158-575: Operation Supercharge may refer to: Operation Supercharge (1941) , the second of three operations to relieve the Australian 9th Division during the siege of Tobruk Operation Supercharge (1942) , an attack during the Second Battle of El Alamein that broke through Axis defensive lines Operation Supercharge II , an outflanking maneuver at the Tebaga Gap in
316-675: A German attack on the pass, succeeded and the Allies were ejected. Brevity failed to achieve most of its objectives, only briefly holding the Halfaya Pass. The Allies lost 206 casualties, five tanks destroyed and 13 damaged. German casualties were 258 men, three tanks destroyed and several damaged. The Italians had 395 casualties, of whom 347 were captured. On 12 May, the Tiger convoy lost one ship and arrived in Alexandria with 238 tanks, to re-equip
474-598: A German encircling movement. The failure of Battleaxe led to the replacement of British General Sir Archibald Wavell , Commander-in-Chief Middle East , by Claude Auchinleck ; Wavell took Auchinleck's position as Commander-in-Chief, India. In late March 1941, soon after the arrival of the Afrika Korps in Tripoli , Libya to reinforce the Italians, the Axis forces quickly captured
632-459: A coastal artillery battery before re-embarking. Seventy men got lost, ended up on the wrong evacuation beach and were captured. After the failure to capture Tobruk off the march, Comando Supremo and the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW) agreed that Tobruk should be captured and supplies accumulated, before the advance into Egypt was resumed. Rommel thought that Tobruk could only be taken by
790-524: A company of the 2/48th Australian Battalion, three infantry tanks and a troop of 25-pounders, raided a hillock held by the Fabris Detachment south-west of Ras el Medauar; the raiders destroyed two guns and took 370 prisoners. At the same time a company of the 2/23rd Battalion advanced across the Derna road and in a costly attack, took about 100 prisoners from the 27th Infantry Division "Brescia", which led
948-563: A deliberate attack, which could not begin until support units had arrived in the area and the Luftwaffe had been reinforced, particularly with transport aircraft to carry ammunition, fuel and water. On 27 April, Major-General Friedrich Paulus , a Deputy Chief of the General Staff, arrived from Oberkommando des Heeres (OKH) in Berlin , to question Rommel on his intentions, impress on him that there
1106-493: A detachment of German armoured cars and motorised infantry . Below the escarpment four of the Matildas were disabled by anti-tank mines which were supposed to have been cleared; this blocked the path of the remaining two and reduced the small tank force to acting in a pillbox capacity. The Rajputana Rifles and Mahrattas made several attempts to reach the pass but were repelled each time; the former lost their commanding officer in
1264-618: A double semi-circle of dug-in strongpoints with concrete walls, positioned well for forward observation, an inner anti-tank ditch, some parts of which were behind barbed wire and/or included booby traps, as well as several more fortified positions closer to the port, at the Bardia–El Adem road junction and towards Fort Pilastrino. In January 1941, the British XIII Corps , under the command of Lieutenant-General Richard O'Connor , as part of Operation Compass , surrounded Tobruk, which
1422-498: A flanking attack while waiting for the artillery to arrive. A small force of tanks from the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment was sent to the western part of the Hafid Ridge, with orders to turn into the first valley. The attack went well at first, as the tanks caught the Axis forces unaware and were able to strafe along their trenches with their machine guns, losing only one tank in the process. As they approached point 208 on their way eastwards,
1580-522: A further two were damaged and on 25 April the squadron was withdrawn. The fighters of 274 Squadron stayed at Gerawla and 6 Squadron remained at Tobruk to fly tactical reconnaissance sorties. Fighter cover could only be maintained at intervals by the last 14 Hurricanes in the desert; Axis airfields at Gazala, Derna and Benina , were bombed at dusk and night to limit Axis air attacks on Tobruk. The Desert Air Force [so-named from October 1941] flew long-range missions to attack German armour massing near Tobruk in
1738-535: A large Axis force was advancing on El Abiar led him to order the 9th Australian Division back to Wadi Cuff and the elements of the 2nd Armoured Division to guard the desert flank and retire to Mechili. Other reports led Neame to countermand these orders, which caused the Australians much confusion. On 6 April, Allied air reconnaissance reported that there were Axis columns in the desert and the 3rd Indian Motor Brigade repulsed an attack at Mechili, which led to O'Connor at
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#17328558511361896-578: A loss of 650 German and 500 Italian casualties. The 8th Bersaglieri Regiment of the 132nd Armoured Division "Ariete" had captured most of the Australian positions. Paulus ordered that no more attacks be made, unless the Allies were evacuating the port. The DAK was to hold Cyrenaica regardless of who held Sollum, Bardia or Tobruk and a new line was to be built further back at Gazala. In a report on 12 May, Paulus wrote that sea communications between Italy and Libya should be reinforced, that any air and anti-aircraft units sent to Libya should be German and that
2054-578: A maximum capacity of four troopships or five cargo ships at once, about 45,000 long tons (46,000 t) per month. Tripoli to Benghazi was 600 mi (970 km) along the Via Balbia , which was only half-way to Alexandria . The road could flood, was vulnerable to the DAF and alternative desert tracks increased vehicle wear. The Axis advance of 300 mi (480 km) to the Egyptian frontier in early 1941, increased
2212-418: A measure of surprise. On 8 April, A Squadron of the 18th Cavalry broke through and then turned to attack Italian artillery, as some Indian troops of the 11th Prince Albert Victor's Own Cavalry (Frontier Force) got away. Most of the garrison was pinned down and after a second attempt at 8:00 a.m. when small parties of the 2nd Royal Lancers escaped. The garrison had fired most of its small arms ammunition at
2370-554: A message to Beresford-Peirse, requesting his presence for instruction; Wavell, who was with Beresford-Peirse, took command of the operation and boarded a plane to Creagh's command post at Halfway House. This message was also intercepted by the Germans, as Rommel later wrote, It sounded suspiciously as though the British commander no longer felt himself capable of handling the situation. It being now obvious that in their present bewildered state
2528-470: A minelayer and one destroyer carrying supplies, with cruiser escorts as anti-aircraft ships, a cruiser and a destroyer being damaged. From 19–27 September, the British 16th Infantry Brigade , 70th Infantry Division (Major-General Ronald Scobie ), the HQ of the 32nd Army Tank Brigade and the 4th Royal Tank Regiment with 6,308 men and more 2,000 long tons (2,032 t) of supplies arrived, while 5,989 men of
2686-432: A regiment of armoured cars, two composite regiments with 15 light, 26 cruiser and a troop of four infantry tanks. There were 4 25-pounder regiments, two anti-tank regiments and an anti-tank company in each infantry brigade, the British 4th Anti-Aircraft Brigade had sixteen heavy and fifty-nine light guns, all but two Bofors guns being sited around the harbour. Rear area units had accumulated at Tobruk and 1 ⁄ 3 of
2844-487: A report that a large enemy armoured force was advancing on Msus, site of the main divisional supply dump. The 3rd Armoured Brigade moved there and found that the petrol had been destroyed to prevent capture. The tank brigade was reduced by losses and breakdowns to 12 Cruiser tanks , 20 light tanks and 20 Italian tanks. Neame received conflicting reports about the positions of the Allied and Axis forces and news on 5 April that
3002-413: A substitute for lorry-borne supply. The 3rd Indian Motor Brigade (Brigadier E. W. D. Vaughan) arrived in late March, with lorries but no tanks, artillery, anti-tank guns and only half its wireless sets; the brigade was based at Martuba, ready to use its vehicles to move towards Derna , Barce or Mechili. On 24 March, Rommel advanced with the new Deutsches Afrikakorps ( DAK ). The 3rd Armoured Brigade
3160-481: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Operation Supercharge (1941) [REDACTED] Australia [REDACTED] United Kingdom 1941 1942 Associated articles The siege of Tobruk ( / t ə ˈ b r ʊ k , t oʊ -/ ) took place between 10 April and 27 November 1941, during the Western Desert campaign (1940–1943) of
