Rommel’s faint maneuver had worked.
While his Italian allies were engaging the bulk of the British forces at the center of
the Gazala Line, his Afrika Korps had successfully breached the south to attack them from the
rear.
Nonetheless, the Desert Fox faced an imminent threat.
His elite troops were pinned down at the fortified position known as the Cauldron.
Heavy artillery strikes and increasing British tanks were steadily surrounding the sun-tanned
and hardened German tankers.
Some men were uneasy as the artillery shells detonated around them, but Rommel remained
calm.
He knew the British were overconfident in their superior numbers, a weakness he could
exploit.
It was only a matter of time before the opportunity arose to outsmart the enemy with his panzers
and roll them over all the way to Egypt…
Operation Crusader On November 18, 1941, the British Eight Army
launched Operation Crusader with more than twice the tanks the Germans and Italians could
afford in the North African theater of operations.
Despite the logistical and military shortcomings, Erwin Rommel, the Desert Fox, skillfully maneuvered
his panzers and his Italian allies to put a stiff defense against the reinvigorated
British.
The skillful use of concealed anti-tank guns and hit-and-run attacks conducted by his armored
vehicles allowed Rommel to momentarily overcome the British offensive.
Impressively enough, the Axis also held the line above the skies despite the four-to-one
superiority of the British.
The Luftwaffe and the courage of the Italians flying obsolete aircraft had such an effect
that Eighth Army General Alan Cunningham considered suspending the attack.
Nevertheless, the numerical superiority of the Britons soon paid off, and Rommel´s troops
had to abandon Cyrenaica and regroup at El Agheila in late December 1941 with only two
tank companies and some artillery pieces.
Instead of going straight for the Axis troops, most British troops stopped to consolidate
their territorial gains and were complacent with the relief of Tobruk.
Still, they overstretched their logistical lines for some 800 kilometers, which led to
a reduced British troop strength in the region of El Agheila, where the Axis had retreated.
This valuable time allowed Rommel to wait for possible reinforcements and build new
lines of fortifications for the upcoming attack.
The British were improving their communication and supply lines when they received word of
the elimination of Force K after stumbling upon an Italian minefield off Tripoli.
The Destruction of the Royal Navy commerce raiders allowed the Axis troops to receive
more supplies and reinforcements in Libya after a two-month delay.
Among the men, food, ammunition, and tanks received, Rommel also welcomed the 2nd Air
Corps or Fliegerkorps II from the Luftwaffe, which had been relocated from the heavy fighting
at the Eastern Front.
Reinvigorated by this relief support, the Desert Fox was now ready to go on the offensive
again.
The British did not know what was coming.
Gazala Line Following Christmas day 1941, the British
Eight Army launched an attack against the Axis forces fortified at El Agheila, believing
they were understaffed and underpowered.
To the Briton’s surprise, the Axis units repulsed them effectively, prompting Rommel
to unleash a swift offensive that took the entire Eight Army by surprise.
The Afrika Korps tore apart enemy formations and left them in disarray.
As a result, the British were forced to quickly abandon their newly earned ground.
Intelligence had estimated the Axis had a fighting strength of around 35,000 men when,
in reality, Rommel disposed of 50,000 Germans and 30,000 Italians.
The British regrouped at the Gazala-Bir Hakeim line, located west of Tobruk.
In early January 1942, Rommel began probing their lines to gather intelligence about the
state of the army and its defenses.
On January 21, the Desert Fox dispatched three armored columns for another reconnaissance
operation that, once Rommel visualized the gaps, turned into an offensive that ensued
in the recapture of Benghazi and Timimi.
The German general then turned all his attention toward the Gazala Line.
A game of cat and mouse followed, with each side testing the other’s strength.
By February 1942, the scattered firefights between armored units stretched from Gazala,
50 kilometers west of Tobruk, to Bir Hakeim, located 80 kilometers to the south.
