The Battle of Gazala (near the village of ) was fought during the
Western Desert Campaign of the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, west of the port of
Tobruk
Tobruk or Tobruck (; grc, Ἀντίπυργος, ''Antipyrgos''; la, Antipyrgus; it, Tobruch; ar, طبرق, Tubruq ''Ṭubruq''; also transliterated as ''Tobruch'' and ''Tubruk'') is a port city on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near th ...
in
Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...
, from 26 May to 21 June 1942.
Axis
An axis (plural ''axes'') is an imaginary line around which an object rotates or is symmetrical. Axis may also refer to:
Mathematics
* Axis of rotation: see rotation around a fixed axis
*Axis (mathematics), a designator for a Cartesian-coordinate ...
troops of the (
Erwin Rommel
Johannes Erwin Eugen Rommel () (15 November 1891 – 14 October 1944) was a German field marshal during World War II. Popularly known as the Desert Fox (, ), he served in the ''Wehrmacht'' (armed forces) of Nazi Germany, as well as servi ...
) consisting of
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
and
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
units fought the British
Eighth Army (
General
A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...
Sir
Claude Auchinleck
Field Marshal Sir Claude John Eyre Auchinleck, (21 June 1884 – 23 March 1981), was a British Army commander during the Second World War. He was a career soldier who spent much of his military career in India, where he rose to become Commande ...
, also
Commander-in-Chief Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
) composed mainly of British Commonwealth, Indian and Free French troops.
The Axis troops made a decoy attack in the north as the main attack moved round the southern flank of the Gazala position. Unexpected resistance at the south end of the line around the
Bir Hakeim
Bir Hakeim ( ar, بئر حكيم, translit=biʾr ḥakīm, lit=Wise Well ; sometimes written ''Bir Hacheim'') is in the Libyan desert at and is the site of a former Ottoman Empire fort built around the site of an ancient Roman well, dating to ...
box by the
Free French
Free France (french: France Libre) was a political entity that claimed to be the legitimate government of France following the dissolution of the Third Republic. Led by French general , Free France was established as a government-in-exile ...
garrison, left with a long and vulnerable supply route around the Gazala Line. Rommel retired to a defensive position backing onto Allied minefields (the Cauldron), forming a base in the midst of the British defences. Italian engineers lifted mines from the west side of the minefields to create a supply route through to the Axis side.
Operation Aberdeen, an attack by the Eighth Army to finish off the , was poorly co-ordinated and
defeated in detail; many British tanks were lost and the regained the initiative. The Eighth Army withdrew from the Gazala Line and the Axis troops overran Tobruk in a day. Rommel pursued the Eighth Army into Egypt and forced it out of several defensive positions. The Battle of Gazala is considered the greatest victory of Rommel's career.
As both sides neared exhaustion, the Eighth Army checked the Axis advance at the
First Battle of El Alamein
The First Battle of El Alamein (1–27 July 1942) was a battle of the Western Desert campaign of the Second World War, fought in Egypt between Axis (German and Italian) forces of the Panzer Army Africa—which included the under Field Marshal ...
. To support the Axis advance into Egypt, the planned attack on Malta (
Operation Herkules
Operation Herkules (german: Unternehmen Herkules; it, Operazione C3) was the German code-name given to an abortive plan for the invasion of Malta during the Second World War. Through air and sea landings, the Italians and Germans hoped to e ...
) was postponed. The British were able to revive Malta as a base for attacks on Axis convoys to Libya, greatly complicating Axis supply difficulties at El Alamein.
Background
Benghazi
![Rommel with his aides](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/Bundesarchiv_Bild_101I-785-0287-08%2C_Rommel_with_his_aides.jpg)
Following
Operation Crusader
Operation Crusader (18 November – 30 December 1941) was a military operation of the Western Desert Campaign during the Second World War by the British Eighth Army (United Kingdom), Eighth Army (with Commonwealth, Indian and Allied contingents) ...
, in late 1941, the British Eighth Army had relieved Tobruk and driven the Axis forces from
Cyrenaica
Cyrenaica ( ) or Kyrenaika ( ar, برقة, Barqah, grc-koi, Κυρηναϊκή παρχίαKurēnaïkḗ parkhíā}, after the city of Cyrene), is the eastern region of Libya. Cyrenaica includes all of the eastern part of Libya between ...
to
El Agheila
El Agheila ( ar, العقيلة, translit=al-ʿUqayla ) is a coastal city at the southern end of the Gulf of Sidra in far western Cyrenaica, Libya. In 1988 it was placed in Ajdabiya District; it was in that district until 1995. It was removed from ...
. The Eighth Army advance of 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
Tripolitania ( ar, طرابلس '; ber, Ṭrables, script=Latn; from Vulgar Latin: , from la, Regio Tripolitana, from grc-gre, Τριπολιτάνια), historically known as the Tripoli region, is a historic region and former province o ...
. The elimination of
Force K
Force K was the name given to three British Royal Navy groups of ships during the Second World War. The first Force K operated from West Africa in 1939, to intercept commerce raiders. The second Force K was formed in October 1941 at Malta, to op ...
from Malta, which ran into an Italian minefield off Tripoli in mid-December and the arrival of II in Sicily, neutralised Allied air and naval forces in Malta, allowing more Axis supplies to reach Libya. After a two-month delay, German and Italian forces in Libya began to receive supplies and reinforcements in men and tanks, which continued until the end of May, when II was transferred to the Russian front.
