Rommel´s own mobility in his Storch caused problems for his staff. On 7th April 1941 it became clear from intelligence reports to Rommel´s chief of staff and operations officer at the tactical HQ in Agedabia that the ad hoc and disorganised assembly of British forces at Mechili offered no threat to the advance and could be bypassed for the more important objective of Tobruk. But they could not pass this appreciation on to their chief who was flying there, here and everywhere in his Storch, completely out of touch with Tactical HQ. So they sent Rommel´s ADC, LT H W Schmidt in another Storch either to track down Rommel or, failing that, to reach Generalmajor Streich and pass the order straight to him. However, Schmidt himself got lost and did not arrive at Streich´s divisional HQ until the early morning of 8 April, by which time the attack on Mechili was already under way. Commentators on the desert war have speculated that, had Rommel not lost touch with his tactical HQ and received the staff´s advice, the outcome of the Cyrenaica campaign might have been even more successful, culminating in the speedy capture of Tobruk , which in the event ( 1941 ) did not happen.

21st Panzer division by Chris Ellis

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