After a heavy artillery bombardment on the Allied lines, the Italian X and XXI Corps (Sabratha, Trento, Brescia and Pavia Divisions) and the German 150th Infantry Brigade launched an attack toward Tobruk, Libya at the center of the Allied-held Gazala Line at 1400 … (Operation Agreement, a British landing at Tobruk during the night of 13/14 September, to rescue Allied prisoners, was a failure. [38][39][40] On the night of 1/2 June, the 90th Light and Trieste divisions were sent south to renew the attack on Bir Hakeim, where the battle continued for another ten days.[41]. [5], While aware from signals intelligence of these reinforcements, GHQ in Cairo underestimated their significance and Axis fighting strength, having greatly exaggerated the casualties inflicted on the Axis during Operation Crusader. From left to right: Generals Nicolini, Baldassarre and Lombardi. [15], Until May, monthly deliveries averaged 61,000 tonnes (60,000 long tons), less than the smaller Axis force received from June–October 1941 but sufficient for an offensive. Despite having been thrown back in late 1941, General Erwin Rommel began pushing east across Libya early the following year. This map appears in Battlefield 1942. Luftflotte II in Sicily had also regained air superiority for the Axis. Army commanders lost the power to direct air operations, which was reserved for the air commanders. [8], Between Gazala and Timimi, just west of Tobruk, the Eighth Army was able to concentrate its forces sufficiently to turn and fight. [53] Rommel retained the initiative, maintaining his strength in the cauldron while the number of operational British tanks diminished. Rommel pursued the Eighth Army into Egypt and forced it out of several defensive positions. Rommel assaulted this position in July but made no progress. It was made up of … Finding only the thinnest of screens, Rommel changed his reconnaissance into an offensive, recaptured Benghazi on 28 January and Timimi on 3 February. [32], On the far right of the Axis advance, the 90th Light Afrika Division engaged the 7th Motorised Brigade at Retma and forced it to withdraw eastwards on Bir el Gubi. The Eighth Army advance of 800 km (500 mi) over-stretched its supply lines and in January 1942, the Allies reduced the front line garrison for work on lines of communication and supply dumps, preparatory to another westwards advance against Tripolitania. [29][30][31], Further to the east, the 15th Panzer Division had engaged the 4th Armoured Brigade of the 7th Armoured Division, which had been ordered south to support the 3rd Indian and 7th Motorised brigades. Probing the Allied lines in January 1942, Rommel found little opposition and began a limited offensive east. We took in all 3,000 prisoners and destroyed or captured 101 tanks and armoured cars, as well as 124 guns of all kinds. [56] By the end of 13 June, the Knightsbridge box was virtually surrounded and it was abandoned by the Guards Brigade later that night,[52] with their commanding officer Thomas Bevan having been killed the previous day. ThoughtCo. how often to see someone when first dating [36], The tank battle continued for three days; lacking possession of Bir Hakeim, Rommel drew the Afrika Korps into a defensive position, using the extensive Allied mine belts to block an Allied approach from the west. The Italians tried to restrain Rommel by advocating the capture of Malta, which would postpone another offensive in Africa until the autumn but agreed to an attack on Tobruk for late May. Responding, Allied forces constructed a fortified line at Gazala which extended south from the Mediterranean coast. (2020, August 28). 300 officers, 570 NCOs and 2,490 other ranks. About half the gun detachments were killed and wounded, including the battery commander and many officers. By 1 July, the Eighth Army was back at El Alamein, with 137 serviceable tanks, 42 en route from workshops and 902 tanks waiting to be repaired. [77], As Rommel said to a captured British officer, 'What difference does it make if you have two tanks to my one, when you spread them out and let me smash them in detail?' Hitler rewarded Rommel with a promotion to the rank of field-marshal, the youngest German officer ever to achieve this rank. The capture of Malta would not alter the constraints of port capacity and distance; protecting convoys and a large port close to the front, would still be necessary for victory. The defenders in the El Adem and two neighbouring boxes held on and the 1st South African Division was able to withdraw along the coast road, practically intact. The defences at Tobruk had not been maintained and it was garrisoned by inexperienced troops. The Battle of Gazala cost the Allies around 98,000 men killed, wounded, and captured as well as around 540 tanks. Though they were forced to withdraw, they inflicted heavy losses on the attackers. The Gazala line was a series of defensive boxes accommodating a brigade each, laid out across the desert behind minefields and wire, watched by regular patrols between the boxes. The South African Military History Society Newsletter. [62], On 14 June, Auchinleck authorised Ritchie to withdraw from the Gazala Line. To hold Allied troops in place, the Italian X and XXI Corps would assault the Gazala Line near the coast. The Allies had 1,309 casualties from 21 January, lost 42 tanks knocked out, another 30 through damage and breakdowns and forty field guns. Hundreds of damaged tanks had been left behind when armoured regiments retreated and it was estimated that there were 1,188 tank casualties in 17 days. Rommel retired to a defensive position backing onto Allied minefields (the Cauldron), forming a base in the midst of the British defences. On 30 May, Rommel pulled the Afrika Korps back westward against the edge of the minefields, creating a defensive position. The Battle of Gazala was fought around the port of Tobruk in Libya from 26 May to 21 June 1942. "World War II: Battle of Gazala." Video showing Rommel at Gazala, a game published by Lock 'n Load Publishing in 2015. In order to bypass information already presented press the button on the bottom of the screen labeled Rommel's 2nd Offensive. By June 10 their defenses had been shattered and Ritchie ordered them to evacuate. Hickman, Kennedy. The Battle of Gazala was an important battle of the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War, fought