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. In an appreciation made in January 1942, Auchinleck alluded to an Axis fighting strength of 35,000 men, when the true figure was about 80,000 (50,000 German and 30,000 Italian troops). The Eighth Army expected to be ready by February and GHQ Cairo believed that the Axis would be too weak and disorganised to mount a counter-offensive in the meantime. On 21 January, Rommel sent out three strong armoured columns to make a tactical reconnaissance. Finding only the thinnest of screens, Rommel changed his reconnaissance into an offensive, recaptured
Benghazi
Benghazi () , ; it, Bengasi; tr, Bingazi; ber, Bernîk, script=Latn; also: ''Bengasi'', ''Benghasi'', ''Banghāzī'', ''Binghāzī'', ''Bengazi''; grc, Βερενίκη (''Berenice'') and ''Hesperides''., group=note (''lit. Son of he Ghazi ...
on 28 January and
Timimi
Timimi, At Timimi ( ar, التميمي) or Tmimi, is a small village in Libya about 75 km east of Derna and 100 km west of Tobruk. It is on the eastern shores of the Libyan coastline of the Mediterranean Sea.
Geography
Because its under ...
on 3 February. By 6 February, the Allies had fallen back to a line from
Gazala
Gazala, or ʿAyn al-Ġazāla ( ), is a small Libyan village near the coast in the northeastern portion of the country. It is located west of Tobruk.
History
In the late 1930s (during the Italian occupation of Libya), the village was the site of ...
to
Bir Hakeim
Bir Hakeim ( ar, بئر حكيم, translit=biʾr ḥakīm, lit=Wise Well ; sometimes written ''Bir Hacheim'') is in the Libyan desert at and is the site of a former Ottoman Empire fort built around the site of an ancient Roman well, dating to ...
, a few miles west of
Tobruk
Tobruk or Tobruck (; grc, Ἀντίπυργος, ''Antipyrgos''; la, Antipyrgus; it, Tobruch; ar, طبرق, Tubruq ''Ṭubruq''; also transliterated as ''Tobruch'' and ''Tubruk'') is a port city on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near th ...
, from which the Italo-Germans had retired seven weeks before. The Allies had from 21 January, lost knocked out, another damage and breakdowns and forty field guns.
Gazala line
Between Gazala and Timimi, just west of Tobruk, the Eighth Army was able to concentrate its forces sufficiently to turn and fight. By 4 February, the Axis advance had been halted and the front line stabilised from Gazala on the coast west of Tobruk, to an old Ottoman fortress at Bir Hakeim inland to the south. The Gazala line was a series of
defensive box
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
es accommodating a
brigade
A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division.
Br ...
each, laid out across the desert behind minefields and wire, watched by regular patrols between the boxes. The Free French were to the south at the Bir Hakeim box, south of the 150th Infantry Brigade box, which was south of the 69th Infantry Brigade box. The line was not evenly manned, with a greater number of troops covering the coast road, leaving the south less protected but the line was behind deep minefields and a longer line would make an attack around the southern flank harder to supply. 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 west-south-west of the port.
Acroma
Acroma (also Akramah and Ikrimah) is a town in northeastern Libya in Butnan District, about 28 km west of Tobruk.
On April 17, 1917, the Treaty of Acroma, was signed by the Italian government (as occupying, colonial power) and Mohammed Idr ...
, Knightsbridge, south of Acroma and
El Adem
Gamal Abdel Nasser Airbase () is a Libyan Air Force ( ar, القوات الجوية الليبية, translit=al-Quwwāt al-Ǧawwiyya al-Lībiyya, Berber: Adwas Alibyan Ujnna) base, located about 16 km south of Tobruk. It is believed to on ...
, were sited to block tracks and junctions. A box at
Retma was finished just before the Axis offensive but work on boxes at Point 171 south-east of Bir Hakeim and
Bir el Gubi did not begin until 25 May.
Prelude
British preparations
![GenRitchie](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/GenRitchie.jpg)
Churchill pressed Auchinleck to attack to push the Axis out of Cyrenaica and relieve the pressure on Malta, which Churchill felt was essential to the war effort,
The Eighth Army received new equipment, including tanks equipped with 75 mm guns, and large numbers of
6-pounder anti-tank guns.
[Lewin p. 112] Rommel thought that Allied minefields ended well north of Bir Hakeim and did not know of the "mine marsh" surrounding the box.
The Eighth Army was in the process of reorganising, changing the relationship between infantry and artillery, while the RAF commander
Arthur Tedder concentrated the efforts of the
Desert Air Force
The Desert Air Force (DAF), also known chronologically as Air Headquarters Western Desert, Air Headquarters Libya, the Western Desert Air Force, and the First Tactical Air Force (1TAF), was an Allied tactical air force created from No. 204 ...
(DAF) on supporting the troops on the ground. Army commanders lost the power to direct air operations, which was reserved for the air commanders. A new fighter-bomber concept was developed and Air Vice-Marshal
Arthur Coningham, commander of the DAF, moved his headquarters to the Eighth Army HQ to improve communication.
Axis commanders knew that the entry of the United States into the war would give the Eighth Army access to an increase in materiel but sought to forestall an Allied offensive before these supplies could influence events. By late May, the
1st South African Division
The 1st South African Infantry Division was an infantry Division (military), division of the South African Army, army of the Union of South Africa. During World War II the division served in East Africa from 1940 to 1941 and in the Western D ...
was on the Gazala line nearest the coast, the
50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division
The 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army that saw distinguished service in the Second World War. Pre-war, the division was part of the Territorial Army (TA) and the two ''Ts'' in the divisional ins ...
to the south and the
1st Free French Brigade furthest south at Bir Hakeim. 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
The 4th Indian Infantry Division, also known as the Red Eagle Division, is an infantry division of the Indian Army. This division of the British Indian Army was formed in Egypt in 1939 during the Second World War. During the Second World War, i ...
) was held in reserve. The Allies had and
[Barr, p. 13]
Axis preparations
![WesternDesertBattle Area1941 en](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/WesternDesertBattle_Area1941_en.svg)
The Axis retreat to El Agheila after Operation Crusader reduced the supply distance from Tripoli to . The discovery of of fuel at Tripoli eased the supply crisis, despite the delivery of only of supplies in January. The had a much shorter supply line and the British were burdened by an over-extended supply line. II in Sicily had also regained air superiority for the Axis. Rommel asked for another but this unrealistic demand was rejected and Rommel was warned that an advance would cause another supply crisis. On 29 January, the recaptured Benghazi and next day ammunition supply to the front line failed. By 13 February, Rommel agreed to stop at Gazala, from Tripoli.