3318-514: The Regia Aeronautica , after which Allied leaders decided to hold the area with minimal forces and send the remainder of the WDF to Greece. The Australian 9th Division and the British 2nd Armoured Division (Major-General Michael Gambier-Parry ), minus a brigade group sent to Greece, were left to garrison Cyrenaica under Cyrenaica Command (Cyrcom: Lieutenant-General Henry Maitland Wilson ), despite
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#17328558511363476-448: The 36,000 personnel were in base units or local refugees and prisoners of war. Morshead planned an active defence and stressed that, with battalions holding 5 mi (8.0 km) frontages, a break-in should be expected anywhere that the attackers made a serious effort and that it should be eliminated, since there would be no withdrawal. By 8 April, the most advanced German units had arrived at Derna; but some units which had cut across
3634-504: The German Army , ordered Rommel not to advance further or attack Tobruk again. Through Ultra intercepts, the British also received the report by Paulus. Churchill, believing that one strong push would dislodge German forces, began to increase the pressure on Wavell to attack. Operation Brevity was quickly planned as a limited operation to seize Sollum, Halfaya Pass and Fort Capuzzo , then advance on Sidi Aziz and Tobruk. The operation
3792-806: The Italian 10th Army during Operation Compass (9 December 1940 – 9 February 1941) and trapped the remnants at Beda Fomm . On 22 January 1941, Tobruk's Italian garrison surrendered. But in early 1941, much of the British Western Desert Force was sent to the Greek and Syria–Lebanon campaigns, leaving only a skeleton force short of equipment and supplies. Adolf Hitler felt compelled to send reinforcements, commanded by Generalleutnant Erwin Rommel , to rescue his beleaguered Italian ally. Rommel launched Operation Sonnenblume (6 February – 25 May 1941) , driving
3950-597: The Latona (2,650 t) with a direct hit—though the vessel could reach 40 knots. The destroyer Hero was badly damaged in the same attack. In March, destroyers were withdrawn from the Inshore Squadron to escort convoys to Greece and in April, four more ships joined the squadron. As the army retreated to Tobruk and the frontier, coastal operations were conducted on the nights of 10–11 April by gunboats, which bombarded transport on
4108-509: The Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) had appeared from the south, to harass Axis movements. By nightfall on 7 April, the 9th Australian Division (less the 24th Infantry Brigade ) and British 2nd Support Group had blocked the Via Balbia at Acroma , about 15 mi (24 km) west of Tobruk, where the 18th and 24th Infantry Brigades were preparing the defences. (The 18th Australian Infantry Brigade had arrived from Egypt by sea after
4266-633: The Second World War . An Allied force, consisting mostly of the 9th Australian Division , commanded by Lieutenant-General Leslie Morshead , was besieged in the North African port of Tobruk by German and Italian forces. The tenacious defenders quickly became known as the Rats of Tobruk . After 231 days, they were finally relieved by the British Eighth Army . In late 1940, the Allies had defeated
4424-665: The Suez Canal the objective of the Afrika Korps and ordered that a breakout from Tobruk be prevented. The next day, the port was invested ; but the rush ended with the 5th Light Division on the east side, the Prittwitz group to the south (Prittwitz having been killed), and the 27th Infantry Division "Brescia" to the west. Reconnaissance Unit 3 went on to Bardia , and a composite force was sent on to Sollum to try to reach Mersa Matruh. The British Mobile Force (Brigadier William Gott ), on
4582-408: The 15th Panzer Division to battle without more information on the situation. The 8th Panzer Regiment skirmished briefly and then feigned a disorderly retreat to lure Matilda tanks into a chase into range of concealed anti-tank guns. Neither side took much damage from these actions. In response to the British capture of Capuzzo and concerned with a possible attack on Sollum and Bardia, Rommel ordered
4740-474: The 15th Panzer Division, tried to drive north but were prevented by anti-tank fire. No German reserves were left and the most advanced troops were south of Wadi Giaida, tired and isolated in a sandstorm. Paulus judged that the attack had failed and Rommel decided to attack on the right to widen the breach. In the afternoon, German tanks attacked south-east towards Bir el Medauar and Morshead sent 15 cruiser and five infantry tanks to counter-attack. The German attack
4898-432: The 18th Australian Brigade made a converging counter-attack with two battalions, which lost co-ordination, failed and was ended, to avoid being caught in the open at daybreak. The Axis attack had overrun the perimeter defences on a 3 mi (4.8 km) front, to a maximum depth of 2 mi (3.2 km) and captured higher ground useful as a jumping-off position and from which observation points could be established, for
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5056-516: The 24th Australian Infantry Brigade left, with no loss of ships. From 12–25 October, the rest of the 70th Infantry Division was delivered and most of the Australians removed. Ship losses on normal delivery runs, led to the 2/13th Australian Battalion and two companies of the 2/15th Battalion remaining in Tobruk. Command of the garrison passed from Morshead to Scobie. Operation Crusader began on 18 November 1941, with an outflanking movement that brought
5214-539: The 3,741-ton tanker Helka on 25 May before it could reach Tobruk. The squadron involved, the 239 Squadriglia was the successful unit, which became among the most successful over Tobruk. The escorting sloop , Grimsby was damaged, and sunk by 3./StG 1. Commensurate with the sinking of Fiona and Chakla in April, the burden fell to the Mediterranean Fleet 's destroyers to carry out supply operations in daylight. Moonlit nights also proved hazardous. On 24 June
5372-567: The 31st Field Regiment. To their east and below the lip of the escarpment were the 1st Battalion 6th Rajputana Rifles and 2nd Battalion 5th Mahratta Light Infantry , two troops of A Squadron, 4th Royal Tank Regiment and a few 25-pounder guns. At 05:40, British artillery for the Halfaya Group was scheduled to open fire on the German and Italian forces in Halfaya, to cover the tanks and infantry but
5530-514: The 5th Light Division to Sidi Azeiz ready for a possible counter-attack. The rest of the 4th Royal Tank Regiment had been used as a flank guard for the 7th Royal Tank Regiment. While B Squadron was kept in reserve, the three remaining troops of A Squadron (12 tanks) had initial success against Battle Position (B.P.) 38, capturing 200 Axis prisoners and eight field guns with virtually no loss. These gains were lost when A Squadron were repelled at Point 206 and German forces counter-attacked at B.P. 38. In
5688-540: The 62nd Infantry Regiment of the 102nd Motorised Division "Trento" . The 2/48th Australian Battalion counter-attacked and took 803 prisoners. In the morning, the 132nd Armoured Division "Ariete" attacked again and some tanks reached the most advanced Australian posts, found that their infantry had not followed and retired after five tanks were knocked out. Morshead ordered the garrison to exploit Axis disorganisation and their inability to quickly dig in on stony ground, through conducting patrols and small sorties. On 22 April,
5846-450: The 7th Armoured Brigade at 06:00 and began pushing them back. By 08:00 that morning, they had reached Sidi Suleiman. At Capuzzo, the early morning movements of the 15th Panzer Division led Messervy to believe another attack was imminent, and he thus cancelled Beresford-Peirse's orders for the 4th Armoured Brigade to reinforce the 7th so that they could be retained. The combination of the two events caused serious alarm to Creagh, who then sent
6004-416: The 7th Armoured Brigade for a combined attack on the outnumbered 5th Light Division. Through the wireless intelligence service, Rommel had a fairly clear picture of the British situation, including their losses, problems and the new orders issued by Beresford-Peirse. Rommel was concerned for the forces at Halfaya Pass, which were trapped by the 22nd Guards Brigade on one side and the 11th Infantry Brigade on
6162-451: The 7th Armoured Brigade had placed the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment, equipped with older cruiser tanks, in front of the 6th Royal Tank Regiment to use their new Crusader tanks as a surprise. The force reached Hafid Ridge (which actually consisted of three ridges ) by about 09:00. After 2nd Royal Tank Regiment had crossed over the first ridge, they were attacked at near point-blank range by dug in anti-tank guns, destroying two A9 cruiser tanks before
