1941 was a bad year for Churchill. It started out well when Richard O'Connor captured Libya. When Rommel arrived in North Africa, tngs changed drastically. Archibald Wavell was the theater commander. He was a better theater commander than his successor, Claude Auchinleck. Auchinleck excelled as a general in the field, and he defeated Rommel twice: once in the Crusader Battle and once in the First El Alamein. Where he went wrong was to let Anthony Eden talk Chuchill into send a force to Greece. They were forced to withdraw in late April, losing equipment and men. They went into Crete and had a worse defeat.
Churchill liked to appoint friends as comanders, so he had appointed Henry Maitland Wilson as commander in Greece, where Wilson did a poor, I would imagine that it was due to Wilson's lack of experience. Bernard Freyberg might have done better.
Wilson left Freyberg as the only General in Greece. He tried to execute the evacuation, but the Germans were pressing the as they attempted to withdraw.
Bernard Freyberg left Greece exhausted, so when Churchill appointed Freyberg to command the defence of Crete, he was unable to do a good job. Freyberg ended up in Egypt in command of thr New Zealand Division. He led the New Zealand Division in the Crusader Battle. He struggled in the battle at Sidi Rezegh, in the Crusader Battle. Churchill begged Auchinleck to command the Eighth Army, which he eie briefly in the Crusader Battle, whe Rommel was driven back to El Agheila.
About the same time as the battle for Crete, the German battleship Bismarck broke out into the Atlantic with the cruiser Prins Eugen. The Bismarck sank the Hood and damaged the Prince of Wales. Fortunately, the Rodney intercepted the Bismarck and reduced the Bismarck to a burning wreck.
After Rommel took Tobruk, Auchinleck defeated Rommel at the First El Alamein. Churchill gave up on Auchinleck and fired him.
This is based on our generak knowledge and our opinions.
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