Until May, monthly deliveries averaged , less than the smaller Axis force received from June–October 1941 but sufficient for an offensive. The advance to Gazala succeeded because Benghazi was open, reducing the transport distance for about 33 percent of the supplies of the to . 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. An advance would stop at the Egyptian frontier, another east and the would redeploy for
Operation Herkules
Operation Herkules (german: Unternehmen Herkules; it, Operazione C3) was the German code-name given to an abortive plan for the invasion of Malta during the Second World War. Through air and sea landings, the Italians and Germans hoped to e ...
. 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.
![Three Italian generals](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/79/Three_Italian_generals.jpg)
Air attacks directed by Kesselring against Malta greatly reduced its offensive capacity, allowing supply convoys from Italy to reach Axis forces in Africa with increased regularity. (Operation Venice), the Axis plan of attack, was for armoured forces to make a flanking manoeuvre south of the fortified "box" at Bir Hakeim. On the left flank, the
132nd Armoured Division "Ariete" would neutralise the Bir Hakeim box and on the right flank, the
21st Panzer Division
The 21st Panzer Division was a German armoured division best known for its role in the battles of the North African Campaign from 1941–1943 during World War II when it was one of the two armoured divisions making up the Deutsches Afrikakorps ...
and
15th Panzer Division
The 15th Panzer Division (german: 15. Panzer-Division) was an armoured division in the German Army, the Wehrmacht, during World War II, established in 1940.
The division, formed from the 33rd Infantry Division, fought exclusively in North Afri ...
would advance north behind the Eighth Army defences, to destroy the Allied armour and cut off the infantry divisions on the Gazala line. On the far right of the attack, a (battle group) from the
90th Light ''Afrika'' Division was to advance to El Adem, south of Tobruk and cut the line of supply from the port to the Gazala line while holding Allied troops at Tobruk.
The rest of the
Italian XX Motorized Corps
The XX Army Corps was a corps of the Royal Italian Army during World War II. The XX Corps took part in the Western Desert Campaign from summer 1941 to 1943. Between 10 September 1941 and 10 March 1942 the unit was named Maneuver Army Corps ( it, ...
, the Italian
101st Motorised Division "Trieste", would open a gap in the minefield north of the Bir Hakeim box near the Sidi Muftah box, to create a supply route to the armour. Rommel anticipated that, having dealt with the Allied armour, he would capture El Adem, Ed Duda,
Sidi Rezegh
''Sidi'' or ''Sayidi'', also Sayyidi and Sayeedi, ( ar, سيدي, Sayyīdī, Sīdī (dialectal) "milord") is an Arabic masculine title of respect. ''Sidi'' is used often to mean "saint" or "my master" in Maghrebi Arabic and Egyptian Arabic. Wi ...
and "Knightsbridge". The Axis tanks would then be in a position to attack on the following day westwards against the Eighth Army defensive boxes between Gazala and Alem Hamza, meeting the eastwards attack by the Italian X and XXI corps. By late May, the Axis forces comprised and
[Carver, p. 167]
Battle
Operation Venice
At 14:00 on 26 May, the Italian X and XXI Corps launched a frontal attack on the central Gazala positions, after a heavy artillery concentration, beginning (Operation Venice). A few elements of the and XX Mobile Corps were attached to these assault groups. During the day, the bulk of the moved, to give the impression that this was the main Axis assault. When night fell, the armoured formations turned south in a sweeping move around the southern end of the Gazala line.
In the early hours of 27 May, Rommel personally led the elements of , the (DAK), Italian XX Motorised Corps
The XX Army Corps was a corps of the Royal Italian Army during World War II. The XX Corps took part in the Western Desert Campaign from summer 1941 to 1943. Between 10 September 1941 and 10 March 1942 the unit was named Maneuver Army Corps ( it, ...
and the German 90th Light Division, in a bold flanking move around the southern end of the Allied line, using the Allied minefields to protect the Axis flank and rear. Ariete Division of XX Motorised Corps was held up for about an hour by the 3rd Indian Motor Brigade
The 3rd Indian Motor Brigade was formed in 1940 by the Indian Army during World War II. In 1941, the brigade was surrounded at Mechili by Axis forces during Operation Sonnenblume and suffered many casualties breaking out of the encirclement. On ...
of the 7th Armoured Division, dug in about south east of Bir Hakeim at Rugbet el Atasc. The 132nd Tank Infantry Regiment of the "Ariete" Division sent its experienced VIII and IX Medium Tank battalions forward, while the fresh X Medium Tank Battalion was in second line. The Indian position was overrun with the loss of some of which were repairable on the field, killed and , while the Indians lost killed and wounded and about including Admiral Sir Walter Cowan
Admiral Sir Walter Henry Cowan, 1st Baronet, (11 June 1871 – 14 February 1956), known as Tich Cowan, was a Royal Navy officer who saw service in both the First and Second World Wars; in the latter he was one of the oldest British servicemen o ...
and most of its equipment. The 21st Panzer Division was advancing south of the position and did not take part in the action.
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. In a mutually costly engagement, the Germans were surprised by the range and power of the guns on the new M3 (Grant) tanks.[Playfair 1960, p. 224] The 4th Armoured Brigade then withdrew toward El Adem and spent the night near the Belhamed supply base, east of El Adem. By late morning, the Axis armoured units had advanced more than north but by noon had been stopped by the 1st Armoured Division in more mutually costly fighting.
On the far right of the Axis advance, the 90th Light Division engaged the 7th Motorised Brigade at Retma and forced it to withdraw eastwards on Bir el Gubi. Resuming their advance toward El Adem before noon, armoured cars of the 90th Light came upon the advanced HQ of 7th Armoured Division near Bir Beuid, dispersing it and capturing a number of officers including the commander, Frank Messervy
General Sir Frank Walter Messervy, (9 December 1893 – 2 February 1974) was a British Indian Army officer in the First and Second World Wars. Following its independence, he was the first Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army (15 August 1947 ...
