World War II Database

On 12 Feb 1940, German General Erwin Rommel and the Afrika Korps arrived to reinforce Italian positions. He would take the following month and half to observe the situation and regroup the beaten Italian units. Although ordered not to launch any offensives by Berlin, Rommel found a weakness in British lines that the 5th Light Division and Italian Ariete Division under his command could take advantage of. His offensive was launched on 31 Mar, and captured El Agheila with relative ease. His troops would besiege the city of Tobruk, which was defended by the "desert rats" of Australian, British, and Polish troops.

Under the code names Operation Brevity and Operation Battleaxe, British troops launched an offensive in May and Jun, respectively, in the Western Desert, intending to relieve Tobruk and recapture Cyrenaica. The operations were costly failures caused by improper planning and poor execution. Rommel's creative deployment of his 88mm anti-aircraft guns as anti-tank guns in a mobile offensive role augmented his panzer regiments, incurring heavy casulaties against the Brevity and Battleaxe participants. Rommel's troops destroyed 91 British tanks while losing only 12 of their own. British general Wavell took the blame for the unsuccessful offensives, and was replaced by General Claude Auchinleck who made his fame as Commander-in-Chief of British India.

A subsequent campaign, Operation Crusader, launched on 18 Nov to again relieve Tobruk by Auchinleck. Along with the large numbers of 50mm anti-tank guns he received, he pinned down German outposts in Egypt with 13 Corps, and swept Rommel's armored force with 30 Corps, with each of the Corps acting independently. The element of surprise by Crusader was enhanced by a large sandstorm that grounded Luftwaffe reconnaissance missions the previous day. Initially, Auchinleck deployed his armor in the usual piecemeal fashion, but he was able to drive the German troops on a retreat. A clever move by Rommel destroyed a large portion of the British troops, but he also lost a significant number of tanks. Rommel personally led a thrust deep into the rear of the British Eighth Army, driving toward Tobruk with his mobile units. Although he heavily damaged the British forces along the way, Rommel's own forces finally grew thin and supply lines too long, and started to withdraw on 7 Dec.

The Germans, regrouped and resupplied, launched a second offensive on 21 Jan 1942. He was reinforced by more Italian divisions, and his army renamed Panzerarmee Afrika. By the first week of February, Rommel captured Benghazi, however his advance was halted at the Gazala line, which he would not cross until late May. His offensive was well supplied by sea across the Mediterranean while Allied-held Malta was heavily bombarded. On 20 June, Rommel finally achieved his goal of capturing Tobruk after fighting weeks of grueling battle in an area that later became known as "the cauldron". 35,000 mostly African troops of the British Commonwealth military surrendered along with the port city. The loss of Tobruk was considered by Churchill a disgrade second only to Singapore, while the German victory there earned Rommel the title of Field Marshal.

On 24 Jun, Rommel received the go-ahead from Berlin and Rome to continue his attack on the Allied forces in North Africa; his panzers reaching El Alamein on 30 Jun, 60 miles from Alexandra, causing the Mediterranean Fleet to withdraw to the Red Sea. At the First Battle of El Alamein on 2 Jul, Auchinleck personally led the British Eighth Army and halted the German advance.

On 13 Aug Bernard Montgomery arrived in North Africa to assume control of the British Eight Army, replacing Auchinleck. On 30 Aug, Rommel attacked at Alam Halfa and suffered heavy losses especially among the armored divisions. During which time, the British Eighth Army started to receive fresh armored vehicles, including 1,900 tanks, from the United States; for the first time the vast American productivity were felt on the frontlines. On 23 Oct, the two sides met again at the Second Battle of El Alamein as Montgomery launched Operation Lightfoot. Four divisions of 30 Corps attacked on a large front, with 13 Corps making a diversionary attack, placed heavy pressure upon Rommel's defenses, but somehow held up the British advance despite his supplies running extremely low. On 4 Nov, after being attacked by Montgomery's Operation Supercharge (reinforced by fresh troops), Rommel disregarded Hitler's orders to hold and withdrew into Libya.

Meanwhile, Americans were becoming ready to enter the war in North Africa. As General Fox Connor said to Dwight Eisenhower, "We cannot escape another great war. When we go into that war it will be in company with allies. Systems of single command will have to be worked out." Whether it came as a surprise to the Germans or not, the Americans were on their way.

Photographs

Share this article with your friends:

Delicious   Digg   Facebook

Reddit   StumbleUpon   Twitter

Stay updated with WW2DB:

Subscribe to RSS Feeds

Advertise on ww2db.com

Visitor Submitted Comments

1. CPT Michael Philipak says:
   10 Jun 2005 06:48:07 AM
   
   Interesting commentary, especially regarding Crusader. However, I feel compelled to comment that although Operation Crusader was a success, it was more of a pyrrhic for the British, as they acheived their objective of releiving the Tobruk defenders, but did so at an enormous cost. As a result, the Germans retreated across Cyrenaica, but the 8th Army was in absolutely no condidtion to pursue.
2. Doug Rombough says:
   3 Aug 2008 10:24:27 PM
   
   "Along with the large numbers of 50mm anti-tank guns he received"??
   
   I believe that you may mean the 6 pounder anti-tank gun which was replacing the 2 pounder at that time. The 2# had a bore of 37mm, the 6# of 57mm. AFAIK the British did not field a 50mm gun.

Posting Your Comments on this Topic

Your Name
Your Email
	Your email will not be published
Your Comments
Security Code

Note: Please refrain from using strong language. HTML tags are not allowed. Your IP address will be tracked even if you remain anonymous. WW2DB site administrators reserve the right to moderate, censor, and/or remove any comment.