as well as such a basic thing as clothing for the troops. General Wavell was able to respond by diverting a shipment that had just arrived in Egypt to Greece with transport. He also suggested sending the captured Italian vehicles to Greece, as well. The Greeks estimated that there were six German divisions in southern Rumania. There were four Bulgarian divisions poised, on the border with Greece, as well. General Wavell offered to send some token forces to Greece: 2 field artillery regiments, 1 or 2 medium regiments, 1 tank regiment with cruiser tanks, and only one or two AA batteries. The Greeks declined the offer. This is based on the account in Vol.I of the Official History.

The Germans mined the Suez Canal, starting towards the end of January 1941

One of the things that the Germans could easily do that would cause the maximum disruption was to mine the Suez Canal. Starting in late January 1941, they started dropping mines from aircraft. After abortive minesweeping, the British guessed that they were dealing with both magnetic and acoustic ground mines. As they lacked a facility for sweeping acoustic mines, all that could be done was to interfere with minelaying with AA fire and to mark the location of dropped mines. The navy struggled to keep shipping moving through the canal.