, who pretended to be a batman
Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...
and escaped.[Mead, p. 298] The "inexcusable" lapse in security left the division without effective command for the next two days. As planned, 90th Light division reached the El Adem area by mid-morning and captured a number of supply dumps. The following day, the 4th Armoured Brigade was sent to El Adem and the 90th Light Division was driven back to the south-west.[Playfair 1960, p. 225]
The tank battle continued for three days; lacking possession of Bir Hakeim, Rommel drew the into a defensive position, using the extensive Allied mine belts to block an Allied approach from the west. The British tanks attacked several times from the north and east against accurate defensive fire. The Axis supply situation became desperate; defending the German rear, the Ariete Division repulsed attacks by the British armoured brigades on 29 May and during the first week of June.
Bir Hakeim
The Bir Hakeim box was defended by the 1st Free French Brigade under Marie-Pierre Kœnig
Marie Joseph Pierre François Kœnig or Koenig (10 October 1898 – 2 September 1970) was a French general during World War II during which he commanded a Free French Brigade at the Battle of Bir Hakeim in North Africa in 1942. He started a polit ...
. On 27 May, the Italian IX Tank Battalion of the 132nd Tank Infantry Regiment (Ariete Division), which had not been engaged in the destruction of the 3rd Indian Brigade box and had continued to advance alone at full speed, stumbled in the French positions and launched a hasty attack, which was a costly failure against the French guns and mines. On the night of the 90th Light and Trieste divisions were sent south to renew the attack on Bir Hakeim, where the battle continued for another ten days.
Reinforced with a further , the Axis attacked Bir Hakeim again on 9 June and overran the defences by the following day. Ritchie ordered the remaining troops to evacuate as best they could, under the cover of darkness. Under fire through the night, many of the French were able to find gaps in the line through which to withdraw. The survivors then made their way some to the west, to rendezvous with transport from the 7th Motor Brigade.[Playfair 1960, p. 237] About (including of the original garrison of and about troops, many of whom were wounded, were captured when the 90th Light Division occupied the position on 11 June.
The Cauldron
Early on 29 May, supply vehicles supported by the Trieste and Ariete divisions, worked through the minefield north of Bir Hakeim and reached the . On 30 May, Rommel pulled the back westward against the edge of the minefields, creating a defensive position. A link was formed with elements of the Italian X Corps, which were clearing two routes through the minefields from the west. In the process, the Sidi Muftah box was overrun and the defending 150th Infantry Brigade
The 150th Infantry Brigade was an infantry formation of the British Army that saw active service in the Second World War. A 1st Line Territorial Army brigade, it was part of the 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division. It served in the Battle ...
was destroyed after brutal fighting. At one point, Rommel personally led a platoon of panzer grenadiers in the attack;
Acting on mistaken reports about German tank losses, Auchinleck strongly urged Ritchie to counter-attack along the coast, to exploit the absence of German tanks and break through to Timimi and then Mechili
Mechili ( ar, المخيلي) is a small village in Cyrenaica, Libya and the site of a former Turkish fort. It is nearly east of Benghazi and west of Timimi.
Geography
Because of its location in the desert, Mechili suffered in the past from iso ...
. Ritchie was more concerned by Tobruk, brought reinforcements up to the El Adem box and created new defensive boxes opposite the gaps in the minefield. Ritchie ordered the Eighth Army to counter-attack against the on 5 June but they were met by accurate fire from tank and anti-tank guns positioned in the cauldron. In the north, XIII Corps made no progress but the attack by 7th Armoured and 5th Indian divisions on the eastern flank of the cauldron at 02:50 initially went well. An important element of the plan was the destruction of the Axis anti-tank screen with an artillery bombardment but because of an error in plotting its position, the bombardment fell too far to the east. When the 22nd Armoured Brigade advanced, it was met by massed anti-tank fire and checked. The 32nd Army Tank Brigade, advancing from the north, joined the attack at dawn but also ran into massed fire, losing fifty of seventy tanks.[Playfair 1960, p. 233]
By early afternoon on 5 June, Rommel split his forces, deciding to attack east with the and 21st Panzer divisions while he sent elements of 15th Panzer Division northwards against the Knightsbridge Box.[Playfair 1960, p. 234] The eastward thrust towards Bir el Hatmat dispersed the tactical HQs of the two British divisions, as well as the HQs of the 9th Indian Infantry Brigade
The 9th Indian Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade formation of the Indian Army during World War II. Before the war the 9th (Jhansi) Infantry Brigade was a peacetime formation in Meerut district. This brigade was redesignated the 5th Indian ...
, the 10th Indian Infantry Brigade
The 10th Indian Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade formation of the Indian Army during World War II. It was formed in September 1939. In June 1940 it was assigned to the 5th Indian Infantry Division and in September 1940, sailed for East A ...
and other smaller units, which caused command to break down. The 22nd Armoured Brigade, having lost its was forced from the battlefield by more attacks from the 15th Panzer Division. Three Indian infantry battalions, a reconnaissance regiment and four artillery regiments of the attacking force were left behind, unsupported by armour and overrun. Rommel retained the initiative, maintaining his strength in the cauldron while the number of operational British tanks diminished. A number of probes were sent to test the various opposing strong points and from 6 to 8 June, further attacks were launched on Bir Hakeim and repulsed by the French garrison. The 7th Motor Brigade and 29th Indian Infantry Brigade continued to harass the Axis lines of communications.
