Delta Force in June 1942

When Mersa Matruh was abandoned, X Corps, commanded by General Holmes, was sent to the Nile Delta area. Their orders were to defend the naval base at Alexandria and the western side of the Nile Delta. They were the backstop in case the army was beaten farther west. The 9th Australian Division was assigned to Delta Force.
The assignment seemed like a mistake, because the men of the 9th Australian Division were seasoned veterans with long experience in fighting the enemy forces commanded by Rommel. The excuse for the assignment might have been that while they had the men, they were short of all kinds of equipment and supporting units. For example, the division only had one field regiment equipped with the full complement of vehicles The cavalry regiment was short of tanks, and what they had were an obsolete type. "Only one anti-tank battery had 2-pounders and their were no 6-pounders".
General Morshead and his staff officer, Colonel Wells arrived in Cairo and found that things were in disarray and that they needed to step in and take charge. They were to defend Cairo and there were no plans in place. Morshead conducted a reconnaissance of the area and then drew up plans using the map that they had.
Colonel Wells was a very experienced staff officer who had been with General Morshead for about seven months. He had served in both Greece and the campaign in Syria against the Vichy French. At least Morshead spent the day on 29 June with Mr. Casey, an Australian who had British cabinet status. He was the "British Resident Minister in the Middle East". He was the man who was present when the military situation turned for the worse, standing in for the British Government. Interestingly, he became in involved during the 2nd Battle of El Alamein when Montgomery's initial attack failed to break into the enemy positions. This is based on the account in Vol.III of the British Official History.