The run up to Operation Crusader in November 1941 at Tobruk

The units in Tobruk in November 1941 were focused on learning as much as possible about the plan for the impending Operation Crusader. The Australians assumed that they all would be leaving prior to Crusader. They were more interested in what the enemy forces might be planning. Everyone still expected that the 2/13th Battalion would be leaving Tobruk in November. They were told to plan on half leaving on 13 November and the other half after they were relieved by the Polish Officers Legion. The enemy air units restarted their high-level and dive bombing attacks. They targeted the artillery and the front line defenses. The enemy was also engaged in probing the defenders in the perimeter defenses.
suddenly, the 2/13th Battalion commander was called to the fortress headquarters. When he returned, he met with the company commanders. He informed him that the withdrawal from Tobruk was postponed for another week. The battalion's role would change, so that they would form part of the reserve for the attack from Tobruk towards the Egyptian frontier. They would stay in Tobruk, with half of the battalion on the coast and the other half at Pilastrano. The new plan was for the 2/13th Battalion to leave Tobruk by road, rather than by ship.
By now, the Australians had trouble taking the schedule seriously. They would believe dates when they saw the events happen. Over two nights, all the Australians but the 2/13th Battalion were4 removed by sea. The decision to leave the 2/13th Battalion in Tobruk for Operation Crusader is still something of a mystery. Speculation was that the Polish general had requested that the Polish Officers Legion be held in Egypt as the nucleus of complete Polish divisions in the Middle East. That meant that the 2/13th Battalion was still needed in Tobruk until after Operation Crusader. Middle East GHQ was discussing the possibility in early November.
The situation was that with the Tobruk garrison launching a sortie towards the Egyptian border, the forces available to General Scobie were stretched to a breaking point. He could not afford to lose the 2/13th Battalion due to the scarcity of the defensive forces. The situation was such that the British did not bother to sonsult the Australians about the need to keep the 2/13th Battalion. They just kept them and there was no discussion about the decision. Mr. Churchill invoked the authority of the King in a message to the troops involved with Operation Crusader. Mr. Churchill told the men that the King had expresed confidence that the men would "do their duty" in the coming battle. This was a battle where the British forces were well armed with the most modern weapons, putting them in a position of equality of weapons with the enemy forces. This is based on the account in Vol.III of the Australian Official History.