6320-468: The 7th Armoured Brigade had retreated east of the Frontier Wire and the 7th Support Group and withdrawn even further. At 19:00, just as dusk fell, the 5th Light Division further weakened the 7th Armoured Brigade with an attack which only ended when night fell. Rommel—who had seen several of the engagements between the 7th Armoured Brigade and 5th Light Division—decided to attempt a full thrust against
6478-425: The 7th Armoured Brigade. At 16:00, he ordered the 15th Panzer Division to leave only minimal elements at its position north of Fort Capuzzo and make all haste to the northern flank of the 5th Light Division, which was pressing eastward to Sidi Suleiman . He hoped to cut off the majority of the British forces, encircling and then eliminating them. During the afternoon, Wavell had flown to Beresford-Peirse, to simplify
Operation Supercharge - Misplaced Pages Continue
6636-451: The 7th Armoured Division and 43 aircraft; on 28 May, planning began for Operation Battleaxe. Operation Battleaxe, 15–17 June 1941 was intended to lift the siege of Tobruk and capture eastern Cyrenaica. The attack was to be conducted by the 7th Armoured Division and a composite infantry force based on the 4th Indian Division headquarters, with two brigades. The infantry were to attack in the area of Bardia, Sollum, Halfaya and Capuzzo, with
6794-483: The 7th Armoured Division gave Rommel nine hours notice of the operation. Rommel sent the 5th Light Division to the south of Tobruk, ready to use it against either the Sollum area or on Tobruk and ordered a big artillery bombardment of Tobruk the night before the operation, to prevent the Allied garrison from breaking out. Unfortunately, our petrol stocks were badly depleted, and it was with some anxiety that we contemplated
6952-457: The 7th Armoured Division would reform and continue north to relieve Tobruk. Once joined by the Tobruk garrison, the combined forces would press on to the west, driving the Germans as far back as possible. Three days prior to the start of Battleaxe, to help soften the Axis forces, the Royal Air Force was to bomb Benghazi while all aircraft capable of ground attack were to bomb Axis movement on
7110-440: The 7th Division) took over the perimeter and the Australian 20th and 26th brigades took up a covering position on the outside until 9 April, while more work was done on the defences. Once inside, the three 9th Australian Division brigades took over the defences and the 18th Brigade went into reserve. A cadre of the British 3rd Armoured Brigade was refitting at Tobruk, with personnel and equipment sent from Egypt by sea and had
7268-539: The 9th Australian Division (Major-General Leslie Morshead ) were swapped with two from the 7th Australian Division (Major-General John Lavarack ), which had insufficient training, equipment and transport. Lack of transport made it impossible to supply a garrison west of El Agheila , the most favourable position for a defensive line and restricted the 2nd Armoured Division to movement between supply dumps, reducing its limited mobility further. In February, Lieutenant-General Philip Neame took over Cyrcom and predicted that
7426-566: The Allies back across Libya to the Egyptian border. However, Tobruk held out, depriving Rommel of a supply port closer to the Egyptian–Libyan border than Benghazi , 560 mi (900 km) west of the Egyptian frontier. The Axis siege of Tobruk began on 10 April and continued despite two failed Allied relief attempts: Operation Brevity (15–16 May) and Operation Battleaxe (15–17 June) . The garrison repulsed several Axis attacks. The port
7584-585: The Australians repulsed. Another attempt was made later and by dawn a small bridgehead had been established, where the 5th Panzer Regiment drove through and turned northwards, ready to divide into one column for the harbour and one to move west to stop the escape of the garrison. The German tanks were engaged head on by the 1st RHA and veered away, only to drive into the path of the British cruiser tanks, waiting hull-down and received anti-tank fire from three sides, losing sixteen of 38 tanks and retreated. The Australian infantry had stood their ground and pinned down
7742-514: The Axis forces created a line of fortified positions from Halfaya to Sidi Aziz , placing a number of anti-tank guns and anti-tank mines on the Halfaya Pass, Point 206 (south of Forth Capuzzo) and on Point 208 (west of Fort Capuzzo on the Hafid Ridge). The primary responsibility of the frontier defence was charged to the 15th Panzer Division , which had received a new commander, General Walter Neumann-Silkow , on 8 June. Poor signals security in
7900-556: The Axis forces sprung their trap and fired on the Crusader tanks at near point-blank range; within minutes, 11 of the Crusaders were destroyed and six more heavily damaged. The Axis infantry and anti-tank guns, bereft of entrenchments, also took significant casualties. Over thirty German tanks from a battalion of the 5th Panzer Regiment, part of the 5th Light Division which had earlier been stationed north at Sidi Azeiz, were seen arriving from
8058-543: The British front line position at El Agheila and by mid-April, had reached as far as Sallum , Egypt . The British held the fortified port of Tobruk , which was besieged by the Axis. Having been informed by General Wavell that the Western Desert Force was vastly inferior to the Axis forces now in Africa, Churchill ordered that a convoy of tanks and Hawker Hurricanes , Operation Tiger (Convoy WS 58), be sailed through
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#17328558511368216-405: The British artillery bombed the town. At 7 am the 2/3rd Australian Battalion attacked the town and quickly created a massive breach and by the evening half of Tobruk. The next day, the naval command surrendered and by 4 pm General dalla Mura also surrendered, Mannella having been captured earlier on in the day. In February of 1941, the Allies defeated the 10th Army and the 5° Squadra of
8374-582: The British forces at Halfaya, Neumann-Silkow was ordered to attack Capuzzo. He ordered the attacks to begin while still dark, as the British intended to start their operations shortly after dawn. The 11th Infantry Brigade renewed their attack on Halfaya Pass, but met with same failure as the day prior. Bach's forces—though outnumbered and running low on supplies—were now totally surrounded, and thus could not retreat even if they were inclined to do so. Messervy saw this lack of progress and disregarded Beresford-Peirse's orders to release his tanks and decided to retain
8532-450: The British would not start anything for the time being, I decided to pull the net tight by going on to Halfaya. The 5th Light Division and the 15th Panzer Division, attacking from the south-west and north-west respectively, were only 9 mi (14 km) from Halfaya. At 10:00, as the Panzer divisions pushed eastward, they ran into the remaining Matildas of the 4th Armoured Brigade, joined on
8690-528: The Commandos got within 30 yd (27 m) of the Twin Pimples before challenge, at which the commandos attacked. The password Jock was used when a position had been taken and the Italians were swiftly overcome. The Australian engineers planted explosives on several mortars and an ammunition dump. The plan assumed that it would take 15 minutes for Italian artillery to open fire on the captured trenches, and
8848-508: The Cyrcom headquarters (Neame had left to visit Gambier-Parry) to order a general withdrawal. Rommel had intended to attack Mechili on 7 April but the Axis forces were scattered, short of fuel and tired. Group Fabris moved forward during the morning but the 132nd Armoured Division "Ariete" ( Ariete Division) and Group Streich took all day to arrive, having been attacked all day by the RAF. A Squadron of
9006-598: The Eighth Army offensive, forced a retreat to El Agheila from 4 December, crowding the Via Balbia where Allied ambushes destroyed about half of the remaining Axis transport. Work on the fortifications at Tobruk had begun in March, using the Italian defences, two lines of concrete bunkers 8–9 mi (13–14 km) away from the port, making a perimeter about 30 mi (48 km) long, far enough out to keep artillery out of range of
9164-450: The Eighth Army to within 30 mi (48 km) of the Tobruk perimeter. It was planned that the 70th Infantry Division would break out from Tobruk on 21 December, to cut the German line of communication to the troops on the border to the south-east. The 7th Armoured Division would advance from Sidi Rezegh, to rendezvous and roll up the Axis positions around Tobruk. The 2nd New Zealand Division , attached to XIII Corps, would take advantage of