Black Saturday, 13 June
On 11 June, Rommel pushed the 15th Panzer Division and 90th Light Division toward El Adem and by 12 June had begun forcing the 201st Guards Brigade out of the Knightsbridge Box to Tobruk. The 29th Indian Infantry Brigade repulsed an attack on the El Adem box on 12 June but the 2nd and 4th Armoured Brigades on their left were pushed back by the 15th Panzer Division and had to leave their damaged tanks on the battlefield. On 13 June, the 21st Panzer Division advanced from the west and engaged the 22nd Armoured Brigade. The demonstrated a superiority in tactics, combining tanks with anti-tank guns in the attack; Rommel acted rapidly on intelligence obtained from Allied radio traffic intercepts. By the end of the day, the British tank strength had been reduced from to about the had established armour superiority and a dominating line of positions, making XIII Corps on the Gazala line vulnerable to being cut off. By the end of 13 June, the Knightsbridge box was virtually surrounded and it was abandoned by the Guards Brigade later that night, with their commanding officer Thomas Bevan having been killed the previous day. Due to these defeats, 13 June became known as "Black Saturday" to the Eighth Army.
Rigel Ridge
On 13 June, the 21st Panzer Division attacked Rigel Ridge in the middle of a sandstorm. 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
NATAL or Natal may refer to:
Places
* Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil
* Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa
** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843)
** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ...
and a battery of the 11th Regiment RHA nearby. The South African gunners kept firing until their guns were destroyed, allowing the withdrawal of other Allied formations. The South African battery commander had decided to stay and maintain fire against the German tanks, to delay the Germans for as long as possible. The remaining guns were commanded individually and fired at the Panzers over open sights. The German tanks took up positions behind the ridge, with anti-tank guns placed between them. A column of Panzers attacked from the rear, surrounding them and cutting off all escape and the gunners kept firing until the eight guns had been destroyed. About half the gun detachments were killed and wounded, including the battery commander and many officers. The last gun in action was manned by Lieutenant Ashley and a signaller; when the battery had been silenced, the Axis tanks approached cautiously and the South African gunners were taken prisoner. (The entire Natal Field Artillery Regiment was captured and was not re-formed until after the war.) The Germans captured over prisoners.
Eighth Army retreat
On 14 June, Auchinleck authorised Ritchie to withdraw from the Gazala Line. 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 road could not accommodate two divisions and the remaining two brigades of the 50th (Northumbrian) Division could not retreat eastwards, because of the Axis tanks and attacked south-west, breaking through the lines of the 27th Infantry Division "Brescia"
The 27th Infantry Division "Brescia" ( it, 27ª Divisione di fanteria "Brescia") was an infantry division of the Royal Italian Army during World War II. The Brescia was named after the city of Brescia in Lombardy. The Brescia was classified as a ...
and 17th Infantry Division "Pavia"
The 17th Infantry Division "Pavia" ( it, 17ª Divisione di fanteria "Pavia") was an infantry division of the Royal Italian Army during World War II. The Pavia was formed in on 27 April 1939 and named after the city of Pavia. The Pavia was classif ...
of X Corps; then headed south into the desert, before turning east. 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. By the evening of 15 June, the Point 650 box had been overrun and on 16 June, the defenders at Point 187 had been forced by lack of supplies to evacuate. The defensive boxes at El Adem and Sidi Rezegh were also attacked by the . On 17 June, both boxes were evacuated ending any chance of preventing the encirclement of Tobruk. Ritchie ordered the Eighth Army to withdraw to Mersa Matruh, about east of the frontier, leaving Tobruk to threaten the Axis lines of communication as in 1941. The retreat became known to some as the Gazala Gallop.
Fall of Tobruk
In February 1942, the army, navy and air force commanders-in-chief in Cairo had agreed that Tobruk should not stand another siege. The defences at Tobruk had not been maintained and it was garrisoned by inexperienced troops. Auchinleck viewed the defence of Tobruk as a lesser matter and told Ritchie that he did not intend to hold it at all costs. An immense store of supplies of every description had been accumulated around the port for an Allied offensive and Auchinleck expected it to be able to hold out for two months with the supplies in the fortress. The British prime minister
The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern p ...
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 Winston Churchill in the Second World War, dur ...
had placed great store on the symbolic value of Tobruk and there was an exchange of ambiguous signals, leading to the port becoming surrounded and besieged, rather than evacuated as originally planned.
Operation Venice () began on 26 May 1942 and drove the Eighth Army east of Tobruk, leaving it vulnerable to attack from the east. Gott garrisoned Tobruk with the two brigades of 2nd South African Division (Major-General Hendrik Klopper) along with the 201st Guards (Motorised) Brigade, 11th Indian Infantry Brigade
The 11th Indian Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade formation of the Indian Army during World War II. It was relocated from India to Egypt in the middle of August 1939 and trained at Fayed in Ismailia Governorate on the Great Bitter Lake. I ...
, 32nd Army Tank Brigade and the 4th Anti-Aircraft Brigade. penetrated a weak spot on the eastern defensive perimeter and took the port within twenty-four hours. The garrison of 33,000 men was captured, many of those on the western perimeter not having been engaged.[Harper 2017, p. 23] Over 1,000 vehicles in working order, of food and of petrol were captured. The surrender was the largest capitulation of British Empire forces in the war after the Battle of Singapore
The Fall of Singapore, also known as the Battle of Singapore,; ta, சிங்கப்பூரின் வீழ்ச்சி; ja, シンガポールの戦い took place in the South–East Asian theatre of the Pacific War. The Empire of ...
in February 1942. Later in the year, a Court of Inquiry () found Klopper to be largely blameless for the surrender and ascribed the defeat to failures among the British high command. The findings were kept secret until after the war, doing little to restore the reputation of Klopper and his troops.
Aftermath
Analysis
With the capture of Tobruk, the Axis gained a port nearer the Aegean–Crete route and a large amount of Allied supplies. If the Allies could not stop the Germans in Egypt, they would take the Suez Canal (forcing Britain to use supply lines twice as long, threatened by U-boats) and potentially drive for the oilfields in the Middle East. Hitler rewarded Rommel with a promotion to the rank of field-marshal, the youngest German officer ever to achieve this rank. Rommel remarked he would have preferred another panzer division.
