The salt pans, sand dunes, and little cliffs of this front were highly favourable for defence, and every precaution had been taken by the enemy to strengthen them by minefields and wire entanglements. General Auchinleck did not feel he could assault this position before the middle of February. In the meanwhile he maintained contact with Rommel’s forces by the two leading battalions of the Guards Brigade and the Support Group of the 1st Armoured Division. Behind these, at Antelat, nearly ninety miles away, lay the remainder of the British 1st Armoured Division. commanded by General Messervy. These, together with the 4th British-Indian Division at and to the east of Benghazi, composed the XIIIth Army Corps, under General Godwin-Austen. This wide dispersal of the corps, through administrative difficulties, left the front weak and reinforcements distant. No arrangements were made to defend the British front by mines or other obstructions. The plan was that if Rommel counter-attacked, our forward troops were to withdraw.

General Auchinleck did not however believe that Rommel would be able to attack, and thought he himself had plenty of time to build up his forces and supplies.

General Auchinleck

15 Jan. 42

to C.I.G.S.

Enemy apparently is now stabilising position round Agheila…. Total enemy strength in forward area, estimated: German, 17,000 men, 50 field guns, 70 anti-tank guns, 42 medium and 20 light tanks; Italian, 18,000 men, 130 field guns, 60 anti-tank guns, 50 M.13

tanks, about one-third original strength.

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44

2. Our forward troops, comprising the Guards Brigade Group, the Support Groups of 1st and 7th Armoured Divisions, 1 four armoured-car regiments, the 2d Armoured Brigade, are in touch with enemy on his whole front, and patrols have reached Agheila-Marada track.

3. Enemy is not aggressive except in air, where his activity has increased recently, probably owing to improvements in his fuel situation caused by ships reaching Tripoli. Our Air Force continues to be very active against enemy targets and in covering our ports as well as our forward troops. Enemy bombing attacks against our ports and road communications eastward from Benghazi continue, but no serious damage done.

4. Development of Benghazi port proceeds satisfactorily, and supplies are being landed in spite of delay due to bad weather and rough seas.

The news soon arrived of the surrender of Bardia, Sollum, and Halfaya to our XXXth Corps with 14,000 prisoners and much war material at a cost of less than 500 casualties.

Eleven hundred of our own men were also liberated at this time.

Nothing more of importance reached me before I flew back from Bermuda, and I certainly parted from the President with the feeling, which afterwards proved fully justified, that our thought about a large North African venture was moving forward on the same lines. The news still continued good after I had reached London, though there would evidently be a longer pause than we had hoped before the new battle.

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45

Immediately on my arrival, amid a surge of business, I was forced to prepare myself for a full-dress Parliamentary debate. The immense world events which had happened since I last addressed the House of Commons at length had now to be presented to the nation. From what I could see of the newspapers, to the reading of which I gave at least an hour a day, there was a rising swell of discontent and apprehension about our evident unreadiness to meet the Japanese onfall in the East and Far East. To the public the Desert battle seemed to be going well, and I was glad to lay the facts before Parliament.