9322-508: The German infantry. As the retreat continued, every gun and aircraft at Tobruk fired into the area and the German 8th Machine-Gun Battalion lost about 75 percent of its men including its commander Gustav Ponath , for a garrison loss of 26 men killed, 64 wounded, two tanks and a field gun knocked out. Attacks from the south were abandoned and the 5th Light Division dug in, with the Schwerin Group (renamed after Prittwitz had been killed) to
9480-499: The Germans to hurry on the 15th Panzer Division from Tripoli. The defeat of the Axis attacks in April greatly improved the situation in Tobruk but Fliegerkorps X had sent 150–200 aircraft to Libya from Sicily in February, which flew frequent dive-bomber sorties by day and medium-bomber raids by day and night on the docks, buildings, anti-aircraft sites, artillery positions and the airfields. Westland Lysander aircraft and all but
9638-402: The Italian forward positions and a supply road, to attack the Twin Pimples from behind. The Commandos advanced at 11:00 p.m. on the night of July 17 and 18 and crossed the Italian lines undetected. At the supply road they took cover, waited until 1:00 a.m. and edged forward just before the diversion by the 18th Cavalry. The diversion attracted Italian machine-gun fire and Very lights , as
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#17328558511369796-478: The Italian troops were not able to reach their objectives. The night passed in confused fighting as the Germans tried to reorganise and mop up at Ras el Medauar and attack south-westwards along the perimeter. The new attack failed and by morning, some of the Australian posts were still holding out. A thick mist rose and German tanks moved eastwards instead of south-east and then ran into the new minefield, where they were engaged by anti-tank guns and repulsed. Tanks of
9954-450: The Italians suffered 592 casualties. The British lost 98 tanks (3 light, 30 cruisers and 65 Matildas) and the Axis had roughly 50 disabled, excluding tanks which had been knocked out and repaired during the battle. The Axis held the battlefield and recovered disabled vehicles; only 12 tanks were written off. The British lost 33 fighters and three bombers against 10 German aircraft. RAF fighter losses were caused by lack of pilot training and
10112-452: The Ju 87s to fly through fire for much longer. The gunners spread their fire from side to side, to prevent German pilots from travelling down the side of the barrage and sliding in underneath it. The Stukas were active in night operations. On 26/27 October 1941, I/ StG 1 attacked a convoy transporting 7,000 British and Polish soldiers with munitions sailed toward Tobruk. An attack by the Ju 87s sank
10270-644: The Mediterranean instead of around the Cape of Good Hope to cut forty days off the journey. The German Armed Forces High Command ( Oberkommando der Wehrmacht ) sent General Friedrich Paulus to Africa to investigate the situation. On 12 May, Paulus, after witnessing one of Rommel's failed attempts to assault Tobruk, sent a report to OKW describing Rommel's position as weak, with critical shortages of both fuel and ammunition. With Operation Barbarossa imminent, Field Marshal Walther von Brauchitsch , Commander-in-Chief of
10428-506: The RAF lost a further six aircraft over Tobruk, equating to very heavy losses given the small contingent defending the port. He requested Tedder's advice. Air Marshal Arthur Longmore cabled the Air Ministry in London. He wished to operate in greater strength, and complained reinforcements and fresh pilots were needed to replace the exhausted 73 Squadron. He told London that to maintain patrols,
10586-563: The Tobruk perimeter. It was held by the Italian Army, and the 18th King Edward's Own Cavalry (normally part of the 3rd Indian Motor Brigade) held the perimeter opposite. No. 8 Commando was selected to carry out an attack on the Twin Pimples, which conducted patrols for several days with the Indians, to reconnoitre the ground. The 18th Cavalry Regiment was to mount a diversion, while 43 members of No. 8 Commando and some Australian Engineers crossed
10744-551: The Tunisian Campaign Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Operation Supercharge . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Operation_Supercharge&oldid=379632424 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
10902-540: The Via Balbia around Bomba and Gambut airfield and on the night of 12 April, six destroyers and two cruisers made a coastal sweep from Ras Tayones to Ras et Tin. Next day, three ships bombarded Sollum and on 15 April, transport was bombarded at Bardia and Capuzzo, as Gazala airfield was shelled again. For the rest of April, naval bombardments continued along the Libyan coast on the Via Balbia, airfields and ports. A Commando raid
11060-524: The Western Desert came to include eastern Cyrenaica in Libya. Extending inland from the coast lies a raised, flat plain of stony desert, about 500 ft (150 m) above sea level, for 120–190 mi (200–300 km) to the sand sea. Scorpions, vipers and flies populated the region, which was inhabited by a small number of nomads. Bedouin tracks linked wells and the more easily traversed ground; navigation
11218-613: The XIII Corps commander, Lieutenant-General Noel Beresford-Peirse and Major-General Michael O'Moore Creagh the 7th Armoured Division commander were sacked and Claude Auchinleck took over as Commander-in-Chief of the Middle East. In mid-1941, Blamey, as commander of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF), with the support of the Australian government, requested the withdrawal of the 9th Division from Tobruk. Blamey wrote that
11376-435: The air had rapidly deteriorated. The arrival of two German fighter wings ( Jagdgeschwader 27 and Zerstörergeschwader 26 ) near Tobruk allowed the enemy formations to arrive at great height within ten minutes of an air raid warning, leaving British fighters at lower altitude and a great disadvantage. He remarked attrition had caused "a serious reduction in our fighter force." The bombardment and close air support operations in
11534-520: The area in HMS ; Glengyle , escorted by the anti-aircraft cruiser HMS Coventry and the destroyers HMAS Stuart , Voyager and Waterhen . The Commandos of 'A' Battalion and a troop of tanks from the Royal Tank Regiment were to land on four beaches from Landing Craft Assault (LCA). On arrival, one LCA could not be lowered and there were difficulties releasing the others. On
11692-449: The armoured division would lose many tanks through breakdowns if it had to move far. Neame asked for a proper armoured division, two infantry divisions and adequate air support to hold the area; he was told that there was little to send and none of that before April. In early March, the 9th Australian Division began to relieve the 6th Australian Division (Major-General Iven Mackay ) at Mersa Brega for shipment to Greece, which demonstrated
11850-565: The army in Libya needed ammunition, fuel and food first, then more vehicles before the dispatch of more men, of whom medium artillery and anti-tank gun crews should have priority. The Tobruk garrison settled into a routine of patrols, air raids and minor attacks, some to regain positions in the Medauar salient and some in connexion with WDF operations. The Twin Pimples was a defensive strong point outside Tobruk, on two hills close together which overlooked
12008-503: The barren ground means that supplies for military operations have to be transported from outside. German engines tended to overheat and tank engine life fell from 1,400–1,600 mi (2,300–2,600 km) to 300–900 mi (480–1,450 km), which was made worse by the lack of standard parts for German and Italian types. The ground is a hard surface which drops to sea level in steps, with the coast cut by ravines. The Italian fortifications at Tobruk included an outer perimeter, comprising
12166-450: The battery had become bogged down by soft sand. After waiting until 06:00, 15 minutes after the fighting began to the west below the escarpment, the commander of C Squadron ordered his tanks to attack at the top of the pass; soon after, the anti-tank guns of the defenders opened fire and within a few hours all but one light tank and one of the Matildas had been destroyed, including Miles' own. The Cameron Highlanders were soon driven back by
12324-423: The bottom of the Halfaya Pass. The garrison on the east side of the Tobruk defences was strengthened in case of a sortie and a German counter-attack recovered Musaid. The coast group eventually overran the foot of the pass; but, the next day, Allied retirements against German counter-attacks to a line from Sidi Omar to Sidi Suleiman and Sollum, left all but Halfaya Pass in German hands. On 26 May, Operation Skorpion ,
12482-421: The centre; the Allies were reduced to 21 Cruiser tanks and 17 Infantry tanks. On 17 June, the Allies evaded encirclement by two Panzer regiments and ended the operation. The Allies had 969 casualties, 27 cruiser and 64 Infantry tanks were knocked out or broke down and lost; the RAF lost 36 aircraft. German losses were 678 men (Italian losses are unknown), twelve tanks and ten aircraft. General Wavell,