Churchill wrote,
Auchinleck dismissed Ritchie on 25 June and assumed command of the Eighth Army for the First Battle of El Alamein
The First Battle of El Alamein (1–27 July 1942) was a battle of the Western Desert campaign of the Second World War, fought in Egypt between Axis (German and Italian) forces of the Panzer Army Africa—which included the under Field Marshal ...
, where he stopped Rommel's advance. In August, Auchinleck was replaced as Eighth Army commander by the XIII Corps commander, Lieutenant-General William Gott
Lieutenant-General William Henry Ewart Gott, (13 August 1897 – 7 August 1942), nicknamed "Strafer", was a senior British Army officer who fought during both the First and the Second World Wars, reaching the rank of lieutenant-general while s ...
and as C-in-C Middle East Command
Middle East Command, later Middle East Land Forces, was a British Army Command established prior to the Second World War in Egypt. Its primary role was to command British land forces and co-ordinate with the relevant naval and air commands to ...
by General Sir Harold Alexander. Gott was killed when his aircraft was shot down and Lieutenant-General Bernard Montgomery
Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, (; 17 November 1887 – 24 March 1976), nicknamed "Monty", was a senior British Army officer who served in the First World War, the Irish War of Independence and t ...
was appointed as his replacement.
In 2017, James Holland wrote,
Casualties
The Eighth Army lost wounded or captured, including taken at Tobruk The Germans suffered , about 15 per cent of their force. Italian casualties were 3,000 men, 125 tanks, 44 armoured cars, 450 motor vehicles, 39 guns and seventy-four anti-tank guns. On 30 June, the Afrika Korps reported that Axis tank losses were that only tanks were operational, the Italian XX Corps was down to fifteen tanks and the 90th Light Division had only left. The Eighth Army lost thousands of tons of supplies, nearly of artillery ammunition, nearly rounds of small-arms ammunition and a huge number of tanks. Hundreds of damaged tanks had been left behind when armoured regiments retreated and it was estimated that there were casualties in 17 days. On 22 June, the Desert Air Force had aircraft, them in the Middle East, the Germans the Italians another reserve and the Mediterranean excluding Italy. The Royal Army Ordnance Corps recovered up to 19 June, repaired sent to Egypt US-made tanks). The Eighth Army was reduced to about tanks by the end of the battle and shuffling operational tanks and crews between units disrupted unit organisation. Seven field artillery regiments, and two tank repair workshops (which had been moved into Tobruk) were lost. By 1 July, the Eighth Army was back at El Alamein, with tanks, from workshops and waiting to be repaired.
Subsequent operations
began an advance upon Egypt, while the Eighth Army fell back to El Alamein. Auchinleck decided not to hold Mersa Matruh, choosing to fight a delaying action with X and XIII Corps. The was delayed at the Battle of Mersa Matruh
The Battle of Mersa Matruh was fought from 26 to 29 June 1942, following the defeat of the Eighth Army (General Sir Claude Auchinleck) at the Battle of Gazala and was part of the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War. The combatant ...
but signal failures led to disorganisation and the X Corps line of retreat along the coast road being cut off. The corps broke out at night to the south and worked its way around the German positions, collided with Axis forces several times and lost more than forty tanks and a large quantity of supplies. Auchinleck had ordered the bulk of the Eighth Army to retire another to El Alamein, from Alexandria. The retirements brought the Eighth Army closer to its base and the Qattara Depression
The Qattara Depression ( ar, منخفض القطارة, Munḫafaḍ al-Qaṭṭārah) is a depression in northwestern Egypt, specifically in the Matruh Governorate. The depression is part of the Western Desert of Egypt.
The Qattara Depressi ...
to the south of El Alamein closed the southern flank. The Allied and Axis forces fought the First Battle of El Alamein, the Battle of Alam el Halfa
The Battle of Alam el Halfa took place between 30 August and 5 September 1942 south of El Alamein during the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War. '' Panzerarmee Afrika'' (''Generalfeldmarschall'' Erwin Rommel), attempted an envelopme ...
and the Second Battle of El Alamein
The Second Battle of El Alamein (23 October – 11 November 1942) was a battle of the Second World War that took place near the Egyptian Railway station, railway halt of El Alamein. The First Battle of El Alamein and the Battle of Alam el Halfa ...
. (Operation Agreement
Operation Agreement was a ground and amphibious operation carried out by British, Rhodesian and New Zealand forces on Axis-held Tobruk from 13 to 14 September 1942, during the Second World War. A Special Interrogation Group party, fluent in Ger ...
, a British landing at Tobruk during the night of to rescue Allied prisoners, was a failure.[Playfair, 1966, pp. 20–23]
Orders of battle
Allied and Axis forces, Gazala, 26 May – 21 June 1942
Allies
* Middle East Command (Claude Auchinleck
Field Marshal Sir Claude John Eyre Auchinleck, (21 June 1884 – 23 March 1981), was a British Army commander during the Second World War. He was a career soldier who spent much of his military career in India, where he rose to become Commande ...
)
;; Eighth Army (Neil Ritchie
General Sir Neil Methuen Ritchie, (29 July 1897 – 11 December 1983) was a British Army officer who saw service during both the world wars. He is most notable during the Second World War for commanding the British Eighth Army in the North Af ...
)
; XIII Corps (William Gott
Lieutenant-General William Henry Ewart Gott, (13 August 1897 – 7 August 1942), nicknamed "Strafer", was a senior British Army officer who fought during both the First and the Second World Wars, reaching the rank of lieutenant-general while s ...
)
* 1st South African Division
The 1st South African Infantry Division was an infantry Division (military), division of the South African Army, army of the Union of South Africa. During World War II the division served in East Africa from 1940 to 1941 and in the Western D ...
(Dan Pienaar
Major General Daniel Hermanus Pienaar (27 August 1893 – 19 December 1942) was a South African World War II military commander.
