During the relief of the first siege of Tobruk, my father , as a 2nd Lieutenant, was involved in the breakout southwards into the desert, to link up (it was hoped) with forces coming west along the coast from Egypt. Initially expected to have to hold their position for 24 hours, they held on for 8 days before the expected meeting eventually occurred. In his memoirs (unpublished) he tells that allied air cover was conspicuous by its rarity, and when it did occur, was only in the form of defence from air attack, and there was no communication, let alone cooperation, with the RAF. He always spoke highly of the RAF, but was always sad that they had not been of more use, although he acknowledged the problems they were faced with. (By the end, the 2 companies of troops had been reduced in strength by over 75 percent, and were using captured weapons and ammunition).