12640-478: The chord of the Jebel Akhdar ran out of water and fuel at Tengeder. Heinrich von Prittwitz und Gaffron , the commander of the 15th Panzer Division, was sent ahead with a column of reconnaissance, anti-tank, machine-gun, and artillery units to block the eastern exit from Tobruk as the 5th Light Division moved from the southwest and the 27th Infantry Division "Brescia" advanced from the west. On 10 April, Rommel made
12798-512: The coming British attack, for we knew that our moves would be decided more by the petrol gauge than by tactical requirements. For the RAF, everything went according to plan on the first day. Axis supply columns and airfields had been hit repeatedly up to the start of the attack and once the operation began, and British columns were able to move unmolested from their starting points at Sofafi and Buq-Buq to their destinations covered by RAF fighters. Axis aircraft managed only six attacks that day. On
12956-401: The commander became aware of its fortifications and ordered his units to disengage; due to an equipment shortage, only one tank per troop was equipped with a radio and five of his tanks, not receiving the order, continued towards Point 208 and were destroyed by its 88 mm guns. Soon, reports came in from Allied aircraft that German tanks were approaching and the order was given to clear
13114-460: The defence of Tripolitania before trying to recapture Cyrenaica and then invade Egypt, using bases at Sirte and Nofilia but not before April. Rommel was identified on 8 March but local intelligence was hard to find under the restrictions to preserve the few troops and vehicles near the front and avoid the danger of the faster German eight-wheeler armoured cars, which inhibited Allied tactical reconnaissance. On 3 April, Gambier-Parry had received
13272-403: The defenders. In an example, the gunboat Ladybird , sunk in shallow waters to her deck by II./StG 2, was able to use her 3-inch deck guns. In April, Draco , Bankura , Urania , and HMS Chakla were sunk by Axis aircraft. On 4 May the hospital ship Kapara (846t) was damaged evoking fury on the Allied side. The arrival of Italian Ju 87s from 97 Gruppo resulted in the sinking of
13430-436: The defiles near Er Regima and Barce ; the tanks would move to Antelat to operate against the flank and rear of an attacker moving up the road or across the desert to Tobruk, falling back on a flank if necessary. On 20 March, the 2nd Armoured Division took over from the Australians, who moved back to Tocra , near Er Regima. The force was to use depots at Msus , Tecnis, Martuba , Mechili and Tmimi , El Magrun and Benghazi as
13588-411: The difficulty of tactical moves with insufficient transport and it was withdrawn to the area east of Benghazi . Neame was ordered to conserve the tank units, retire as far as Benghazi if pressed, abandon it if necessary, and hold the high ground nearby for as long as possible, with no prospect of reinforcement before May. Neame was to fight a delaying action up the Via Balbia towards Benghazi and then
13746-622: The dispatch of the 7th Australian Division to Greece had been cancelled.) A small force held El Adem , south of Tobruk to observe the approaches from the south and south-west and at Mechili, Gambier-Parry had the 2nd Armoured Division headquarters soft-skinned vehicles and a cruiser tank, most of the 3rd Indian Motor Brigade, M Battery 1st Royal Horse Artillery , part of the 2/3rd Australian Anti-tank Regiment and elements of other units. The Germans tried twice to bluff Gambier-Parry into surrender but he received orders from Cyrcom to break out and retreat to El Adem and decided to attack at dawn, to gain
13904-475: The distraction of the 21st Panzer Division and 15th Panzer Division and advance to the Sidi Azeiz area, overlooking the Axis defences at Bardia. The 70th Infantry Division attack surprised Rommel, who had underestimated the size of the garrison and number of tanks in Tobruk. A three-pronged attack by the 2nd King's Own on the right flank, the 2nd Battalion, Black Watch in the centre and the 2nd Queen's Own on
14062-433: The division up to an under-strength armoured brigade. Most of the British tanks were worn out and the Italian tanks were slow and unreliable. The British 2nd Support Group (similar to a small infantry brigade) had only a motor battalion, a 25-pounder field gun regiment, an anti-tank battery and a machine-gun company. The division was short of transport and its workshops were understaffed and lacked spare parts. Two brigades of
14220-522: The early stages of the siege. On 12 April, for example, 45 and 55 Squadron Bristol Blenheim bombers, operating from airfields in Egypt, attacked German tank formations near the port. The attack succeeded in breaking up the German advance. Air Commodore Raymond Collishaw , commanding 204 Group RAF (renamed the Desert Air Force), wrote to Air Marshal Arthur Tedder on 24 April. In his view the situation in
14378-486: The east. In support, the Luftwaffe and Regia Aeronautica flew 959 sorties over Tobruk; on 14 April 40 Ju 87s bombed the defences and on day 27 they succeeded in destroying a heavy anti-aircraft battery at Tobruk by swamping the defences with 50 aircraft allowing for an entire staffel (12) to concentrate on each gun. On 16 April, Rommel led an attack from the west, with the 132nd Armoured Division "Ariete" reinforced by
14536-504: The eastern side, at 05:15, Coast Force—commanded by Brigadier Reginald Savory and charged with capturing Halfaya Pass, started to move on to their objective. On the escarpment was the Halfaya Group , composed of the 2nd Battalion Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders , the 13 tanks (twelve Matildas and one light tank) of C Squadron, 4th Royal Tank Regiment (which had captured Halfaya Pass during Operation Brevity) and an artillery battery from
14694-415: The evening, after A Squadron was down to only one remaining tank, the sixteen tanks of B Squadron were brought into action and Point 206 was captured. In capturing these objectives, the British also took over 500 German and Italian prisoners. That night, the 2nd Scots Guards —a battalion of the 22nd Guards Brigade—were able to advance further eastward and capture an outpost at Musaid. On the western side,
14852-553: The failure of Operation Battleaxe , was the main sector of operations for Allied and Axis aviation throughout the summer. Sturzkampfgeschwader 3 , another Ju 87 wing arrived in Africa in the summer. The eight-month long siege was costly for the Stuka gruppen . At the end of April, virtually all Tobruk-based fighters had been removed from the encircled port. The Ju 87s were facing defenders with anti-aircraft artillery numbering 88 guns—28 heavy (90 mm or above). Ships lent their weapons to
15010-413: The few remaining Matildas he had until some breach of the Axis defences could be made. Neumann-Silkow began his attack on British held Fort Capuzzo at 06:00. He organised the 80 tanks under his command into two columns and attacked Capuzzo from either side. The attack went poorly from the onset, as the 15th Panzer Division ran directly into heavy artillery from 25-pounders which had been brought up during
15168-413: The fighters were forced to refuel at Sidi Barrani granting Axis air units a free hand over Tobruk but arguing that without patrols to defend fighter squadrons refuelling at Tobruk on the ground, they were "hostage to a fortune we cannot afford." On 1 May, for example, 274 Squadron lost all six Hurricanes it sent on a single mission when a flight of Bf 109s from JG 27 led by Gerhard Homuth , and containing
15326-524: The final attack. In the centre, the 7th Royal Tank Regiment reached Fort Capuzzo by noon and scattered the defenders, who retreated north to join the 15th Panzer Division, between them and Bardia. Soon afterwards, they faced several counter-attacks by a battalion from the 8th Panzer Regiment of the 15th Panzer Division. After being joined by the 22nd Guards Brigade, they faced the final and largest counter-attack at 18:30 but managed to repulse it. These were not serious assaults, as Rommel would not commit
15484-509: The flank by the remaining cruisers and artillery of the 7th Armoured Brigade and 7th Support Group. The tanks formed a screen to protect the 22nd Guards Brigade and 11th Indian Infantry Brigade as they retreated toward Halfway House. At 10:45, Messervy contacted Creagh over the radio and, speaking Hindustani for security, informed him that he had ordered a retreat of his infantry from Capuzzo and Halfaya, to begin at 11:00. At noon, Wavell and Beresford-Peirse arrived at Halfway House and learned of