The Gazala line was a series of fortified positions, including trenches, bunkers, minefields,
barbed wire entanglements, and anti-tank obstacles.
These elements were strategically positioned to create an impenetrable barrier against
any attacking force, especially if it was armored.
The natural landscape of the Gazala region played a significant role in the effectiveness
of the defensive line.
It featured a series of escarpments, rocky outcrops, and undulating terrain that provided
natural cover and advantageous positions for the defending British forces.
Breaking In Despite its formidable defenses, the Gazala
line was not adequately distributed when it came to manpower.
Most of the troops converged on the coast, leaving the south with fewer defenders.
Still, the new commanders of the Eight Army, General Sir Claude Auchinleck and Major General
Neil Ritchie, tried their best to distribute their men in brigade-strength boxes to make
them more effective in the case of an attack.
The Commonwealth Keep and other fortifications were located behind the main defensive line
of Tobruk in case it was breached by the Axis.
The 1st Free French Division was tasked with defending Bir Hakeim.
As spring approached, both armies received more supplies and reinforcements for the upcoming
military operations, including Grant tanks for the British and Panzer IVs for the Germans.
Rommel’s forces comprised the already notorious DAK or Deutsches Afrika Korps, comprised of
the 15th and 21st Panzer Divisions and the 90th Light Division.
In addition, The Desert Fox had under his command the Italian X Corps, comprised of
the Brescia and Pavia divisions; the XX Corps, with the Ariete and Trieste divisions; and
the XXI Corps, split between the German the Schutzen brigade and the Trento and Sabratha
divisions.
Rommel´s battle plan was to employ the X and XX Corps for a faint attack on the Allied
troops across the Gazala Line to lure them out.
At the same time, the bulk of the Africa Corps and the XX Corps moved through the south,
where the British were at their weakest, passing around their fortifications to attack them
from behind.
If the maneuver worked, the DAK would force the Allied troops to abandon the Gazala front.
Once the plan had been laid out and the armored units were refueled, Rommel launched Unternehmen
Venezia or Operation Venice.
The mission was a gamble.
Rommel knew it.
It was a battle of David against Goliath.
Over 80,000 men were about to attack an Allied fortified line with more than 170,000 soldiers
behind it.
Still, the Desert Fox remained adamant: Fortune favors the bold.
Unternehmen Venezia Prime Minister Winston Churchill had urged
Auchinleck to mount an attack against the Axis as soon as possible, but the Desert Fox
struck first, and he struck hard.
At 2:00pm on May 26, he mobilized the X and XXI Corps to attack the central portion of
the Gazala line.
The Axis launched a heavy artillery concentration barrage to soften the Gazala obstacles before
approaching the enemy.
The Italians, with some elements of the DAK, engaged the enemy with fierce determination.
Smoke, oil, and dense plumes of fire began to paint the horizon as soon as the first
engagements started.
Meanwhile, Rommel mobilized the rest of the Afrika Corps at night to deceive the Britons.
They were followed by an Italian armored and motorized infantry division.
Four Italian divisions were left behind to continue pommeling the Gazala Line.
During the early morning of May 27, Erwin Rommel, at the head of the Panzerarmee Afrika
and the Italian troops, led the bold flanking move around the southern section of the Gazala
Line.
He audaciously employed the Allies’ minefields to protect his flank and rear.
Nevertheless, the Ariete Division was momentarily held up by the 7th Armored Division's 3rd
Indian Motor Brigade near the southeast of Bir Hakeim.
Although the Indians ended up retreating, they inflicted several casualties on the Italic
VIII and IX Medium Tanks at the cost of around 440 KIA and 1,000 prisoners.
In the meantime, the 15th Panzer Division was engaged by the 4th Armored Brigade of
the 7th Armored Division, which had been reinforced with 200 American M3 Grant tanks.
The Germans were impressed by the range of these tanks, leading them to adopt quick maneuvers
in the heat of the skirmishes to avoid getting hit by the enemy.
