Another look at the start of Operation Crusader

As we said, Operation Crusader achieved complete surprise when they attacked on 18 November 1941. The first moves saw the British take their initial objectives without meeting any serious opposition. General Cunningham's plan for Crusader actually hoped to get a response from the enemy. That did not happen partly because Rommel was focused on attacking Tobruk and also because the weather had grounded reconnaissance aircraft. That left General Cunningham thinking about what to do next. While he was thinking, his commanders took action on their own.
General Norrie decided that XXXth Corps would have Bir el Gubi and Sidi Rezegh as their objectives to start 19 November. 7th Armoured Division sent the 22nd Armoured Brigade to attack the Ariete Division at Bir el Gubi. The Ariete Division was in a good defensive position. The 22nd Armoured Brigade lost 25 tanks while the Ariete Division lost 34. The Italians were left in possession of the battlefield, so that they were in position to recover knocked out tanks.
7th Armoured Division, commanded by General Gott, sent the 7th Armoured Brigade to Sidi Rezegh. They overran the airfield and captured 19 Italian aircraft. They occupied a position at Sidi Rezegh.
The 4th Armoured Brigade, equipped with American Stuart tanks, sent the 3rd RTR (with Cricketeer Robert Crisp) to the northeast along with some King's Dragoon Guards Marmon-Herrington armored cars. They encountered the 3rd Reconnaissance Unit and chased them. That action finally elicited a response from the Germans. The 21st Armored Division commander requested the German Africa Corps commander to take action. General Cruewell got permission from Rommel to send a tank force to Gabr Saleh. With the Germans splitting their tank forces, the British might have taken advantage to concentrate and fight the Germans, but the British only had a tank battalion and a 25pdr battery with four 2pdr anti-tank guns at Gabr Saleh. They started fighting at about 2:30pm and kept going until it was getting dark. The 5th RTR came up to support the 8th Hussars. The British tanks suffered somewhat from the better German field artillery.
The Germans concentrated their armored divisions and planned to hit the frontier "from Sidi Omar northwards". If that had not happened, the enemy might have attacked Tobruk at the same time that the 70th Division sortie was planned. The British were scattering their mobile forces while the Germans were concentrating. The 7th Support Group was ordered to Sidi Rezegh to join with the 7th Armoured Brigade. They sent the South African division to Bir el Gubi so that the 22nd Armoured Brigade could be sent to Sidi Rezegh. That did not actually happen because the situation had changed. This is based on the account in Vol.III of the Australian Official History.