15642-459: The frontier from Halfaya Pass to Sidi Barrani , conducted a delaying-action around Sollum and Capuzzo . From 11–12 April, the 5th Panzer Regiment probed the defences of the 20th Australian Brigade near the El Adem road. The tanks were held off by artillery-fire; German infantry who reached the anti-tank ditch were forced back by Australian infantry. The Germans were surprised, having assumed that
15800-506: The frontier. Once the battle began, fighters were to patrol defensively over Allied ground forces, while medium bombers were to stand by to engage Axis columns. Such was the priority on Battleaxe that Arthur Tedder (Air Officer Commander-in-Chief, Middle East) was instructed by the Chiefs of Staff to accept significant risks in other theatres by diverting all possible air support for it. Beresford-Peirse and Tedder established headquarters well to
15958-448: The health of the Australian division had deteriorated "to the point where it was not longer capable of resisting attack"; he also wanted to unite Australian forces in the Middle East. Auchinleck agreed but noted that a troop movement this big could only be made by fast warships during moonless periods, to evade air attacks. The Mediterranean Fleet was busy elsewhere, the Inshore Squadron was carrying supplies into Tobruk and Operation Crusader
16116-514: The hillock of Ras el Medauar, about two weeks after the previous attempt, using the 5th Light Division on the right and the 15th Panzer Division on the left, even though it had only recently arrived in Africa. At 8:00 p.m. on 30 April, the divisions were to break into the Tobruk defences, followed by assault groups from the Ariete Division and 27th Infantry Division "Brescia" to roll up the flanks. German infantry would press forward to reconnoitre
16274-576: The inadequacy of the force if the Germans sent reinforcements to Libya. Command in Egypt was taken over by Lieutenant-General Richard O'Connor and the XIII Corps HQ was replaced by the HQ of the 1st Australian Corps (Lieutenant-General Thomas Blamey ). It was believed by General Wavell and the GHQ in Egypt that the Germans could not attack until May, when the 9th Australian Division, two more divisions and support troops, particularly artillery would be ready and
16432-403: The initial phases were carried out by Lehrgeschwader 1 , III./ Sturzkampfgeschwader 1 and II./ Sturzkampfgeschwader 2 . Collishaw noted the aggression shown by Axis aviation and reported to Tedder that 274 Squadron, which had only 13 fighters available as of 23 April, formed the major part of the fighter defence for Egypt and he was "loathe to send them to Tobruk." As Collishaw wrote his letter,
16590-462: The latter was to capture the remainder of the frontier at Fort Capuzzo, Musaid and Sollum. The 7th Armoured Brigade Group and the artillery of the Support Group were to engage and destroy the German tanks, which were thought to be at Hafid Ridge . This would also trap Axis units on the frontier between themselves and the remainder of the British forces. After capturing the frontier, the brigades of
16748-451: The left flank, advanced to capture a series of strong points leading to Ed Duda. Operation Battleaxe [REDACTED] United Kingdom 1941 1942 Associated articles Operation Battleaxe (15–17 June 1941) was a British Army offensive during the Second World War to raise the Siege of Tobruk and re-capture eastern Cyrenaica from German and Italian forces. It
16906-413: The loss of one aircraft. JG 27 suffered the loss of four fighters, three damaged and three pilots killed. The Regia Aeronautica's 151 Gruppo reported two aircraft destroyed and one damaged. The intensity of the battle for air superiority was mirrored by the air war over the sea as the Luftwaffe and Regia Aeronautica attempted to cut off sea traffic supplying the defenders. The air-sea battle, after
17064-408: The loss of three aircraft and five killed, while 55 and 6 Squadron lost one and two respectively. 39 Squadron lost three bombers and 14 Squadron one for a total of 31 aircraft. Reported German losses, excluding RAF claims, were lower. III/StG 1 and II/StG 2 lost eight between them while III/ZG 26 reported three destroyed and one damaged, two killed, one wounded and three captured. III./LG 1 reported
17222-456: The making of decisions. When he arrived, Beresford-Peirse was away, meeting with Messervy and Creagh, where he reconfirmed his orders for the infantry to maintain its attack on Halfaya and hold Capuzzo, while the 4th Armoured Brigade was to join the 7th Armoured Brigade, to confront the 5th Light Division to the west. That night, on learning of the 5th Light Division advance, Messervy took the initiative and ordered his forces to withdraw and ordered
17380-414: The most essential ground crew of 6 and 73 Squadron were withdrawn to Egypt. At least ten Hawker Hurricane fighters were based at the port during the day and on 19 April, Hurricanes of 73 and 274 Squadrons , intercepted a Ju 87 raid escorted by fighters. After another two days, 73 Squadron was down to five operational aircraft with very tired pilots. By 23 April, three more Hurricanes had been shot down,
17538-470: The most successful fighter pilot in Africa, Hans-Joachim Marseille , engaged them from a superior altitude over Tobruk. From 1–14 May each side paused to stockpile supplies for the next battle. Of stated losses from 10 April—14 May [excluding claims made by either side], 73 Squadron lost 15 fighters and five damaged. Five pilots were killed, one captured and one wounded. 274 Squadron lost six fighters, three pilots killed and two captured. 45 Squadron suffered
17696-415: The need for continuous air cover; standing patrols could only be maintained by a few aircraft while the bulk were in transit to the battlefield, being repaired, rearmed and refuelled. Total British strength for the operation came to 25,000 men, c. 220 tanks (28 × Light, 100 × Cruiser and 92 × Infantry). Of the cruiser tanks, 38 were older cruiser models ( Mk I , II and III / IV ) and 53 were
17854-566: The new Crusader. The Crusader and Matilda tanks were fitted with a Rotatrailer, an un-armoured trailer with 10 imperial gallons (45 L) of water and 12-man/days of rations, 100 rounds of 2-pounder ammunition and 12 imperial gallons (55 L) of lubricating oil, with 120 imperial gallons (550 L) of fuel carried in the wheels. Comandante Superiore:Generale d'Armata Italo Gariboldi Deutsches Afrika Korps (DAK) under Generalleutnant Erwin Rommel Total Axis strength
18012-500: The night and Matilda tanks in entrenched positions. By 10:00, the 15th Panzer Division had lost fifty of its tanks, and by 12:00, they were forced to withdraw. Soon after the German forces withdrew the Scots Guards advanced further west, capturing the Sollum barracks to prevent Axis forces from either flanking on the east or linking up with the Halfaya garrison. Starting at dawn, the 5th Light Division began to advance southwards past
18170-735: The open by Germans tanks, decided to pull almost the entire force back to Halfaya Pass. The operation ended on 17 May, with only the Halfaya Pass captured. The pass was retaken by a small German force on 27 May, in Operation Skorpion . By the end of May, the Greek island of Crete had been captured in the Battle of Crete , providing the Luftwaffe with more airfields from which to attack Allied shipping and protect their supply convoys and troops in Cyrenaica; delaying Battleaxe could mean stronger Axis opposition. The British Chiefs of Staff stated that it
18328-424: The other and running low on supplies. His plan was to have the 5th Light Division, which by midnight had almost fully reached Sidi Azeiz, drive south towards Sidi Omar and then east towards Sidi Suleiman and then north-east to Halfaya Pass, approaching the 11th Infantry Brigade from the rear. To prevent the re-deployment of Matildas, either to reinforce the 7th Armoured Brigade as Beresford-Peirse planned or to assist
18486-421: The perimeter defences on 29 April; Axis troops seen massing in the evening of 30 April had been dispersed by artillery-fire. The posts either side of Ras el Medauar were shelled and bombed and German troops began to dribble forward, under cover of dust and the gathering darkness. By 9:30 p.m., the Germans made a small bridgehead as planned but several Australian posts held out, the reconnaissance party vanished and
18644-543: The place of William Platt , who had been promoted to Commander-in-Chief of the newly created East Africa Command . Beresford-Peirse was replaced as commander of XIII Corps by Lieutenant-General Reade Godwin-Austen , who had been promoted from command of the 12th (African) Division in the East African Campaign . The Allies had 969 casualties, with 122 killed, 588 wounded and 259 missing. The Germans had 678 casualties, with 93 killed, 350 wounded and 235 missing and