The panzers had to get close and personal with the British to overcome their superior
range and penetration capabilities.
Rommel later wrote that the Grants’ 75-millimeter guns: (QUOTE) “Had torn great holes in our
ranks.”
The encounters halted Rommel’s goal of reaching the sea by May 28.
But he was not going to surrender anytime soon.
Gazala on Fire Despite the setbacks, the Axis divisions managed
to pierce more than 80 kilometers into British territory.
The German 90th Light Afrika Division engaged a motorized brigade near Retma, forcing it
into a hasty retreat to Bir el Gubi.
The Axis resumed their advance toward El Adem and captured some supply dumps.
The skirmishes between tanks and armored vehicles lasted for three days, leaving behind a trail
of smoldering tanks across the vast arid landscape.
With more British armor approaching, Rommel ordered his troops into a defensive position
and made himself strong in what was dubbed “the Cauldron.”
This left Rommel and his troops isolated from the rest of his divisions, but he employed
the extensive British minefields in his favor to protect his troops from an upcoming attack
from the west.
For the next days of early June 1942, the DAK and the Italian Corps were pummeled by
the Royal Air Force while the armored units of the Eight Army sought to encircle Rommel.
Nevertheless, the Axis resisted the heavy pounding, leading the British to commit their
last reserves in costly assaults where they lost men and armor without success.
They did so believing the Desert Fox was about to surrender, except he was not.
Despite running dangerously low on supplies, Rommel received ammunition, food, and fuel
from the Italian allies fighting around Bir Hakeim.
The location, defended by the 1st Free French Brigade under Marie-Pierre Kœnig, resisted
several charges from the Trieste division, inflicting heavy casualties with accurate
75-millimeter guns.
Nevertheless, the Italian troops and the German auxiliary units continued pounding the excellent
French fortifications for another week, encircling the French from any outside help.
This allowed the Trieste and Ariete divisions to make their way through the minefield north
of Bir Hakeim and link up with Rommel’s Afrika Korps.
United once again, Rommel dispersed the British units surrounding him and dispatched another
Kampfgruppe to Bir Hakeim to surrender it.
Axis Victory The British commanders ordered the Eight Army
to attack Rommel on June 5.
Still, they were again put in retreat by accurate anti-tank gun fire from the Cauldron.
Days later, on June 9, the French surrendered Bir Hakeim.
With the location secured, Rommel spread his forces and counterattacked the British at
the Knightsbridge Box, east of Bir el Halmat.
The headquarters of two British divisions were overrun, leading to a total collapse
of the chain of command and the disarray of Allied units in the area.
By June 10, the British ordered an evacuation to avoid being overrun.
Following Knightsbridge, Rommel´s panzers struck El Adem boxes, routing the scattered
British units.
As Germans and Italians continued securing the Gazala Line, General Sir Claude Auchinleck
and Major General Neil Ritchie abandoned the line on June 14 after the Panzer divisions
obliterated their armored units with a converging attack from the east.
The bulk of the British armor was trapped by the 21st Panzer Division in a narrow corridor
known as Rigel Ridge and was decimated by converging fire.
The more than 700 British tanks were reduced to a fighting strength of less than 120.
A few men of the 2nd Scots Guards and the 6th South African Anti-tank battery made it
out alive.
Those who survived were taken captive.
The 1st South African Division and the 50th Northumbrian Division retreated practically
intact along the coast road after some minor engagements.
While the Britons and their allies retreated to Mersa Matruh in Egypt, the troops that
remained in Tobruk to defend it surrendered on June 21.
The fighting for Gazala cost the Allies around 98,000 men wounded, captured, and deceased.
More than 550 tanks were lost, including many of those provided by the Americans.
German and Italian casualties did not exceed 32,000 men and 115 tanks.
For his impressive victory, The Desert Fox was promoted to Field Marshal.
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