Early life and career
He was born in Ladybrand, Orange Free State and in his youth grew up in Natal. His family ...
)
** South African 1st Infantry Brigade Group
** South African 2nd Infantry Brigade Group
** South African 3rd Infantry Brigade Group
* 2nd South African Division ( Hendrik Klopper) (in Tobruk)
** South African 4th Infantry Brigade Group
** South African 6th Infantry Brigade Group
** 9th Indian Infantry Brigade Group ( Bernard Fletcher) (from 5th Indian Division and moved to 7th Armoured Division at the Cauldron in early June)
** 11th Indian Infantry Brigade
The 11th Indian Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade formation of the Indian Army during World War II. It was relocated from India to Egypt in the middle of August 1939 and trained at Fayed in Ismailia Governorate on the Great Bitter Lake. I ...
( Andrew Anderson) (from Army Reserve to replace 9th Indian Infantry Brigade Group)
* 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division
The 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division was an infantry division of the British Army that saw distinguished service in the Second World War. Pre-war, the division was part of the Territorial Army (TA) and the two ''Ts'' in the divisional ins ...
( William Ramsden)
** 150th Infantry Brigade Group (Haydon)
** 151st Infantry Brigade Group ( John Nichols)
** 69th Infantry Brigade Group (Hassall)
* 1st Army Tank Brigade (O'Carroll)
* 32nd Army Tank Brigade (Willison)
; XXX Corps ( Charles Norrie)
* 1st Armoured Division (Herbert Lumsden
Lieutenant-General Herbert William Lumsden, & Bar, MC (8 April 1897 – 6 January 1945) was a senior British Army officer who fought in both the First and Second World Wars. He commanded the 1st Armoured Division in the Western Desert campai ...
)
** 2nd Armoured Brigade Group (Briggs)
** 22nd Armoured Brigade Group (Carr)
** 201st Guards Motor Brigade ( John Marriott until 17 June then G. F. Johnson)
* 7th Armoured Division (Frank Messervy
General Sir Frank Walter Messervy, (9 December 1893 – 2 February 1974) was a British Indian Army officer in the First and Second World Wars. Following its independence, he was the first Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army (15 August 1947 ...
)
** 4th Armoured Brigade Group (Gatehouse)
** 7th Motor Brigade Group (James Renton
Major General James Malcolm Leslie Renton CB DSO OBE (1898–1972) was a senior British Army officer who briefly commanded the 7th Armoured Division ("The Desert Rats") during the Second World War.
Military career
Renton was commissioned in ...
)
** 3rd Indian Motor Brigade Group (Filose)
** 29th Indian Infantry Brigade Group ( Denys Reid) from 5th Indian Infantry Division
** 1st Free French Brigade Group ( Marie Kœnig) (under 7th Armoured Division command when defending Bir Hakeim)
Army Reserve
* 5th Indian Infantry Division ( Harold Briggs)
** 10th Indian Infantry Brigade
The 10th Indian Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade formation of the Indian Army during World War II. It was formed in September 1939. In June 1940 it was assigned to the 5th Indian Infantry Division and in September 1940, sailed for East A ...
( Charles Boucher)
** 2nd Free French Brigade Group
* 10th Indian Infantry Division
The 10th Indian Infantry Division was a war formed infantry division of the Indian Army during World War II. In four years, the division travelled over from Tehran to Trieste, fought three small wars, and fought two great campaigns: the ...
(Thomas Rees Thomas Rees may refer to:
Religious figures
* Thomas Rees (Congregational minister) (1815–1885), Welsh Congregationalist minister
* (1869–1926), Welsh theologian and editor, principal of Bala-Bangor Independent College, see 1926 in Wales
* Th ...
) (arriving from Iraq)
** 20th Indian Infantry Brigade (MacGregor)
** 21st Indian Infantry Brigade
The 21st Indian Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade formation of the Indian Army during World War II.
History
It was converted from the Quetta Brigade in September 1940, and assigned to the 9th Indian Infantry Division. In March 1941, i ...
(Purves)
** 25th Indian Infantry Brigade ( Ronald Mountain)
* 11th Indian Infantry Brigade
The 11th Indian Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade formation of the Indian Army during World War II. It was relocated from India to Egypt in the middle of August 1939 and trained at Fayed in Ismailia Governorate on the Great Bitter Lake. I ...
(Andrew Anderson) (from 4th Indian Infantry Division
The 4th Indian Infantry Division, also known as the Red Eagle Division, is an infantry division of the Indian Army. This division of the British Indian Army was formed in Egypt in 1939 during the Second World War. During the Second World War, i ...
)
* 1st Armoured Brigade
* 5th Indian Infantry Brigade
The 5th Indian Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade formation of the Indian Army during World War II. It was converted from the 9th Indian Infantry Brigade in September 1939, and assigned to the 4th Indian Infantry Division. The brigade fi ...
from mid-June (Dudley Russell
Lieutenant General Sir Dudley Russell KBE, CB, DSO, MC (1 December 18964 February 1978) was a senior officer of both the British Army and the British Indian Army, and served during World War I and World War II, where he commanded the 8th In ...
) (from 4th Indian Infantry Division
The 4th Indian Infantry Division, also known as the Red Eagle Division, is an infantry division of the Indian Army. This division of the British Indian Army was formed in Egypt in 1939 during the Second World War. During the Second World War, i ...
)
Axis
Details from Pitt 2001 unless indicated.
* Ettore Bastico
Ettore Bastico (9 April 1876 – 2 December 1972) was an Italian military officer before and during World War II. In addition to being a general of the Royal Italian Army, he was also a senator and governor. He held high commands during the Secon ...
( Erwin Rommel
Johannes Erwin Eugen Rommel () (15 November 1891 – 14 October 1944) was a German field marshal during World War II. Popularly known as the Desert Fox (, ), he served in the ''Wehrmacht'' (armed forces) of Nazi Germany, as well as servi ...