18802-460: The port. Few intermediate defences had been built by the Italians except at the Bardia–El Adem road junction, the barbed wire was in disrepair and an anti-tank ditch was unfinished. The Allies selected another line about 2 mi (3.2 km) back from the perimeter and worked on this while the original line was refurbished. Two battalions of the Australian 24th Infantry Brigade and the newly arrived Australian 18th Brigade (which had been detached from
18960-500: The raiders were only about 100 yd (91 m) away when shelling began to come down onto the position they had just departed. Operation Brevity (15–16 May) was a limited offensive to inflict attrition on the Axis forces and to secure positions for a general offensive towards Tobruk. The Allies attacked with a small tank-infantry force in three columns and seized the top of the Halfaya Pass, Bir Wair and Musaid , then pressed on and took Fort Capuzzo. The coast group failed to capture
19118-520: The rear, at Sidi Barrani and Maaten Baggush . Beresford-Peirse chose Sidi Barrani as, even though it was more than a five-hour drive from the battlefield, it was equipped with the most advanced airfield for reconnaissance aircraft and was also the most forward position from which communications could be maintained with Maaten Baggush. Though Brevity had failed to yield any territory to the British, it showed Rommel that his front line defences were quite easy to breach. Anticipating further British attacks,
19276-424: The remaining Matildas of the 4th Armoured Brigade to form a screen, to protect the retreating infantry from the advance of the panzers to the west. The 7th Armoured Brigade had lost more than half of the cruiser tanks operational in the morning and was down to 21 runners. The 4th Armoured Brigade had been reduced to 17 Matildas. At 04:30, Rommel's panzer s began their advance. The 5th Light Division encountered
19434-459: The rest could retreat. This development posed a serious problem for the brigade, as the cruiser tanks were armed with 2-pounder anti-tank guns which lacked the High Explosive (HE) rounds needed to engage infantry and artillery. Artillery support was not available as it was attached to the Support Group in the south-west, was covering the 7th Armoured Brigade's flank. It was decided to attempt
19592-457: The retreat, to which Wavell then gave his approval. The British armour stalled the panzer advance to Halfaya until 16:00, by which time the 22nd Guards had escaped. Churchill was displeased with the results of Operation Battleaxe. He had been expecting nothing less than complete success and had instead received news that the operation had failed and the tanks sent for it had been lost. Churchill sacked Wavell but could not have it look as though he
19750-401: The ridges to use the advantageous terrain for the upcoming tank battle. At 17:30 reports came in from forward observers that the defenders were withdrawing from Hafid Ridge. After clearing the first ridge, it looked as though the reports were accurate, as German trucks and towed guns were seen moving away over the second crest. Pursuit began but upon the British forces clearing the second ridge,
19908-415: The road transport distance for supplies to 1,100 mi (1,800 km). Benghazi was captured in April but coastal shipping could only carry 15,000 long tons (15,241 t) and the port was within range of the DAF. Tobruk could take about 1,500 long tons (1,524 t) per day but lack of shipping made its capture irrelevant. A German motorised division needed 350 long tons (360 t) per day and moving
20066-468: The roughly 460 m (500 yd) range of the 2-pounder guns found on British tanks. While this would do minimal damage to the British tanks, it decimated their towed 25-pounder artillery, which would be forced to withdraw. Without British artillery to concern them, the Panzer IV and 50 mm (1.97 in) gun armed Panzer IIIs could then safely close range with their British counterparts and pick off
20224-560: The run-in, there were no lights to guide them in, because the advance Folbot section had been delayed, when their submarine HMS Triumph had to dive and take evasive action when it was mistakenly attacked by Allied aircraft. As a result of these issues the main force was late and landed on the wrong beaches, albeit unopposed. Once ashore the Commandos found that the port was empty of Axis forces and faulty intelligence led to some objectives being missed and others turning out not to exist. The Commandos destroyed an Italian supply dump and
20382-409: The second phase, XIII Corps was to secure the area around Tobruk and El Adem, then the areas of Derna and Mechili were to be captured. The plan was based on intelligence information, which incorrectly indicated that 2 ⁄ 3 of the German tank strength was at Tobruk, which would put the British at a decisive material advantage on the frontier. The attack was originally scheduled for 7 June, but
20540-399: The shipping at Tobruk was to evacuate the garrison and planned a night attack by the 5th Light Division for 13/14 April. Groups of Axis vehicles were attacked by 45 and 55 Squadrons RAF, which rearmed at the airfields inside the perimeter. The attack began after dark, with an attempt to get over the anti-tank ditch west of the El Adem road in the 2/17th Australian Battalion sector, which
20698-481: The siege. The Western Desert Campaign was fought from Mersa Matruh in Egypt to Gazala in Cyrenaica on the Libyan coast, an area about 390 kilometres (240 mi) wide along the Libyan Coastal Highway ( Italian : Via Balbia ), the only paved road. A sand sea 150 mi (240 km) inland marked the southern limit of the desert, which was at its widest at Giarabub and Siwa ; in British parlance,
20856-460: The sloop Auckland was sunk by 239 Squadriglia . This unit also sank the destroyer Waterhen . The vessel had just survived an attack by Junkers Ju 88s of III/ LG 1 and II/ StG 2 . The lack of fighters made for a straight battle between the gunners and German pilots. The gunners changed their tactics from a sustained barrage at a fixed altitude, to a staggered, and thickened belt, at various altitudes covering 1000 meters or more, thereby forcing
21014-468: The supplies 300 mi (480 km) took 1,170 two-ton lorries. With seven Axis divisions, air and naval units, 70,000 long tons (71,000 t) of supplies per month were needed. Vichy France agreed to Bizerta being used for supplies but none passed through until late 1942. From February to May 1941, a surplus of 45,000 long tons (46,000 t) was delivered; attacks from Malta had some effect but in May,
21172-403: The tanks guarding the southern flank. The Tobruk garrison was to stand by but not to sortie until XIII Corps drew close. The Halfaya Pass attack failed, Point 206 was captured and only one of three attacks on Hafid Ridge succeeded. At the end of 15 June only 48 British tanks remained operational and next day, a German counter-attack forced back the Allies on the western flank but was repulsed in
21330-399: The tanks of the 2nd Armoured Division would have been overhauled. The 2nd Armoured Division had a reconnaissance regiment and the 3rd Armoured Brigade (Brigadier Reginald Rimington ), which had an under-strength light tank regiment and one equipped with captured Fiat M13/40 tanks. The cruiser regiment arrived in late March with worn-out tracks, after many breakdowns en route and brought
21488-431: The thinly armed cruiser tanks while still remaining beyond the range of the British tank guns. If the British tanks attempted to move forward to engage the panzers, the latter would quickly retreat behind a screen of anti-tank guns while lighter armoured elements would begin to move around the British flanks. To make matters worse for the 7th Armoured Brigade, they suffered numerous breakdowns. By evening, both regiments of
21646-467: The vicinity of Fort Pilastrino, to see if the attack could continue to the harbour. If not, the Italian infantry would dig in on the flanks and artillery would be moved forward for an attack the next day. The attack came in the area held by the 26th Australian Brigade, which had the 2/23rd and 2/24th battalions in the line and the 2/48th Battalion in reserve at Wadi Giaida. The Australians expected an attack, after withstanding bombing and artillery-fire on
21804-437: The vision slits of the German tanks, which had hung back in fear of mines and when Italian infantry attacked, had little left. Gambier-Parry and 2,700–3,000 British, Indian and Australian troops surrendered to the 17th Infantry Division "Pavia" (General Pietro Zaglio ). Axis supplies came from Europe and deliveries were moved by road; after Operation Compass (December 1940 – February 1941), only Tripoli remained, which had
