All Change in The Tobruk Defences
In the summer of 1941, Lieutenant-General Thomas Blamey—commander of the Second Australian Imperial Force, with the support of the prime minister of Australia—requested the withdrawal of the 9th Australian Division from Tobruk in order to meet the strong desire of the Australians that all their forces in the Middle East should fight under one command. General Claude Auchinleck—who had replaced Wavell as C-in-C Middle East Command in Cairo—agreed in principle but was not anxious to expedite the operation because a troop movement of this size would have to be made by fast warships during moonless periods of the month (because of the risk of air attacks to shipping) at a time when every resource needed to be concentrated on the planned Operation Crusader.
Based on reports from Australian H.Q. Middle East that the health of the troops had been suffering, the new Australian prime minister Arthur Fadden and his successor John Curtin rejected requests from Winston Churchill to change their minds and the replacement of the division was effected by the Royal Navy between August and October. During the 9th Australian Division's stay in besieged Tobruk, some 3,000 Australians had become casualties and 941 taken prisoner.
The Australians were gradually withdrawn. In August, the 18th Australian Infantry Brigade and the Indian Army's 18th King Edward's Own Cavalry were replaced by the Polish Carpathian Brigade with Czechoslovak 11th Infantry Battalion (East), and in September and October the British 70th Infantry Division including the 32nd Army Tank Brigade replaced the majority of the remaining Australians. Losses sustained by the Royal Navy during the withdrawal led to the curtailment of the operation and as a consequence 2/13th Australian Battalion and two companies of 2/15th Australian Battalion together with some men of 9th Division headquarters remained in Tobruk until the siege was lifted. Morshead was succeeded as commander of the Tobruk fortress by 70th Division's commander, Major-General Ronald Scobie.
Read more about this topic: Siege Of Tobruk
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