)
* ( Walter Nehring
Walther Nehring (15 August 1892 – 20 April 1983) was a German general in the Wehrmacht during World War II who commanded the Afrika Korps.
Early life
Nehring was born on 15 August 1892 in Stretzin, West Prussia. Nehring was the descendant of a ...
)
** 15th Panzer Division
The 15th Panzer Division (german: 15. Panzer-Division) was an armoured division in the German Army, the Wehrmacht, during World War II, established in 1940.
The division, formed from the 33rd Infantry Division, fought exclusively in North Afri ...
( Gustav von Värst ounded_27_May_then_Oberst_Eduard_Crasemann.html" ;"title="Eduard_Crasemann.html" ;"title="ounded 27 May then Oberst Eduard Crasemann">ounded 27 May then Oberst Eduard Crasemann">Eduard_Crasemann.html" ;"title="ounded 27 May then Oberst Eduard Crasemann">ounded 27 May then Oberst Eduard Crasemann
** 21st Panzer Division
The 21st Panzer Division was a German armoured division best known for its role in the battles of the North African Campaign from 1941–1943 during World War II when it was one of the two armoured divisions making up the Deutsches Afrikakorps ...
( Georg von Bismarck)
** 90th Light Infantry Division (Wehrmacht), 90th Light Division ( Ulrich Kleemann)
* ( Ettore Baldassarre)
** 132nd Armoured Division "Ariete" ( Giuseppe De Stefanis
Giuseppe De Stefanis ( La Spezia, 20 December 1885 – Rome, 11 December 1965) was an Italian general during World War II.
Biography
De Stefanis was born in La Spezia on December 20, 1885. After enlisting in the Royal Italian Army, in Nov ...
)
** 101st Motorised Division "Trieste" ( Arnaldo Azzi
Arnaldo Azzi (23 December 1885 – 25 November 1957) was an Italian general and politician.
During World War II, he commanded the 101st Motorised Division Trieste in the North African campaign and the 41st Infantry Division Firenze in Albania. A ...
)
(Ludwig Crüwell
Ludwig Crüwell (20 March 1892 – 25 September 1958) was a German army general who served in the Afrika Korps of Nazi Germany during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. Crüwell surrendered to ...
)
* ( Benvenuto Gioda
Benvenuto Gioda (Turin, 16 February 1886 – Bolzano, 25 February 1943) was an Italian general during World War II.
Biography
He was born in Turin on February 16, 1886, the son of Carlo Gioda and Carolina Sanchioli. After enlisting in the Royal ...
)
** 27th Infantry Division "Brescia"
The 27th Infantry Division "Brescia" ( it, 27ª Divisione di fanteria "Brescia") was an infantry division of the Royal Italian Army during World War II. The Brescia was named after the city of Brescia in Lombardy. The Brescia was classified as a ...
( Giacomo Lombardi)
** 17th Infantry Division "Pavia"
The 17th Infantry Division "Pavia" ( it, 17ª Divisione di fanteria "Pavia") was an infantry division of the Royal Italian Army during World War II. The Pavia was formed in on 27 April 1939 and named after the city of Pavia. The Pavia was classif ...
( Antonio Franceschini)
* ( Enea Navarini
Enea Navarini (Cesena 1 April 1885 - Merano 22 March 1977) was an Italian general who served during the Second World War from 1940 to 1943.
Biography
From 1939 to 1941 Enea Navarini was the general officer commanding the 56th Infantry Divisi ...
)
** 102nd Motorised Division "Trento" ( Francesco Scotti)
** 60th Infantry Division "Sabratha"
The 60th Infantry Division "Sabratha" ( it, 60ª Divisione di fanteria "Sabratha") was an infantry division of the Royal Italian Army during World War II. The Sabratha was raised in May 1937, in Gharyan in Italian Libya and named after the nearby ...
( Mario Soldarelli)
** Light Infantry Regiment 155 (detached from 90th Light Division)
See also
* Battle of Bir Hakeim
The Battle of Bir Hakeim () took place at Bir Hakeim, an oasis in the Libyan desert south and west of Tobruk, during the Battle of Gazala (26 May – 21 June 1942). The 1st Free French Brigade under Marie-Pierre Kœnig defended the position from ...
* List of Italian military equipment in World War II
*List of German military equipment of World War II
The following is a list of German military equipment of World War II which includes artillery, vehicles and vessels. World War II was a global war that was under way by 1939 and ended in 1945. Following political instability build-up in Europe from ...
*List of British military equipment of World War II
The following is a list of British military equipment of World War II which includes artillery, vehicles and vessels. This also would largely apply to Commonwealth of Nations countries in World War II like Australia, India and South Africa as ...
*List of French military equipment of World War II
Uniforms and Protective equipment
* Adrian helmet
* Combat uniform (go to France section)
Weapons
* List of World War II weapons of France
Utility vehicles
* P107
* Laffly S15
* Laffly V15
* SOMUA MCG
* Citroën U23
* Renault A ...
*
* North African campaign timeline
This is a timeline of the North African campaign.
1940
•May 1940 — Army of Africa (France) — 14 regiments of zouaves, 42 regiments of Algerian, Tunisian and Moroccan tirailleurs, 12 regiments and demi-brigades of the Foreign Legion and 1 ...
* List of World War II Battles
Footnotes
Citations
Bibliography
Books
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Journals
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Magazines
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Websites
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Further reading
*
External links
German Experiences during The Battle of Gazala
Italian commanders 1940–1945 (in Italian)
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20151119232943/http://www.theartofbattle.com/battle-of-gazala-1942/ Battle of Gazala animated battle map (Mark Cannon)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gazala, Battle Of
Conflicts in 1942
1942 in Libya
Western Desert campaign
Libya in World War II
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 France
Battles of World War II involving the United States
Battles of World War II involving Italy
Battles of World War II involving Germany
Battle honours of the King's Royal Rifle Corps
Erwin Rommel
May 1942 events
June 1942 events