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Previous pages: The German retreat from
El Alamein,November 1942.
Rommel's First Right: The Germans press eastwards
through Libya into Egypt.
Offensive Below: Rommel enters Egypt.
Bottom left: Rommel and his officers
inspect a captured British tank.
Bottom: The Allies isolatedat Tobruk.
Below right: Rommel directs operations.
sion penetrated the Tobruk perimeter a
T he first German troops began land- broke through the Halfaya Pass into
ing in North Africa on February short distance, but was driven back. Ita- Egypt. Rommel was dissatisfied with the
1941, under command of General lian troops were now coming up to replace failure to capture Tobruk, and another
Erwin Rommel, who would earn the nick- the German units making ready to cross full-scale attack struck the British there
name 'Desert Fox.' His leadership abili- the Egyptian frontier. The British garri- on 30 April. Axis troops pushed a salient
ties were acknowledged by comrades and son at Tobruk was isolated in the midst of into the western sector, but it was con-
enemies alike. Rommel soon saw that Axis forces, and on 25 April the Germans tained after four days of fighting.
British forces in Africa were weak, and
that no reinforcements would be forth-
coming. On 24 March German forces took
El Agheila easily, and the 5 Light Divi-
sion went on to attack the British 2
Armored Division at Mersa Brega. There
they encountered stiff resistance, but the
British failed to counterattack and lost
their advantage.
Instead of choosing among three
alternative courses of attack, Rommel
moved boldly on all three fronts: north to
Benghazi, northeast to Msus and Mechili
and east to Tengeder, to threaten British
supply lines. Field Marshal Archibald
Wavell, in overall command of British
forces, lacked the men to counter this
multiple attack, launched on 5 April. His
single armored division fell back and was
reduced to a remnant by mechanical fail-
ure. The defense at Mechili, 3 Indian Bri-
gade, was soon overwhelmed, with what
remained of the 2 Armored Division. The
8 Australian Division retreated from
Benghazi to Derna, thence toward Tob-
ruk, which was being reinforced with the
7 Australian Division.
On 14 April the German 5 Light Divi-
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46
The German Drive
on Gazala
R ommel's German units, the Deut-
sches Afrika Korps (DAK), and
their allies suffered a setback in
the Crusader Battles with the British
Eighth Army late in 1941. Tobruk was
relieved, and Rommel had to pull back to
El Agheila, having suffered 38,000 Axis
casualties as against 18,000 for the Brit-
ish. His men were exhausted, supplies
were running out and 300 German tanks
had been destroyed in the Libyan desert.
British forces pursued Rommel to El
Agheila, believing that his shattered un-
its would be unable to react. However,
successful air raids on Malta had restored
the German supply line across the
Mediterranean, and Rommel's forces
were quickly rebuilt to fighting strength.
On 21 January 1942 they made an unex-
pected advance that pushed Eighth Army
47
back toward Agedabia. In a matter of
days the British faced encirclement at
Benghazi and were forced to retreat to
the defensive position at Gazala. The line
there consisted of minefields running
south to Bir Hacheim and a series of for-
tified keeps that were manned by XIII
Corps brigades.
DAK forces under Cruewell swung
around Bir Hacheim on 26 May to out-
flank the Gazala Line, but they were
attacked from both sides on Sidra Ridge
and stopped short with loss of a third of
their armor. Their water and fuel were
running out, and Rommel tried to push a
s u p p l y l i n e t h r o u g h the B r i t i s h
minefields without success. He then
moved all his remaining armor into 'the
Cauldron' to await the impending British
counterattack.
Cruewell's isolated forces were finally
supplied on 4 June, and Eighth Army
failed to counterattack until 5/6 June,
when it was beaten off with heavy losses.
The defense at Bir Hacheim crumbled
and DAK broke out of the Cauldron to
force the British back from the Gazala
Line even beyond Tobruk. Axis forces
had surrounded the British garrison
there by 18 June.
Opposite above: Rommel advances Opposite: The Allied stand on 26 May, Above left: Breakout from theCauldron.
eastwards, pushing the Eighth Army with fortified keeps (shaded) scattered Below: An AfrikaKorps Panzer III
back toward Gazala and Tobruk. along the minefield (bold line). advances.
48
TheFallofTobruk
E ighth Army was severely demoral-
ized by the German triumph at
Gazala, which contributed to the
distrust between infantry and tank units
that had surfaced during the Crusader
Battles. British leadership had failed to
capitalize on several advantages, includ-
ing a numerical superiority in armor, the
DAK containment in the Cauldron and
the well-prepared defense line at Gazala.
Rommel launched his drive on Tobruk
from the southeastern sector on 20 June
1942. Heavy dive-bomber attacks dis-
played German air superiority to devas-
tating effect, after which DAK pushed
through the perimeter defenses. By mid-
morning German troops had reached the
minefields, and the airfields were over-
run soon after. At 1900 hours 21 Panzer
Division moved into Tobruk.
There was sporadic fighting within the
perimeter through the night, but the Ger-
mans had overcome almost all resistance
by the morning of 21 June. General Klop-
per, the South African in command of the
garrison, surrendered, and the road to
Egypt was open.
Right: T he perimeter defenses are
breached, and the fall of Tobruk is less
than 12 hours away.
Below: British troops surrender to their
Axis adversaries. Rommel's victory,
completed on21 June, cleared the way for
an advance into Egypt.