around the port of Tobruk in Libya from 26 May–21 June 1942. [64] London would not contemplate a withdrawal to the better defensive positions on the Egypt-Libya frontier and on 14 June, Auchinleck ordered to Ritchie to hold a line running south-east from Acroma (west of Tobruk) through El Adem to Bir El Gubi. Battle of Gazala Monster is an unusual product. [65] The retreat became known to some as the Gazala Gallop. [d] A few elements of the Afrika Korps and XX Mobile Corps were attached to these assault groups. Assessing the position at Mersa Matruh, Auchinleck decided to abandon it in favor of a stronger one at El Alamein. The battle that was fought south of Gazala in eastern Libya, between 26 May and 14 June 1942, is crucial in that it was Rommel’s greatest victory over the British Eighth Army. On June 5 a counterattack did move forward, but Eighth Army made no progress. The Eighth Army withdrew from the Gazala Line and the Axis troops overran Tobruk in a day. [86][87], Panzerarmee Afrika began Unternehmen Aïda an advance upon Egypt, while the Eighth Army fell back to El Alamein. In the afternoon [30th May] I personally reconnoitred the possibilities for an attack on Got el Ualeb [the Sidi Muftah box] and detailed units of the Afrika Korps, 90th Light Division and the Italian Trieste Division for an assault on the British positions next morning. https://www.thoughtco.com/world-war-ii-battle-of-gazala-2361484 (accessed April 2, 2021). This short article about history can be made longer. [59] The Germans overran part of the 2nd Scots Guards at the Knightsbridge Box at the west end of Rigel Ridge, overlooked by the 6th South African Anti-tank battery of the 2nd Field Regiment, Natal Field Artillery and a battery of the 11th Regiment RHA nearby. Axis troops of the Panzerarmee Afrika (Generaloberst Erwin Rommel) consisting of German and Italian units fought the British Eighth Army (General Sir Claude Auchinleck, also Commander-in-Chief Middle East) composed mainly of British Commonwealth, Indian and Free French troops. This presentation helps explain how the Battle of Gazala unfolded. The following is a detailed listing of the Battle of Gazala Order of Battle on 24 May 1942. The following day, the 4th Armoured Brigade was sent to El Adem and the 90th Light Division was driven back to the south-west. Rommel moved first (battle of Gazala, 28 May-15 June 1942). German-Italian units fought their way forward yard by yard against the toughest British resistance imaginable.[...] The discovery of 13,000 tonnes (13,000 long tons) of fuel at Tripoli eased the supply crisis, despite the delivery of only 51,000 tonnes (50,000 long tons) of supplies in January. At the British headquarters, Auchinleck, fueled by overly-optimistic intelligence assessments, pushed Ritchie to counterattack along the coast to reach Timimi. In a mutually costly engagement, the Germans were surprised by the range and power of the 75 mm guns on the new M3 (Grant) tanks. On June 1, Rommel dispatched the 90th Light and Trieste divisions to reduce Bir Hakeim, but their efforts were repulsed. [44] About 2,700 troops (including 200 wounded) of the original garrison of 3,600 escaped and about 500 French troops, many of whom were wounded, were captured when the 90th Light Division occupied the position on 11 June.[44][45]. [81][3] Italian casualties were 3,000 men, 125 tanks, 44 armoured cars, 450 motor vehicles, 39 guns and seventy-four 47 mm anti-tank guns. [32] By late morning, the Axis armoured units had advanced more than 25 mi (40 km) north but by noon had been stopped by the 1st Armoured Division in more mutually costly fighting. Frankly, he and his senior commanders should have known better by now. The other games in that set are Crusader, Supercharge, and Kasserine. The 1st and 7th Armoured Divisions waited behind the main line as a mobile counter-attack force, the 2nd South African Division formed a garrison at Tobruk and the 5th Indian Infantry Division (which had arrived in April to relieve the 4th Indian Infantry Division) was held in reserve. Piece by piece the elaborate British defences were won until by early afternoon the whole position was ours. Panzer Army Africa Battle Report dated 29 June 1942 K.T.B. On 17 June, both boxes were evacuated ending any chance of preventing the encirclement of Tobruk. [13][14], The Axis retreat to El Agheila after Operation Crusader reduced the supply distance from Tripoli to 740 kilometres (460 mi). Behind the Gazala line were defensive boxes known as Commonwealth Keep or Hill 209 at Ras El Madauur on the main defence line of Tobruk, about 14.5 km (9.0 mi) west-south-west of the port. [85] The Royal Army Ordnance Corps recovered 581 tanks up to 19 June, repaired 278 and sent 222 back to Egypt (326 being US-made tanks). [58], On 13 June, the 21st Panzer Division attacked Rigel Ridge in the middle of a sandstorm. Gazala and the loss of Tobruk represetned Britain's complete military humiliation." To support the Axis advance into Egypt, the planned attack on Malta (Operation Herkules) was postponed. [57] Due to these defeats, 13 June became known as "Black Saturday" to the Eighth Army. Intelligence Alliance, 1940–1942", "The History of the British 7th Armoured Division: The Desert Rats: Engagements 1942", "German Experiences in Desert Warfare During World War II", German Experiences during The Battle of Gazala, Italian commanders 1940–1945 (in Italian), Parliamentary Debates, House of Commons Official Report 2 July 1942, Battle of Gazala animated battle map (Mark Cannon), Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany, Rape during the Soviet occupation of Poland, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Gazala&oldid=1012700845, Battles of World War II involving the United Kingdom, Battles and operations of World War II involving South Africa, Battles and operations of World War II involving India, Battles of World War II involving the United States, Battles of World War II involving Germany, Battle honours of the King's Royal Rifle Corps, Articles containing Italian-language text, Articles needing additional references from May 2020, All articles needing additional references, Interlanguage link template existing link, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. 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