21962-576: The west. By the end of the first day, Fort Capuzzo had been captured but not Halfaya Pass and Hafid Ridge and the British had lost a significant number of tanks. In the 7th Armoured Brigade, the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment was down to 28 cruiser tanks and the 6th Royal Tank Regiment to only 20 of their 50 Crusaders; many of the tanks which had been damaged, were abandoned in the field as the 7th Armoured Brigade withdrew from Hafid Ridge, leaving them for seizure by German tank recovery teams. The 4th Armoured Brigade, from its original strength of roughly 100 Matildas,
22120-586: The western edge of Hafid Ridge. The 7th Armoured Brigade kept pace with them to the east, joined by the 7th Support Group as the two forces approached Sidi Omar. During the running skirmish, the British tanks had a few successful attacks against unarmoured German transport vehicles, but they found themselves at a significant disadvantage when they engaged the panzer s, who utilised an extremely effective tactic against them. The Panzer IVs , armed with high-explosive 75 mm (2.95 in) guns with an effective range of ~2750 m, would open fire while still well out of
22278-615: The worst month for ship losses, 91% of the supplies arrived. Lack of transports in Libya left German supplies in Tripoli and the Italians had only 7,000 lorries for deliveries to 225,000 men. A record amount of supplies arrived in June but at the front, the shortages worsened. There were fewer Axis attacks on Malta from June and ships sunk increased from 19% in July, to 25% in September, when Benghazi
22436-600: Was being prepared. The Australian withdrawal began in the August non-moon period and from 19–29 August, 6,116 men of the Polish Carpathian Independent Rifle Brigade and Czechoslovak 11th Infantry Battalion and 1,297 long tons (1,318 t) of stores were landed. The navy took out 5,040 men of the 18th Australian Infantry Brigade and the Indian 18th King Edward's Own Cavalry, on three destroyers,
22594-474: Was being punished or have Wavell return to England, as embarrassing questions could be raised. Churchill had Wavell exchange duties with General Claude Auchinleck , Commander-in-Chief, India . Along with Wavell went Michael O'Moore Creagh , who was replaced by Gott. Beresford-Peirse was criticised for both his plan and control of the operation and on 4 October was sent to Sudan with the position of General Officer Commanding , Sudan. Beresford-Peirse took
22752-525: Was bombed and ships diverted to Tripoli; air supply in October made little difference. Deliveries averaged 72,000 long tons (73,000 t) per month from July–October but the consumption of 30–50 percent of fuel deliveries by road transport and truck unserviceability of 35 percent reduced deliveries to the front. In November, a five-ship convoy was sunk during Operation Crusader and ground attacks on road convoys stopped journeys in daylight. Lack of deliveries and
22910-563: Was by sun, star, compass and "desert sense", good perception of the environment gained by experience. When Italian troops advanced into Egypt in September 1940, the Maletti Group got lost leaving Sidi Omar and had to be found by aircraft. In spring and summer, days are hot and nights cold; the sirocco , a hot desert wind blows clouds of fine sand, which reduces visibility to a few meters and coats eyes, lungs, machinery, food and equipment; motor vehicles and aircraft need special oil filters and
23068-448: Was carried out on Bardia and supply runs began to Tobruk. From 11 April – 10 December, 47,280 men were taken from Tobruk, 34,113 were brought in and 33,946 long tons (34,491 t) of stores delivered; 34 ships were sunk and 33 damaged. The Bardia raid was planned for the night of 19/20 April, by 'A' Battalion, Layforce to disrupt Axis lines of communication and damage installations and equipment. The landing force sailed to
23226-682: Was defended by the Italian XXII Corps , commanded by General Pitassi Mannella . After blockading the fort for a fortnight, on the night of 20 January, the British Navy, led by the HMS Terror , under the command of Captain Hector Waller , bombarded Tobruk. Further out naval destroyers laid a trap for the San Giorgio in case it tried to break out. On the morning of 21 January between 5 and 7 am,
23384-410: Was down to 37 (though 11 more were repaired by the following morning). German panzer losses were trifling, though there had been many casualties among the garrisons at Hafid Ridge, Point 206 and Fort Capuzzo. Beresford-Peirse planned to have the 11th Infantry Brigade continue its attack next day on Halfaya Pass, the 22nd Guards Brigade to hold their position and for the 4th Armoured Brigade to reinforce
23542-426: Was envisaged. The Tobruk garrison continued work on the defences and sowed minefields, the first being planted in the south-west, between the outer and inner perimeters. Twelve infantry tanks had been delivered among 5,000 long tons (5,100 t) of supplies landed during the month, despite Axis bombing of the harbour and the sinking of two supply ships. The Axis attack was to be made in the south-west, either side of
23700-612: Was frequently bombarded by artillery, dive-bombers and medium bombers, while the Royal Air Force flew defensive sorties from airfields far away in Egypt. Allied naval forces, such as the British Mediterranean Fleet (including the Inshore Squadron) ran the blockade, carrying reinforcements and supplies in and the wounded and prisoners out. Finally, Operation Crusader (18 November – 30 December) succeeded in raising
23858-513: Was imperative that control be wrested in the area between Sollum and Derna and British air power be re-established there. On 12 May, the Tiger convoy arrived in Alexandria with 238 tanks and 43 Hurricanes consisting of 21 Light Tank Mk VI , 82 Cruiser tanks (including fifty of the new Crusader tanks ) and 135 Matilda II Infantry tanks . There were delays in unloading the tanks, which also had to be adapted for desert use, so Battleaxe
24016-418: Was little more help available and to forecast the defensive possibilities of the area, if Sollum was lost. Paulus refused to allow an attack planned for 30 April, until he had studied the situation and on 29 April, allowed the attack to go ahead, as did General Italo Gariboldi who had arrived on 28 April. Nothing more ambitious than securing the Axis hold on the Egyptian frontier, from Siwa Oasis north to Sollum
24174-418: Was postponed until 10 June. The tanks were intended for the 7th Armoured Division , which had been out of action since February, after most of its tanks had worn out during Operation Compass . On 28 May, Wavell gave his orders for Operation Battleaxe, an operation in three stages; the Axis forces were to be defeated on the frontier and the area of Halfaya, Sollum, Capuzzo and Sidi Aziez was to be secured. In
24332-423: Was pushed back at the insistence of General O'Moore Creagh, whose squadrons did not receive their tanks until 9 June. The new date was 15 June, giving Creagh five days for additional training. In the first stage, the British would advance in a three-prong assault to clear the frontier region. Along the coast was Coast Force and inland was Escarpment Force. The former was responsible for capturing Halfaya Pass, while
24490-431: Was south-east of Mersa Brega, where the 2nd Support Group held an 8 mi (13 km) front; the Australians were 150 mi (240 km) to the north, minus a brigade left at Tobruk, deficient in much equipment and out of contact with the 2nd Armoured Division. Allied air reconnaissance had observed German troops west of El Agheila on 25 February and by 5 March, it was expected that the German commander would consolidate
24648-415: Was stopped for a loss of five British tanks and in the evening, the Australian 2/48th Battalion counter-attacked Ras el Medauar but met determined resistance and was repulsed. During the day, 73 and 274 Squadrons had maintained standing patrols over the area and on the morning of 2 May, the fighting around Wadi Giaida continued in a dust storm, as German troops tried to trickle forward. On the night of 3 May,
24806-429: Was the first time during the war that a significant German force fought on the defensive. The British lost over half of their tanks on the first day and only one of three attacks succeeded. The British achieved mixed results on the second day, being pushed back on their western flank and repulsing a big German counter-attack in the centre. On the third day, the British narrowly avoided disaster by withdrawing just ahead of
24964-417: Was to continue as far as supply would allow but not risk the forces committed; the objective was to destroy as much Axis equipment as possible and secure a foothold for the larger Operation Battleaxe, once the new tanks were made available. Brevity began on 15 May and Fort Capuzzo and Halfaya Pass were captured but next day William Gott , concerned that his 22nd Guards Brigade would be destroyed if caught in
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