Churchill determined to relieve Wavell and after the failure in mid June of Operation Battleaxe, intended to relieve Tobruk, he told Wavell on 20 June that he was to be replaced by Auchinleck, whose attitude during the Iraq crisis had impressed him.
Churchill besluttede at afskedige Wavell og efter den fejlslagne Operation Battleaxe i midten af juni, som havde til formål at undsætte Tobruk, meddelte han den 20. juni Wavell, at han skulle erstattes af Auchinleck, hvis holdning under Irakkrisen havde gjort indtryk på ham.